By Barry Rueger
Published: Next Avenue
August 1, 2025
1318 words
Read on-line.
Earwax is one of those things that everyone encounters, but nobody discusses. If you’re like me though, it blocks up your ears time after time, and you go looking for answers. The good news is that earwax — technically known as cerumen — is really not a significant health risk. The bad news is that because it’s a minor problem, you’ll find all manner of folktales and remedies, many of which are nonsense.
Many doctors recommend starting with over-the-counter ear drops.
An excess of wax in the ear canal is seen in around 10% of children, 5% of adults and increases to around 60% in older populations. Wax obstruction is more common in men than in women. Wax problems may be commonplace, but unless that yellow or brown stuff actually blocks your ear, you tend to ignore it, or maybe get annoyed when you find a little blob of it on your pillow in the morning.
I spoke to Desmond A. Nunez, M.D., a specialist in ear, nose and throat surgery (or otolaryngology) at the University of British Columbia.
“Earwax” is not really wax, like you find in a candle. Earwax is a combination of the cells of the skin of the outer ear, which are always being shed, and oils from sebum glands and other skin glands that produce substances for perspiration and temperature control purposes. All of that is incorporated into the earwax that we produce. The specific composition of earwax varies from one person to the next.
Earwax does have a purpose. Nunez explains, “It’s partly protective, so the presence of the wax in the ear canal will prevent things from getting into the ear, and also the amount of lubrication from sebum secreting glands gives you an oil base, a protection against water ingress.” Your earwax keeps your ears from getting infected while swimming.
Causes of Excess Earwax
For most people, the accumulation of earwax is self-regulating. But what about people like me who routinely find our ears plugged and hearing impaired? What is the cause of this excess earwax?
In health forums and on Facebook you’ll find many theories from people with earwax buildup, and you’ll be offered many possible causes. One favorite with people in the live music business is that loud sound levels cause wax to become impacted. The claim is that “If you are in a noisy environment, the body creates wax to protect the ears.” Other people say that regular use of over-the-ear headphones somehow causes more wax to be created. Some posters claim that “non-smelly underarm sweat” can indicate that you’ll have more wax problems, or that different allergies can cause wax buildup.
Another factor that impacts people over 50 is the use of hearing aids. Because they block the ear canal, they also tend to impair the ear’s ability to self-clear wax buildups.
Another claim is that people with Asian heritage more commonly suffer earwax problems. Nunez explains that while some genetic factors can influence what happens in your ears, it’s likely that it’s more a matter of luck. “I have a very diverse patient population base, but even within individuals of one particular demographic, there’s a huge amount of variation.”
“Other things you have to be aware of is that if you have skin disorders like psoriasis or eczema affecting your ears, that reduces the efficacy of self-clearing mechanisms. If one examines those people’s ears, you will see more wax. But I don’t think it’s because they’re producing more wax. I think it’s because the clearance mechanisms are broken down,” Nunez says.
Another factor that impacts people over 50 is the use of hearing aids. Because they block the ear canal, they also tend to impair the ear’s ability to self-clear wax buildups. (Ordinary ear buds can have the same effect.) And the wax itself will sometimes plug up the holes in the hearing aid, making them less effective at assisting hearing.
Beyond simple hearing loss, if wax is in contact with the tympanic membrane (the ear drum) it can cause discomfort and occasionally vertigo.
Removal Tips
Regardless of how your earwax might have been created, if it’s blocking your ear you’ll need to remove some of it. Once again the internet will offer a near endless array of suggestions, as well as videos, disgusting photos and people bragging about how plugged up their ears were and about the sheer volume of earwax they removed.
A much better choice for advice is your family doctor.
If you see your doctor and he or she sees excess earwax, they will likely start by telling you to use over-the-counter ear drops. The drops you’ll be looking for will be specifically for earwax removal. Other drops target infections, or swimmer’s ear. Some doctors will suggest using ordinary olive oil, almond oil or similar substances to soften impacted wax, but commercial earwax drops (which can be oil based, water based or non-water based) will include active ingredients that may include hydrogen peroxide, glycerin, sodium bicarbonate or carbamide peroxide (a combination of hydrogen peroxide and urea that’s also used in teeth-whitening products). There are also homeopathic ear drops with different herbal ingredients.
The usual advice is to administer your drops for four or five days.
Any of these options aim to soften or loosen impacted wax to make removal easier, either naturally on its own or by the doctor using a syringe. Separating facts from internet opinions on earwax removal choices can be difficult, but this is one area where there has been actual research. A 2018 review out of the NIH in the United Kingdom concluded that “using ear drops when you have a partially or completely blocked ear canal may help to remove the earwax in your ear. It is not clear whether one type of drop is any better than another, or whether drops containing active ingredients are any better than plain or salty water.” But in 2020, another study in the Journal of Clinical Otolaryngology found that drops containing glycerol, hydrogen peroxide and urea do make a difference.
The usual advice is to administer your drops for four or five days. Lie down with your head tipped to one side, carefully drop a few drops into your ear canal, then sit for a few minutes to let them work. When you sit back up you can rinse your ear with warm water and wipe away the excess.
Your doctor may also offer to syringe your ears, shooting in warm water to loosen and remove wax buildup. There is some suggestion that too much water pressure may actually damage your ears. And some places, notably Britain, have largely stopped the syringe method.
Removal Risks
Once when traveling in China, I found my ears totally blocked with wax. Our host directed me to a fellow with a market stall. With a bike-headlamp attached to his forehead he carefully scraped the wax out of my ears using a bamboo stick. It worked, and no harm was done, but my North American doctors all have been horrified by the idea.
If you remove all of the earwax or if your tool causes a break to the skin of the inner ear — the eardrum — your ear can easily become infected. Most minor ear injuries will heal themselves, but they can be painful and may need antibiotics. The other concern is that your ear wax protects against swimmer’s ear, a bacterial infection that can have serious consequences.
Vendors will sell you cheap kits with a tiny bluetooth camera, and various kinds of scrapers and tweezers for cleaning out your earwax. Despite the many videos on YouTube showing how to use them, experts all agree that you should never be sticking anything — even a Q-tip — inside your ears.
Your ears are delicate and essential. The risk of injury is just too great to go poking around in them. Instead, see your doctor.
