The body produces earwax to protect itself from foreign bodies like dust, grains of sand, bacteria and the like. The wax traps these foreign particles to prevent them from going further into the ear and damaging the eardrum, the cochlea and the vestibular system—parts responsible for your hearing and maintaining your balance. Sometimes it’s not the dust or the sand that disrupts the working of the inner ear; it’s the ear wax itself.
How does ear wax disrupt the inner ear? What are the complications? What can you do if you exhibit complications? This article will answer all those and more.
Clogged Ear Wax
The ear has a natural capability of cleaning out the earwax. As you move your jaw to open and close your mouth, the skin in your ear grows from the inside out and moves the old ear wax along the ear canal. The wax flakes off once it reaches the outside of your ear.
Cotton buds are used to clean the ear wax flakes outside the ear and not the newly produced wax in the ear canal. Inserting cotton buds and other materials to try and “clean” the ear can push the old ear wax into the ear canal than help it out. This causes the ear wax to accumulate where the cotton bud can’t reach, get impacted and clog the ear canal.
Clogged Ear Wax Complications
If one day everything sounds muffled to you or you’re having a hard time hearing, the possibility that your ears are clogged is high. Treatment is needed to unclog the ear. Otherwise, you may experience a variety of complications.
One of the most common causes of temporary hearing loss is impacted ear wax. But an earwax blockage can also result in ear irritation, tinnitus, dizziness, ear pains and more. Leaving ear congestion untreated despite these complications can mask other potential health problems that can cause complete hearing loss or worse.
Symptoms of Earwax Blockage
It’s easy to know when your ear canal is blocked with ear wax. Watch out for these symptoms.
- Muffled hearing or difficulty in hearing
- Full feeling in the ear canal
- Earache
- Itchiness inside the ear
- Sudden bouts of dizziness
- High-pitched ringing in the ear
- Discharge from the ear
- Odour from the ear
If you are experiencing any combination of these symptoms, it’s in your best interest to visit your hearing clinician. They will be able to check if your ears and help you take care of the problem.
Ear Wax Blockage Treatment
There are a lot of supposed home remedies for cleaning out an ear that’s congested in earwax, but you won’t find that here. Home remedies may sound affordable and easy to follow, but one wrong step and you might cause irreparable damage to your ear.
The best advice you ought to follow when you’re experiencing earwax blockage is to go to a hearing clinician and have it treated. Your clinician will be able to safely perform ear wax removal procedures to clear the impacted ear wax and even help you manage the wax.
Conclusion
Earwax plays an important role in maintaining your ear health. However, improper ear cleaning can cause earwax to get impacted and clog the ears. Untreated ear congestion can cause ear irritation, tinnitus, dizziness, earaches and hearing loss. Should you experience these symptoms, it’s best to have your ear checked at once.
CH Care is an independent, locally owned and operated clinic that provides professional ear wax removal, wax management and complete hearing healthcare in Echuca, Broken Hill and surrounding areas. Book an appointment with our fully qualified clinicians today!
