Earwax is a normal build-up of dead cells, hair, foreign material such as dust, and natural wax which forms a protective coating on the skin in the ear canal. The quantity of earwax produced varies greatly from person to person.
You only need to remove earwax if it is causing symptoms such as difficulty with hearing. If earwax is not causing any symptoms, it should be left alone.
Do NOT try to clean the ear canal with cotton wool buds – this often simply pushes wax deeper into the ear canal and is one of the most common causes of blocked ears.
If you are having symptoms due to earwax, there are some things you can do yourself to try to deal with this problem.
Our advice would be to treat one ear at any time.
Ear Drops
Ear drops alone will clear a plug of earwax in most cases. Put 2 or 3 drops of olive oil into the ear twice daily for 2-3 days (max 5 days). This softens the wax allowing it to clear without further intervention. You may not notice the wax come out; it often seems to come out unseen.
If you are prone to repeated wax build up, you can continue to use olive oil drops twice weekly to prevent recurrence. If olive oil does not work, you can buy sodium bicarbonate drops from pharmacies.
How to use ear drops:
1. Warm the drops to room temperature before using them
2. Pour a few drops into the affected ear
3. Lie with the affected ear uppermost when putting in drops
4. Stay like this for 10 minutes to allow the drops to soak into the earwax.
A pharmacist can help with earwax build-up
Speak to a pharmacist about earwax build-up. They can give advice and suggest treatments.
They might recommend medicines to dissolve the earwax. The earwax should fall out on its own or dissolve after about a week.
Do not use drops if you have a hole in your eardrum (a perforated eardrum).