Imagine your eyebrows being on fleek and your clothes complimenting your physique. Yet your ears have a major earwax leak. It would be a major turn-off because you flunked your hygiene test.
Like any part of your body, your auditory organ deserves attention and proper care. Caring for your ears is true to create a better impression and prevent any medical issues from neglecting ear care. Listed here are why you should consider booking your earwax removal appointment.
1. It Is Not Just “Wax”
Your earwax is composed of three things. One is dead skin. Second is sebum, which is an oil excreted by the skin. Thirdly, cerumen, which is a type of sweat. The body naturally produces cerumen because it serves several purposes.
Cerumen forms a protective layer and lubricates the canal in your ears. It makes your ear acidic. Your ear wax prevents bacterial and fungal growth. Like the mucus and cilia in your nose, it prevents foreign bodies from entering your eyes and harming your eardrums.
It is no wonder why trapped foreign bodies and other biological materials could eventually impede your body from excreting earwax out of the body.
2. Some Patients Require It
Though cerumen production among kids is relatively low, this does not eliminate the possibility of them having impacted ears. Children may feel symptoms of discomfort in their ears, like having a blocked feeling and itchiness. They may even try to tug their eyes to relieve themselves from the discomfort.
If you perceive that your kid might have a problem with his ear, then it is advised that you refrain from trying to clean the ear by yourself. Kids, in general, are delicate. If you do it yourself, you might puncture the eardrums by accident. Earwax Removal is best done by trusted specialists who have the expertise and technology for the procedure.
3. Some are More Prone to Impacted Ears
Though this cerumen production is naturally occurring, some people produce more earwax than others. The texture of cerumen can also be influenced by genetics. Meanwhile, some have smaller ear canals. These increase the risk of having your ears getting impacted.
4. Self-Cleaning Using Cotton Swabs is a “No-No”
A PubMed Central published study explains this as a common opinion shared by otolaryngologists or ear, nose, and throat doctors. The study enumerates these medical problems that are documented to have been caused by cotton bud use:
- Impacted ear wax
- Infection
- Retention of the cotton bud
- Trauma
In addition, a ScienceDirect Journal published study concludes that using cotton swabs or tips is the leading cause of children having otitis externa. Swimmer’s ear or otitis externa is characterized by yellow, yellow-green, or pus-like, foul-smelling coming out of a patient’s ear.
5. Ear Candling has no Study to Back It
One of the most widely advertised are ear candles. This product is made from a beeswax-soaked hollow candle. The same candle is lit and placed in the external auditory canal of your ear. It is advertised to expel ear wax after it finishes burning.
The National Library of Medicine published a study whose objective is to test its efficacy. Despite being marketed to have been created with the “chimney principle” in mind, the study’s proponents concluded no positive clinical effect associated with ear candling. Rather, risks associated with its use surfaced.
6. Neglecting Earwax Build-Up Causes Other Problems
The magazine Scientific American published an article tackling the observed effects of excessive cerumen. These are hearing loss (which they wrote of correlating with cognitive decline) and vertigo (which escalates the probability of falling).
The article also cited how two-thirds of those confined in nursing homes were prone to impaction. Old age endangers older adults by an increase in cerumen production.
Caring for the Ears Needs Professional Hands
Most people would plausibly clean their ears using methods they are used to seeing among family and friends. Still, correcting misconceptions in the general public’s knowledge is not too late. It is time to accept that caring for your auditory organ requires professional opinion and skills. Regarding your body, there is nothing too mundane to neglect from giving special attention and needs.
