Health & Beauty Tips For A Better Life

Earwax is made in the outer ear canal, the area between the fleshy part of the ear on the outside of the head and the middle ear. The medical term for earwax is cerumen. Earwax has many important functions. It helps protect the eardrum and ear canal by providing a waterproof lining for the ear canal, helping to keep it dry and preventing germs from causing infection. It also traps dirt, dust, and other particles, keeping them from injuring or irritating the eardrum. After the wax is produced, it slowly makes its way through the outer ear canal to the opening of the ear. Then it either falls out or comes out during bathing. In most people, the outer ear canal makes earwax all the time, so the canal always has enough wax in it. In most cases, nothing needs to be done to remove earwax from ears. Regular bathing is typically enough to keep it at healthy levels. Sometimes doctors will remove earwax from a person’s ear because it’s causing pain and discomfort or interfering with hearing, or to get a better view of the eardrum to check for problems. Removal takes just a few minutes and usually doesn’t require any further treatment. If there’s a sign of infection, the doctor may prescribe eardrops with antibiotics. But further home treatment usually isn’t needed after most removals.

The ear canal is made up of a cartilaginous part and a bony part. The cartilaginous part is covered by thick skin which has numerous sebaceous glands and ceruminous glands. The ceruminous glands are modified sweat glands. They secrete a fluid rich in lipids and pigment granules. This secretion along with the secretion of the sebaceous glands forms the wax or cerumen. It also contains epithelial debris, keratin and dirt. This wax has a protective function. It prevents the entry of foreign bodies into the ear. Sometimes, this wax is produced in large quantities and it gets retained in the ear canal. It may get hardened leading to hearing loss. This impacted wax can be removed by a procedure called syringing. In this, a stream of water is forced into the ear canal. The pressure of the water forces the wax out. In advanced cases, a cerumen hook is used to drag out the whole of the wax as a single piece. Even if this is not possible, the wax is softened by instilling a few drops of sodium bicarbonate and then removed.

Glands in the outer ear canal produce earwax in the quantities that every from person to person. In most cases, excess earwax causes no problems; it usually rolls right out of the ear on its own, or it can be renoved from the outer ear with a face cloth.

Hardened earwax can, however, becomes embedded in the ear, causing pain and interfering with hearing. If this happens, do not try remove the impacted earwax yourself. Cotton wool buds, bobby pins, sticks, pencils or other objects commonly used to dislodge earwax may only drive the wax further into the ear and damage the eardrum. Even using a water-filled bulb or syringe to dislodge the earwax may harm the ears. If wax is blocking your ears, see your doctor.