Most people, especially parents of young children, are needlessly worried about ear wax, which is a normal body secretion that, in most cases, sloughs off by itself.
“Wax isn’t dirt. It’s not a bad thing. It keeps the skin in the ear canal from getting too dried out,” said Dr. Jo Shapiro, chief of the division of otolaryngology at Brigham and Women’s Hospital.
For a few people, those whose ears get so plugged by excess wax that they can’t hear normally, it is necessary to remove wax. In these cases, it is best to have the wax removed by a doctor or nurse practitioner.
“The only people who need to do this are those whose wax builds up significantly and frequently,” said Lynn Kepnes, a nurse practitioner who works with Shapiro and sees many patients for wax removal. “But as a routine thing, we are not meant to be cleaning out ear wax. Wax is good. You don’t want to take it all out.” In fact, wax usually falls out on its own and doesn’t need to be removed.
If you do need to remove ear wax, don’t use Q-Tips or other things that you poke into your ear. “These can really cause problems,” said Shapiro, typically by pushing wax deeper into the ear canal, scratching the sides of the ear canal or perforating the ear drum. “You can really wreck your ear” by poking things into it in an attempt to get the wax out, she said.
If you insist on cleaning, a relatively harmless approach is to use over-the-counter wax softening drops that help wax fall out on its own, including products containing hydrogen peroxide or Colace (a stool softener). You can also make your own solution of half warm water, half peroxide. Or you can soften wax with mineral oil, baby oil, or glycerin, according to the National Institutes of Health website.
After using any solution in the ear, tip your head to let the solution drain out. A few drops of alcohol in the ear or a hair dryer set on low can help dry the ear afterward. Never use any ear drops if you have ever had a hole in your eardrum.