Audiology for Children

Your ear canal produces a waxy oil called cerumen, which is more commonly referred to as earwax.

Earwax is necessary to protect the ear from dust, foreign particles and microorganisms, as well as protecting ear canal skin from water irritation. Earwax is also slightly acidic and it does have antibacterial properties. Without earwax, the ear canal can become dry, waterlogged, and prone to infection.

Yes it can and generally does, so we don’t advise you to use your fingers or any objects like cotton buds to remove earwax. This will only push it in and make your situation even worse. Instead, we’ll clear up the matter for you within minutes!

In normal circumstances excess wax will find its way out of the canal and into the ear opening naturally, then it will be washed away. When your glands are making more earwax than needed it may go hard and block your ear and, in some cases, some people are just prone to producing more earwax than others. Excess earwax won’t always lead to a blockage, however the most common cause of earwax blocks tends to be at-home removal! When you clean your ears, you can accidentally push the wax deeper and this will cause a blockage. You might also be likely to have wax build-up if you frequently use earphones, as they can inadvertently prevent earwax from coming out of the ear canals, causing blockages.

Conditions known as stenosis (which involves the narrowing of the ear canal), overgrowth of hair in the canal, and hypothyroidism can all cause ear wax build-up. Using cotton buds, wearing hearing aids, and the ageing of the skin and loss of elasticity can also lead to excessive earwax.

There are some home or over-the-counter remedies but our ears are very sensitive instruments and as ear experts, we recommend that you take great caution and care when trying to treat earwax build-up at home. Using cotton buds and hair pins or other objects can actually push ear wax deeper into the ear, creating a blockage. When you come to us for Ear Wax Removal at Byrom Audiology, treatment is quick and painless, and we will unblock your ear in a safe and efficient way.

This will depend on the severity but in some cases, impaction can cause pain, pressure, itching, odour, ringing of the ears, ear discharge and sometimes hearing loss.

An increasing number of GP surgeries and NHS clinics have stopped offering ear wax removal treatment and it is due to be phased out as an NHS treatment over the next few years. We at Byrom Audiology understand how uncomfortable and annoying ear wax build-up can be – and we offer a range of ear wax removal treatments to help you.