Although ear wax protects and lubricates your ears, it may also cause problems, especially when it builds up in your ear canal. Called cerumen impaction or compacted wax, this excessive buildup of ear wax occurs regularly, especially amongst the elderly and those who frequently wear hearing aids or ear plugs. Prompt treatment minimizes your chances of experiencing complications, including punctured ear drums and prolonged hearing loss.
Symptoms
According to the American Academy of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery (AAOHNS), common signs of impacted cerumen include an earache, hearing loss that gradually worsens, tinnitus and unusual itching or ear discharge. Talk to your primary care doctor before attempting to remove compacted ear wax yourself, especially if you don't have a history of cerumen impaction. Certain symptoms of compacted ear wax may indicate a more serious health condition, such as a perforated ear drum or an ear infection, so it's important that you first obtain a definitive diagnosis from your doctor.
Types
In some instances, instilling several drops of an approved liquid into the affected ear can lubricate or dissolve the compacted wax. According to the National Institutes of Health, acceptable liquid treatments include mineral oil, baby oil, hydrogen peroxide, carbamide peroxide and glycerin. Other treatment options include flushing the compacted wax from the ear with body temperature water or removing it manually. Although you may opt to try drops or irrigation at home yourself, manual removal must be done by a doctor using specialized instruments.
Method
If you opt to use liquid drops to treat compacted ear wax, plan on placing three or four drops in your ear once or twice daily for no more than 4 days. At some point during this time, the wax should ooze to the outer portion of your ear for easy removal. In order to successfully flush compacted cerumen from the affected ear with water, the NIH suggests that you direct the irrigation syringe at the wall of the ear canal right next to the wax. This keeps you from accidentally forcing the wax further back into the ear canal with the spray of water.
Efficacy
Varying success rates accompany attempts to remove compacted ear wax at home, depending upon the severity of the compacted cerumen and how many days you use the treatment. Overall, the different drop treatments generally seem to work equally as well. The American Academy of Family Physicians notes that evidence suggests using ear drops in conjunction with irrigation may increase the success rate of the irrigation treatment by up to 97 percent.
Warning
Never attempt to remove compacted ear wax from your ear with a Q-tip, hair pin or other pointed object. Doing so could shove the hardened wax further back into your ear, which may lead to serious complications, such as a pierced ear drum. According to the AAOHNS, you should talk to your doctor about manually removing compacted wax if you have certain risk factors, including a possible punctured ear drum, ear tubes, diabetes or unusually narrow ear canals.
