To keep you healthy, your body uses a variety of means to trap and remove toxins. Earwax is the means your body uses to clean out your ears.
In spite of its overall benefits, an excessive buildup of earwax can cause health problems and damage or reduce the performance of hearing aids. For earwax to continue to provide its benefits without becoming a problem, it requires expert management to keep things in proper balance.
Cerumen, or earwax, is an oily wax-like substance produced by the glands in the ear canal. Its purpose is to prevent infections from reaching the eardrum and middle ear by trapping contaminants, which stick to it.
As you chew or talk, earwax begins to work its way to the opening of your ear canal, removing the contaminants.
Should it get stuck in the ear canal, it can cause blockage, leading to muffled hearing, irritation, or an infection in the ear canal.
Most people reach for the tweezers, a cotton swab, or some other long, thin object to remove earwax from their ears.
Besides the fact that you might compound the problem by packing the wax tightly against your eardrum, you risk causing irreparable damage to your eardrum or ear canal if you become too aggressive and/or slip. Regardless of what you use, it is best to avoid digging earwax out of your ears.
Although ear drops present fewer risks, they may or may not produce the expected results, and they can cause irritation or infection by altering natural earwax production.
Earwax buildup can become a nightmare for hearing aid users because it traps moisture and has the potential to damage the delicate circuitry inside the instrument. Wearing hearing aids tends to stimulate cerumen production while the earpiece blocks the natural migration of earwax out of the ear canal.
Although most manufacturers include wax guards or wax filters in the design of their devices to prevent damage to the circuitry, the buildup of earwax in the ear canal often creates feedback or a high-pitched whistling sound as well as reducing the amplification and sound clarity of the unit.
In addition to causing performance issues by blocking the sound from the hearing aid entering the ear canal, earwax buildup that finds its way into the vent and receiver holes of your hearing aids can degrade delicate internal parts due to its chemical composition. Between 60% and 70% of all hearing aids sent in for repair are affected by this damage.
Unless your body produces excessive amounts of earwax or you use hearing aids, your best option is to maintain daily hygiene that includes cleansing the opening of your ear canal only. Earwax removal and management should only be performed by a professional.
The team at AVI has the right instruments, techniques, and removal methods as well as the expertise involved in their use to safely remove the excessive earwax accumulation. We can help keep your ears clean and prevent damage to your hearing instruments without the risk of permanent damage to your ears.
