Everyone has earwax, starting from birth. Were it not for earwax, your children would not have good protection against dirt, grime and bacteria that attempt to make their way into your children's ears. However, if it begins to accumulate, excessive earwax can be a hindrance to your child's well-being, according to MayoClinic.com.
Causes
Small glands in the skin lining your ear regularly secrete wax, which works to stop unwanted particles from getting past the opening of the ear. Typically, earwax makes its way to the ears' openings on its own. Once there, it falls out or is washed or brushed out of the ear. Excessive earwax in a child results when he either doesn't clear the wax out of his ears properly or produces more wax than he can remove in a timely fashion, notes MayoClinic.com. It is currently unknown why some children experience this problem and others do not, reports GeorgiaHealthInfo.gov.
Complications
If your child has excessive earwax, she'll likely experience earwax blockage. When this occurs, she may experience a number of problematic symptoms. Some of the most common include earache, ringing in the ears, partial or total loss of hearing in the affected ear and feeling that the affected ear is full. As blockage symptoms may indicate something more serious, GeorgiaHealthInfo.gov recommends that you have your child examined by a physician when she complains of any of these symptoms.
Home Care
You can manage some instances of excessive earwax at home. If you can clearly see earwax in your child's ear and he complains of pains or other discomfort in the ear, use a warm, wet washcloth to wipe the outside of his ear, suggests KidsHealth from Nemours. You can also place a few drops of baby oil, hydrogen peroxide, glycerin or mineral oil into your child's affected ear twice a day for three or four days. Then gently squirt some warm water into his ear canal using a rubber-bulb syringe. Have your child tilt his head to the side, pull his outer ear up and out as you squirt, tip his head back the other way to let the water and wax fall out and pat his ear dry, states MayoClinic.com.
Physician Treatment
For excessive earwax, you child's pediatrician has a variety of removal techniques. The physician may use various tools to loosen, grab and suction the earwax. In the event your child is particularly nervous, she may be given general anesthesia, and the procedure performed in an emergency room, although these instances are rare. Her physician can also determine whether an infection has set in and can prescribe appropriate antibiotics, advises KidsHealth from Nemours.
Caution
Removing excessive earwax on your own can be dangerous. Using a cotton swab, paper clip, hairpin or ink pen to remove earwax can compound the problem by forcing the earwax farther into the ear or even damage the eardrum itself, warns GeorgiaHealthInfo.gov. And though you may consider inserting a cone-like device into the ear and lighting the other end on fire--an earwax-removal technique known as candling--don't. It is an unproven treatment that may actually result in your child's ear canal being burned or his eardrum pierced, cautions KidsHealth from Nemours.
