Ear condition

Earwax

Overview

Earwax is a natural substance that your body makes to protect the ear canal. It’s a mixture of skin, sweat, hair, and debris (such as shampoo and dirt) held together with a fluid that comes from glands inside the ear canal (ceruminous glands). The ear canals are self-cleaning.

Earwax helps filter dust and keeps the ears clean. It also protects the ear canal from infection. Normally, earwax is a self-draining liquid that doesn’t cause problems. As the skin of the ear canal sheds, the wax is carried to the outer part of the ear canal and drains from the ear by itself.

Earwax ranges in color from light to dark brown or orange. In children, earwax is usually softer and lighter than the earwax produced by adults. Children produce a lot of earwax. This tapers off as they grow older.

Earwax is normally produced only in the outer half of the ear canal. It won’t cause a blockage unless it is pushed in. The ear canal may become blocked (impacted) when you try to clean the ear with cotton swabs, bobby pins, or your finger and push wax deeply into the ear canal. Impacted earwax may cause some hearing loss. It can also cause other problems, such as ringing in the ears (tinnitus), a full feeling in the ears, or vertigo. Poking at the wax with cotton swabs, your fingers, or other objects usually just further presses the wax against the eardrum.

Most earwax problems can be handled with home treatment. Professional help may be needed to remove tightly packed earwax.

The ear consists of the outer ear, middle ear, and inner ear. The outer ear is the part that can be seen at the side of the head, along with the ear canal and the eardrum. The middle ear is behind the eardrum. It contains the bones of the middle ear, called the malleus, incus, and stapes. These bones are also known as the hammer, anvil, and stirrup. The eustachian tube connects the middle ear and an area in back of the nose. The inner ear contains the cochlea, which is the main sensory organ of hearing.