Hearing loss, which is often accompanied by headaches, is a sign of excess wax accumulation in the ears. If going to the doctor for some reason is impossible, you can get rid of the unpleasant sensations on your own. The main thing is to be careful and accurate. Today we will talk about how to remove earwax from the ear at home.
How to remove wax from ear
Earwax: how to remove
Wax is needed to protect the ears. It prevents water from entering the ear canal and does not allow bacteria to multiply in it. But there are situations in which it begins to be produced in excess. The cause may be otolaryngological diseases, such as otitis media or dermatitis, prolonged exposure to a dusty room, or structural features of the ear canal.
Regardless of the cause, the accumulation of sulfur causes a lot of unpleasant sensations. Perhaps the most effective way To get rid of them is to use hydrogen peroxide. Use only three percent peroxide. Higher concentrations may cause burns.
To combat sulfur, do the following.
1. Place a towel under your head and lie on your side.
2. Using a pipette or syringe without a needle, drop peroxide into the ear. Don't worry when it starts to foam and sizzle. This is a normal reaction.
3. Lie like this for 15 minutes. This is necessary in order to soften the sulfur.
4. Turn over to the other side and wait for the peroxide to flow out of the ear canal.
5. Wipe your ear with cotton wool.
6. If necessary, repeat the same with the second ear.
7. The procedure should be carried out daily for a week.
If at any stage you experience discomfort or pain, stop the procedure and contact a specialist immediately.
At your nearest pharmacy you can purchase drops that will help remove ear plugs. Typically, they are used in the morning and evening for about four days, depending on the manufacturer's instructions.
Once you've learned how to get rid of wax, it's important to remember to take precautions to avoid damaging it. hearing aid.
Has your hearing become worse or are you experiencing discomfort in your ear – fullness, noise, buzzing? Do you experience dizziness or sometimes headaches due to hearing problems? Most likely, you have a wax plug in your ear. By getting rid of it, you will restore your hearing and experience significant relief.
What is wax plug and how is it formed?
Despite its name, wax plug is not just a collection of wax released from the ears. The substance that fills the ear canal usually contains particles of dust, dead skin cells, and sebum. Earwax is very important for normal functioning organs of hearing, it protects against penetration of bacteria, viruses, fungi into the ear, and removes dead epithelium. Under normal conditions, excess earwax together with accumulated contaminants, it is naturally removed from the ear canal when chewing and swallowing movements are performed.
Reasons sulfur seals can be:
- Increased work of the glands and, as a result, excess production of sulfur.
- The structure of the ear canal is narrowed or tortuous.
- Damage to the skin inside the ear canal. Most often, they irritate or damage the skin with cotton swabs, hearing aids, and headphones.
- Previous diseases - otitis, sinusitis.
- Constantly staying in a dusty room.
- Constant “compaction” of earwax when trying to clean the ears.
Getting rid of wax plug
You can remove wax plug from your ear at home, but only in cases where:
- Integrity is not compromised eardrum;
- Are you sure that you have wax plug;
- You have not suffered from otitis media or other inflammatory disease;
- You do not suffer from diabetes.
Stages of removing a plug from the ear
- Relieving congestion in the ear. The procedure is carried out at night; during sleep, the plug will soften perfectly and will be easier to remove. Prepare a pipette, a cotton swab, and one of the following: hydrogen peroxide, vegetable oil or glycerin, which should be room temperature. Pipette 4-5 drops of the product. Sit or lie down so that the ear in which the plug is located is on top. With one hand, carefully grasp top part ear and pull it back and up, this will straighten the ear canal. With your other hand, drop the prepared product into your ear and immediately close the ear canal with a cotton swab.
- Pre-rinse. It is performed in the morning, after the earwax has softened. For the first rinse, you will need hydrogen peroxide, collected in a small syringe or 20 ml syringe. Lie on your side, with the ear with the swab on top, take out the cotton swab and pour peroxide into your ear until it starts to flow out. Lie in this position for 10–15 minutes.
- Washing the plug out of the ear. The cork is washed out warm water, entering the ear under pressure. The most reliable option is to use a shower hose. To do this, unscrew the spray diffuser from the shower hose, open the water and adjust its temperature. The water should be warm, never hot! Direct a stream of water into your ear, first from a short distance, gradually bring the stream closer until the tip of the shower hose touches the auricle. The plug should come out very quickly and you will feel immediate relief.
If the plug does not come out or does not come out completely, you can repeat the removal after a couple of days. If the repeated procedure does not bring results, it is better to consult an ENT doctor.
Therefore, removal at home becomes topical issue. Ideally, it is necessary to prevent the formation similar clusters dirt or carry out treatment not at home, but at an otolaryngologist. If you act on your own, you can injure your ear and then unpleasant symptoms will only get stronger. However, it is not always possible to show your ears to a doctor and then you will need knowledge of how to get rid of the problem on your own.
Symptoms and causes
First, you need to find out what a plug in the ear is, what symptoms indicate its presence, and only then consider treatment at home. contain special sulfur glands that produce a secretion that is yellow-brown in color and has a slightly oily consistency. Earwax removes dirt and protects the ear from bacteria. It covers the ear canal and flows out on its own in small portions.
To clean your ears from accumulated wax, you usually use an ear cotton swab at home.
The correct one involves cleansing the outer part of the ear canal. Many people push the earwax too far into the ear, pushing the wax deeper. So they independently create a problem for themselves in the form of sulfur plugs, which they cannot always get rid of at home.
Next, trying to pull out the plug, the person pushes it even further into the ears. As a result, a dense accumulation of secretions is formed, which, as the volume increases, blocks the ear canal. The situation may worsen incorrect treatment ear diseases, excessive desire to get rid of pollution, being in a dusty environment, which provokes a violation of the secretion of glands. As it ages, it dries out and thickens.
Removal of wax plugs should not be delayed, as it provokes symptoms such as:
- itching and discomfort in the ears;
- feeling of pressure in the ear;
- squelching;
- pain;
- hearing impairment.
Symptoms of inflammation may gradually appear, indicating the onset of otitis media. It is necessary to get rid of dirt in the ear as soon as possible, otherwise infection may occur. When trying to clean your ears at home, without outside help, the eardrum may be damaged and bacteria will enter the middle ear. In this case, treatment will take weeks.
Removal methods
In folk practice, there are many ways to remove a plug from your ear. To take it out at home without negative consequences, you need to be extremely careful. Ask someone to help you. If in doubt, it is better to abandon the idea and immediately consult a doctor.
The most popular ways independent decision problems of pollution accumulation in ear canal are:
- Washing. The standard way to get rid of sulfur plugs. But at home, rinsing with saline solution must be done with extreme caution. If the flow of the drug is directed incorrectly, there is a possibility of not only knocking out the sulfur plug, but also damaging the eardrum. It is convenient to rinse with a syringe or syringe without a needle. To safely dislodge wax with a jet, the liquid is directed along the upper wall of the ear canal. The disadvantage of the procedure is that the sulfur can swell and completely block the canal.
- Oil. An alternative and safer option that gently removes accumulated dirt. This method is suitable for shallow plugs. To make it easier to remove the lump, you need to drip oil into your ear for several days, preferably almond oil, heated to body temperature. If you don’t have such oil at home, use any other vegetable oil, but preferably cosmetic oil. After softening, the cork will come out without any problems. The disadvantage of oil drops is that their frequent use leads to the formation of a sticky, greasy film in the ear canal, which accumulates dirt. This can cause an ear infection.
- Hydrogen peroxide. One of the most popular ways to remove a plug in your ear at home. This substance is found in every home medicine cabinet. Before dropping the liquid into your ear, warm it up by holding the bottle in your hands or under warm water. Next, use a pipette to pour a small amount into the auricle so that it flows into the canal. Immediately you will feel hissing and tickling in your ears. Softening and dissolution of secretions occurs, as well as additional disinfection of the ear cavity. After a few approaches the problem will be solved. This way you can clear wax from your ears and prevent the formation of plugs. The method is also suitable as preparatory procedure before washing.
- Special solvents. Treatment of ears at home can be done using medications specially designed for this purpose. Sold in pharmacies ear drops, with which you can get rid of contaminants. They work on the peroxide principle and are a gentle solvent. The drug is instilled into sore ear for several days. A yellowish liquid should pour out, indicating the breakdown of sulfur particles.
- Tweezers. It is necessary to use tweezers at home with extreme caution and only in cases where you need to remove the plug, which is located at the beginning of the ear. Otherwise, the eardrum can be pierced and treatment threatens to begin long recovery hearing In addition, you won’t be able to get a lump of earwax out on your own; you need the help of an assistant. The hardened secretions are grabbed with the tip of tweezers. It is important not to damage the delicate epithelium and not to push the dirt even deeper.
- Wax candles. Mechanical removal of sulfur plugs is also performed using special wax candles. They also treat otitis media. You can buy a candle at a pharmacy. Some experts know how to make similar candles at home in the form of cone-shaped gauze turundas soaked in beeswax. The candle is inserted into the ear with the narrow end, then lit and not extinguished until it reaches a special mark or heat is felt in the ears. The sulfur will melt, the solid particles will be captured by the wax and then removed along with the candle.
If after the procedures symptoms begin to appear in the form of discharge, pain and hearing loss, immediately contact an ENT specialist.
This treatment is quite suitable for those cases when there is simply no time or opportunity to see a doctor. However, it is best to prevent such a neglected situation and regularly take care of it. This way you will protect yourself from injuries if you carelessly perform the procedures described above and will significantly reduce the risk of inflammatory diseases and hearing loss.
Ear problem sulfur plugs incredibly relevant for the Russian population. According to statistics given by Dr. medical sciences V.S. Kozlov, 25 out of a hundred Russians have encountered this unpleasant phenomenon at least once. Ear wax regularly causes problems for about 800 thousand children, almost the same number of pensioners, and four million adults.
Earwax is a dried mixture of secretion from the sulfur glands located in the ear, sebum and dead epidermis.
Ear wax formation- natural physiological process. Our body produces dead skin cells, excess sebum, and dust particles from the ear canal. The specific composition of earwax gives it protective function, prevents the development of fungal and bacterial infections ear canal. The presence of wax prevents various substances from entering the ear. foreign bodies and insects. Earwax lubricates and moisturizes the ear canal. Its production indicates good physical condition body.
Normally, earwax has a liquid consistency and leaves the ear canal without any external intervention. This self-cleaning of the ear cavity can occur during chewing, swallowing, coughing and even talking. Movements lower jaw help remove excess earwax.
However, due to hypersecretion of the sulfur glands and irritation of the ear canal, the process of self-cleaning of the ear is sometimes disrupted. Then the so-called sulfur plug occurs.
The color and structure of sulfur plugs are not the same different people. The color of the ear plug varies from light yellow to dark brown. Earwax can block the ear canal completely or partially. Based on consistency, there are soft, pasty plugs and drier, denser rocky plugs. The harder the cork, the more serious the problem, because a denser cork is more difficult to remove. Stony wax plugs can literally stick to the skin lining the ear canal and even form bedsores on it.
Seven main reasons for ear plugs
- anatomical reasons, the main of which are excessive curvature or simply narrowness of the auditory canal;
- hypersecretion of sulfur glands;
- increased viscosity of the secretion of the ear glands;
- the need to use a hearing aid, as well as frequent use of headphones or a telephone headset;
- various diseases of the ENT organs;
- penetration of water and other liquids, as well as dust into the hearing organs;
- an unsuccessful attempt to clean the ear, when earwax does not come out, but is pushed even further into the ear canal.
How to recognize wax plug?
There is a high chance that you have wax plug if you experience the following symptoms:
- decreased hearing acuity;
- feeling of tinnitus;
- congestion in the ear;
- autophony is a specific condition in which a person’s voice strongly “reflects” into his ear.
- ear pain;
- nausea, dizziness;
- and even migraines and pain in the heart muscle.
Most often, a person encounters the problem of ear plugs soon after water gets into the ear. There are sulfur plugs huge amount people, but often they don’t even realize it, because the plug does not completely block the ear canal. When swimming in the sea or in a pool, earwax swells in a humid environment and can completely block the ear canal. In this case, there is a serious decrease in hearing and discomfort in the ear. Then it is necessary to urgently get rid of the sulfur plug. There is only one method of curing ear plugs - removing them.
Ear wax in a baby: what to do?
An ear plug can appear in a child for exactly the same reasons as in an adult. Symptoms of traffic jams in children and adults are also similar. However, the baby cannot always tell mom or dad what exactly is bothering him. Therefore, it would not be amiss to talk about the peculiarities of children’s behavior with ear plugs.
So, you should be wary if a child is worried, rubs the auricle with his hands, or scratches his ears. Babies may experience symptoms similar to teething. When pressure is placed on the tragus - a small cartilage on the upper outer side of the ear - the pain only intensifies. If such symptoms occur, it is strongly recommended to consult a specialist.
Before visiting the doctor, reassure the child and explain that it will not hurt. Good idea– show the child on a toy how to tilt his head, and what exactly the doctor will do. This way you will mentally prepare the little patient for a visit to the otolaryngologist.
Let's heal on our own!
If you are worried about cerumen, but it is not possible to visit an otolaryngologist, do not worry. In most cases it is quite possible to produce removal of wax plugs in ears at home.
There are three main ways to solve the problem:
- Washing out the plug from the ear canal.
- Dissolution of sulfur plug.
- Removal using special ear candles.
Flushing the ear canal
Washing is the most effective and safe way get rid of sulfur plugs. According to E.V. Garov, one of the leaders of the Moscow Scientific and Practical Center, the chances of damage to the eardrum when washing the ear are only one in a thousand. True, we are talking about washing by a specialist using a special irrigator. When treating at home, on your own, the risk may be higher.
Contraindications to ear rinsing
Perforation (in other words, disruption of the integrity) of the eardrum, hearing loss and chronic otitis media are contraindications for rinsing, since water or other liquid can get into the middle ear and cause inflammation.
How to wash your ears?
You can rinse the ear canal with plain water. The ideal water temperature is around 37 degrees Celsius, which is close to normal temperature human body.
Ideally, to wash your ears, it would be good to use an irrigator - a special device designed to remove ear plugs. But often it is only available in medical institutions, though not in all of them.
Therefore, to rinse the ear canal It is quite possible to use a Janet syringe equipped with a special plunger and a cone-shaped blunt needle. Janet's syringe is used to wash the cavities of the human body. If it is not possible to get such a syringe, then an ordinary syringe with a rubber tip, but without a needle, will do. Syringe volume – 100-150 ml.
During the procedure, sudden injection from the syringe should not be allowed, since the delicate eardrum can withstand pressure of only 2 atmospheres. You need to be extremely careful to direct the stream of water along the wall of the ear canal. In this case, the auricle is pulled in the direction “up and back” for an adult, while for a child, on the contrary, “down and back”.
The person being rinsed should tilt his head to the right if the plug is in the left ear, and, conversely, to the left if the sore ear is on the right. After washing, the head should be tilted in the opposite direction. Then the water, along with the wax plug, will leave the ear canal.
After the procedure, the ear canal is dried using a cotton swab. It is recommended to temporarily leave a cotton swab soaked in boric acid in the ear.
Dissolving the ear plug
To remove wax plugs in your ears at home, you can resort to a method such as dissolving the plug. IN medical literature the method is known as cerumenolysis (from the Latin word “cerumen” - earwax).
Four types of drugs are most often used to dissolve a cork:
- Hydrogen peroxide;
- A-Cerumen;
- Remo-vax;
- Sodoglycerin drops.
Hydrogen peroxide 3%
Ten drops of a 3% hydrogen peroxide solution are instilled into the sore ear using a syringe without a needle. If the patient has increased sensitivity skin, you can mix the required amount of hydrogen peroxide with the same amount of water.
Then the patient should lie on his side for ten minutes so that the solution does not leak out. At this time, hydrogen peroxide may foam and fizz in the ear. This is absolutely normal: this breaks up the wax plug and cleans the ear. Hearing loss may also occur during this procedure. Don't worry: your hearing will be fully restored when the wax plug dissolves and flows out.
After ten minutes, the head is tilted to the side on which the sore ear is located, and the fluid is allowed to drain out. Afterwards, the ear canal must be dried with a cotton swab.
A-Cerumen
This product is suitable not only for dissolving wax plugs, but also for preventing their formation. The drug is suitable for children from two and a half years old. Please note that A-Cerumen is contraindicated in cases of inflammation of the ear canal and damage to the integrity of the eardrum.
To dissolve sulfur plugs at home, just one injection of A-Cerumene and one minute of time is enough. After this, the patient turns his head with the affected ear down, the contents of the ear canal, along with the cerumen plug, flow out.
Remo-vax
This mink oil-based drug is sold in the form of ear drops or ear spray. Remo-Vax, like the above remedies, cannot be used for perforation of the eardrum, inflammation of the hearing organs, or pain in the ears.
To dissolve the wax plug, 15 drops of the drug are instilled into the sore ear, after twenty minutes the drug is allowed to flow out for one minute. For old sulfur plugs this procedure carried out over five days. Remo-vax can be used to prevent the formation of sulfur plugs; in this case it is used twice a month. The drug is safe for children.
Sodoglycerin drops
Sodoglycerin drops are prepared in medical institutions immediately before use, therefore open sale you won't see them. For home use You can order sodoglycerin drops at the pharmacy. Five to ten drops this tool insert into the ear canal and leave for fifteen minutes. Then they turn the head with the affected ear down, and the dissolved wax plug flows out of the ear.
Ear candles
Using ear candles- a rather traumatic method, which is sometimes still used to remove wax plugs in the ears at home. Ear candles are strips of fabric soaked in wax and rolled into a hollow tube. One end of the candle is inserted into the sore ear, and the other is set on fire. After burning to a certain point, the candle is extinguished.
It is believed that the earwax will soften and stick to the candle. This method is recognized by otolaryngologists as unsafe, so the use of ear candles is not recommended. Moreover, there are many more effective means, which were described above.
How can you not remove a cork?
The most important thing: you should not try to get rid of an ear plug using hard objects like pencils or hairpins: the risk of damaging your eardrum is very high!
Contrary to popular belief, using cotton swabs to remove wax from your ears is also unsafe. Using cotton swabs will not help get rid of the ear plug and may even make the problem worse, as the wax is pushed deep into the ear canal and compacted into it. That's why cotton buds should only be used on the outer part of the ear.
Also, do not try to get rid of the plug by patting the ear. This will help remove water that has entered the ear, but will not get rid of the wax plug.
When should you see a doctor?
If you have tried to remove earwax by rinsing or dissolving, but your efforts were in vain, you need the help of an otolaryngologist. The doctor can remove the wax plug using the so-called dry method - using aspiration or curettage.
Aspiration - removal of wax plug special device- an aspirator, which, due to the pressure difference, literally sucks the plug out of the ear.
Curettage is the removal of a plug with a special probe with a hook at the end. Anesthesia is possible during this procedure. There is a risk of damage to the eardrum. After curettage, antibiotics are injected into the ear canal.
The plug has been removed, what are the consequences?
So, with medical assistance or independently, the plug has been removed. What could be the consequences?
Most often, getting rid of wax plugs will not lead to any unpleasant consequences.
In rare cases, complications are possible, namely:
- Damage to the hearing organ;
- Infection of the middle ear if there was a perforation of the eardrum;
- Allergic reaction to drug components.
Prevention of wax plugs
To prevent the occurrence of wax plugs, it is enough to follow the simple recommendations given below:
- Avoid using cotton swabs to clean your ears. Of course, pencils, pens and other hard objects also cannot be used for these purposes.
- Wash your ear canals regularly with soap and water.
- For newborns and infants, only the outer part of the ear canal is cleaned using dry cotton swabs. It is recommended to do this approximately once every three days.
- Treat ENT diseases in a timely manner.
- When visiting the pool, use special hats and earplugs to protect your ears. As an alternative to earplugs, you can use cotton swabs soaked in Vaseline.
If you follow these simple rules, the problem of wax plugs will bypass you.
You have experienced a slight deterioration in your hearing or perhaps a buzzing or tinnitus. Are you experiencing headaches or even feeling dizzy? Perhaps the cause of all these troubles is the resulting wax plug in your ears. There is only one solution to such a problem. The ear plug must be removed because otherwise it will have a negative effect on your hearing.
You can contact a specialist (otolaryngologist), who will use a Janet syringe to rinse your ear and get rid of the wax plug. The process of removing an ear plug is quick and painless, but it is contraindicated for people who have damaged eardrums or suffer from otitis media.
In cases where the wax plug completely blocks the passage, the doctor will remove it using a special ear probe with a hook.
If you do not have the above contraindications, you can try to cope with this problem yourself at home.
Getting rid of wax plugs yourself
Method No. 1
You can get rid of sulfur blockage yourself at home using hydrogen peroxide. To do this, you need to lie down on your side, pull the affected earlobe back downwards and drip 3% hydrogen peroxide into the ear canal. After about 15 minutes, you need to turn your head and wait until all the fluid drains out of the ear.
As a rule, wax plugs leak out of the ear along with hydrogen peroxide.
Method No. 2
The safest and easy way. It is necessary to instill a cerumenolytic drug into the ear canal; it will first dissolve the cerumen plug and then bring it out in a liquid state. For example, you can use the drug "Remo-vax", which not only treats ear plugs, but is also good for prevention.
In general, sulfur is a natural lubricant of the walls of the external auditory canal. It plays an important role in fulfilling various functions. For example:
- cleanses the ear canal of dirt, infectious particles and skin particles;
- prevents the walls of the ear canal and the eardrum from drying out;
- protects the ear from fungi and various bacteria.
Wax must be removed from the ear canal naturally, this happens during chewing, yawning, talking, in general, when we move our jaw. However, it happens that the amount of sulfur is produced too much, and then a traffic jam forms.
Causes of disruption of the ear self-cleaning process
Poor ear hygiene
When a person cleans their ears too often and diligently with cotton swabs, a deficiency of sulfur occurs, and it begins to be produced more intensively. In addition, the cotton swab compacts the wax in the ear canal, thereby creating a plug.
You only need to clean the ear with cotton swabs, without going deep!
Foreign objects
The presence of foreign objects in the ear canal, for example: headphones from a player or a hearing aid. Such items contribute to the formation of wax plugs in the ears. These items prevent earwax from escaping.
Past illnesses
People who have had sinusitis and tonsillitis subsequently suffer from the appearance of ear wax plugs.
"Swimmer's Ear"
Experts gave this name to the inflammation that formed as a result of constant moisture in the ear. People who swim should pay more attention to ear hygiene.
Anatomical features of the ear
In people with very narrow or tortuous ear canals, wax may accumulate heavily, thereby forming a plug.
Prevention of ear plugs
- Make sure your ear hygiene meets all requirements, namely:
- Cotton swabs should only be used to clean the ear.
- You need to wash your ears with soapy water.
- Clean the area above the tragus.
- Be sure to contact medical specialists if anything worries you.
If folk remedies you couldn't cope with ear plug, then be sure to contact a specialist. There you will undergo a professional examination and the problem that is tormenting you will be painlessly and guaranteed removed.
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