Although it’s not the most pleasant thing in the world, earwax plays a vital role in your body’s health. It’s your ears’ primary defence mechanism against all the dust, grit or even insects that may otherwise threaten your sense of hearing.
This doesn’t mean you should suffer because your ears are going overboard with wax production, however. There are times when earwax needs to be removed, and we want to give you the best and safest methods for when this happens.
The most common symptoms of an earwax blockage include: a sensation of ‘fullness’ in the ears; hearing loss or difficulty hearing; pain inside the ear; increased and frequent itchiness in the ear; dizziness; or unusual discharge from the ear.
Many people often mistake waxy ears for blocked ears, believing the presence of earwax is impinging on their auditory health despite there being nothing wrong. This leads to the dreaded cotton bud cleanse, which tends to do more harm than good.
Outside of the risk of poking your eardrum and harming it, cotton buds can also cause infections, cause wax blockages to worsen by compacting them and even contribute to blockages through the cotton debris left behind.
Obviously, we don’t recommend the previous method of ‘unblocking’, but there are some methods to help.
Though we’re advocates for the DIY approach, there’s no beating professional services. An audiologist is far more knowledgeable than the average person on these matters and can provide a routine clean with no problems. For ear wax removal Swindon, try https://www.earwax.co.uk/ear-wax-removal-near-me/swindon.
If you insist on personally resolving the matter, our next best recommendation is an ear massage. Simply massage the area around the ear, then gently pull your ears upward and around. This will help to loosen the build-up and, along with the motion of chewing, can help naturally escort blockages out of the ear canal.
Other than this, we’d recommend organic oils, like olive oil, to help ease wax out or a saline solution to help soften hard blockages.