Waxy ears are no fun. Excessive earwax can give you an earache, make your ears feel full, cause tinnitus (ringing in the ears) and even cause hearing loss. The presence of earwax is normal. Some people, however, develop excessive earwax that does not properly drain from the ear canal, or they wear hearing devices, such as earplugs or hearing aids, that physically prevent the wax from draining from the ears. The wax becomes impacted, meaning it hardens and gets stuck inside the canal. Mineral oil is an effective treatment to soften hardened earwax so that it can drain from the ear canal and is safe to use in persons who have an intact eardrum.
Step 1
Treat your ears with mineral oil at nighttime, just before bed, so that the oil remains in the ear canals overnight, giving the oil extended contact with the wax. The mineral oil is more likely to remain in your ears while you're lying down than it is while you are out of bed and walking around.
Step 2
Fill an eyedropper with room-temperature mineral oil.
Step 3
Pull the earlobe of the ear being treated gently downward to straighten your ear canal and enable the mineral oil to easily flow deep into your ear canal.
Step 4
Tilt your head to the side, with the ear receiving treatment pointed up toward the ceiling. Place the eyedropper into the opening of your ear, without entering the ear canal and dispense three drops of mineral oil into your ear. Place a cotton ball by the opening of your ear to catch any mineral oil that drains out.
Step 5
Lie down on your side, with the treated ear facing up. Stay in this position for 15 minutes to allow the mineral oil to drain deep into your ear canal.
Step 6
Treat your opposite ear, if needed, following the same directions as above.
Step 7
Lay a towel over your pillow to catch any mineral oil that drains from your ear while you sleep. Leave the mineral oil in your ear overnight. Sleep on your side with the treated ear facing up if only one ear was treated. If you treated both ears with the mineral oil, sleep on your back.
Step 8
Wipe the external opening of your ear or ears with a cotton ball in the morning to remove any mineral oil and loosened wax that drained out of your ears while you slept. Do not place the cotton ball or any other object into the ear canal.
Step 9
Repeat the mineral oil treatment for the next three days for a total of four days of treatment. An average of three to four days of treatment with mineral oil is required to effectively soften earwax, according to the University of Virginia Health System, Charlottesville, Virginia.
Step 10
Irrigate your ears using an ear syringe bulb filled with water after the fourth day of treatment to remove the softened earwax from your ears. According to MedlinePlus, a service of the U.S. National Library of Medicine and the National Institutes of Health, "people who have frequent blockages may benefit from weekly irrigations."
To irrigate your ears, fill an ear bulb syringe with room-temperature water. Stand over a sink with the ear to be treated facing down toward the sink. Insert the tip of the ear bulb syringe into the opening of the ear, without entering the ear canal. Squeeze the syringe to release the water into your ear. Continue squeezing the bulb until it is empty. The water that flows out of the syringe into your ear will drain out into the sink, bringing with it the softened earwax. Leave your head tilted over the sink until all of the water empties from the ear canal. Repeat the process with the opposing ear if needed.
Step 11
Visit your physician if the mineral oil treatment and irrigation fail to remove the earwax, if hearing is not restored after treatment, if ear pain continues after treatment, if you develop a fever, or blood or pus drains from the ear.
Things You'll Need
- Eyedropper
- Mineral oil
- Cotton balls
- Towel
- Ear bulb syringe
References
- "Cerumen Impaction"; Daniel F. Mccarter, M.D., A. Ursulla Courtney, M.D., Susan M. Pollart, M.D.; 2007
- MedlinePlus: Wax Blockage
