{"id":1742,"date":"2022-09-08T19:25:01","date_gmt":"2022-09-09T01:25:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/southvalleyent.com\/?p=1742"},"modified":"2023-11-14T17:55:34","modified_gmt":"2023-11-15T00:55:34","slug":"how-to-safely-remove-earwax-at-home-and-when-to-see-an-ent","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/southvalleyent.com\/how-to-safely-remove-earwax-at-home-and-when-to-see-an-ent\/","title":{"rendered":"How To Safely Remove Earwax at Home and When To See an ENT"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>Earwax helps keep our ears healthy and prevents infection. Most times, our ears do a good job of regulating the amount of earwax produced as well as keeping themselves clean. However, occasionally we can experience earwax buildup, which can lead to other problems.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Causes of Earwax Buildup <\/h2>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"alignright size-thumbnail\"><img decoding=\"async\" width=\"256\" height=\"256\" src=\"https:\/\/southvalleyent.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/pexels-karolina-grabowska-5206946-scaled-1-256x256.jpg\" alt=\"ENT specialist examining a man's ear.\" class=\"wp-image-1744\"\/><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n<p>One of the most common causes of earwax buildup is incorrect at-home removal attempts, specifically using a cotton swab to try and clean your ears. Though you may have been taught that this is helpful, in actuality, it can push earwax deeper into your ear canal and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.mayoclinic.org\/diseases-conditions\/earwax-blockage\/diagnosis-treatment\/drc-20353007\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">cause serious damage to the lining of your ear canal or eardrum.<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Using earplugs, earbuds and hearing aids can also cause an increase in buildup as objects in the ear prevent earwax from coming out of the ear canal naturally.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Signs of Earwax Buildup<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>If you have earwax buildup, you may experience:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/southvalleyent.com\/?p=142\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Earaches<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Feeling of fullness or pressure in the ear<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Tinnitus<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>Occasionally, the buildup can also lead to muffled hearing or even temporary hearing loss in the affected ear. This may become noticeable when you are watching TV or trying to have a conversation with friends at <a href=\"https:\/\/bombayhouse.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Bombay House<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Ways To Remove Earwax at Home<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Though you should never stick anything in your ear to try and remove earwax, there are safe methods that you can try at home. These include:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Buying over-the-counter eardrops to break up the earwax.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Using a cotton ball to drip a few drops of water or simple saline solution into your ear with your head tilted. Stay in that position for a minute, then tilt your head the other way to let the fluid and wax drain out.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Using an eyedropper, put a few drops of mineral or baby oil into the ear canal to soften the wax. Wait anywhere from a few hours to a few days to remove the wax by using a bulb syringe to gently squirt water into the canal. Drain your ear and dry it off with a towel to remove any remaining moisture.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>It\u2019s important to be aware that at-home treatments are not a good idea for everyone. If you have a damaged eardrum, it\u2019s possible that you could get liquid into the middle ear and cause an infection.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Visit an ENT<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>The best and safest way to<a href=\"https:\/\/southvalleyent.com\/?p=144\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\"> remove excess earwax<\/a> is to make an appointment with an ENT specialist. At your appointment, they will examine your ear and decide the best course of action for removing earwax. It may involve:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Using a small, curved instrument called a curet<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Suctioning out the earwax<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Flushing it out using a water pick<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Recommending wax-removal drops<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>For more information or to schedule an appointment with one of our ENT specialists, contact South Valley Ear Nose &#038; Throat &#8211; West Jordan today.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Earwax helps keep our ears healthy and prevents infection. Most times, our ears do a good job of regulating the amount of earwax produced as well as keeping themselves clean. However, occasionally we can experience earwax buildup, which can lead to other problems. Causes of Earwax Buildup One of the most common causes of earwax&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1744,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"none","_seopress_titles_title":"","_seopress_titles_desc":"Though you should never stick anything in your ear to try and remove earwax, there are safe methods that you can try at home.","_seopress_robots_index":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[54],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1742","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-ears"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/southvalleyent.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1742","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/southvalleyent.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/southvalleyent.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/southvalleyent.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/southvalleyent.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1742"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/southvalleyent.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1742\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2546,"href":"https:\/\/southvalleyent.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1742\/revisions\/2546"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/southvalleyent.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1744"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/southvalleyent.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1742"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/southvalleyent.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1742"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/southvalleyent.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1742"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}