Are you finding yourself with a feeling of fullness in one or both of your ears? Are you experiencing a sudden or partial hearing loss? Do you hear a ringing or buzzing sound in your ears or ear pain? These are all symptoms of an excessive buildup of earwax. If you are experiencing these symptoms, the practice of John Abroon, MD in New York, New York can help by providing earwax removal in our office.
Normally, your ears produce earwax, a waxy yellow or brownish oil that which keeps your ears safe from day to day infiltration of microorganisms, dust, etc. If the excess earwax doesn’t come out, as usual, this buildup may harden hard and create a barrier in the ear blocking your hearing ability.
If you are resorting to at-home removal methods, including cotton swabs, you might be unintentionally pushing the earwax further into the ear canal. Safer methods of do-it-yourself earwax removal include softening the wax so it can exit followed by an ear flush.
Placing a few drops of baby or mineral oil or earwax softening drops into the ear to sit for a few minutes can soften the wax, and then, using a bulb syringe or soaked cotton ball, rinse the ear with warm salt water or plain water. To make a saltwater solution, stir a teaspoon of salt into 1/2 cup of warm water until the salt is dissolved. Tilt the head so that the solution can flow into the canal, and after a few minutes, tilt the other way so that it can flow out.
If you have a build of earwax over time the ear may become infected, although, earwax typically works to protect your ears from infection. You might have an ear infection if you are experiencing drainage or severe pain in the ear, you have a fever, cough, hearing loss that isn’t improving, a smelly discharge from the ear, and feeling dizzy. If you do have an infected ear, trying to remove it can also leave you with a perforated eardrum, so we urge you to see our doctor.
Please do not use cotton swabs for cleaning deep into the canal. They are fine for the outer areas, but you can inadvertently push wax into the tympanic membrane, or eardrum. We also do not recommend the use of ear candles which can rupture your eardrum or drop candle wax into your ear. Even spraying liquids into the ear canal might harm the tympanic membrane and damage the inner ear.
If you are having problems with one or both of your ears, please call our team today at 212-288-0900 to schedule an appointment with Dr. John Abroon for safe earwax removal.