Diagnosis
Your healthcare professional can see if you have earwax blockage by looking in your ear. A special tool called an otoscope lights and magnifies your inner ear, offering a closer look.
Treatment
Your healthcare professional can remove excess wax in the ear with a small, curved tool called a curet or with suction techniques. Another method flushes out the wax with a syringe full of warm water and saline or diluted hydrogen peroxide. Your healthcare professional may recommend medicated ear drops to help soften the wax, such as carbamide peroxide (Debrox Earwax Removal Kit, Murine Ear Wax Removal System). Because these drops can irritate the delicate skin of the eardrum and ear canal, use them only as directed.
If earwax buildup keeps happening, you may need healthcare checkups once or twice a year for regular cleaning. Your healthcare professional also may recommend that you use earwax-softening agents, such as saline, mineral oil or olive oil. These help loosen the wax so that it can leave the ear more easily.
Earwax removal by a healthcare professional
When too much wax builds up in the ear, a healthcare professional can remove it with a small, curved tool called a curet.
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Self care
You can get many ear cleaning home remedies over the counter. Most of these treatments, such as irrigation or ear vacuum kits, aren't well studied. This means they may not work and may be dangerous.
The safest way to clear your ears of excess wax is to see your healthcare professional. If you're prone to earwax blockage, your healthcare professional can show you safe ways to lessen wax buildup. For example, your healthcare professional may show you how to use ear drops or other earwax-softening agents. Don't use ear drops if you have an ear infection unless a healthcare professional recommends it.
Don't try to dig it out
Never try to dig out excessive or hardened earwax with items such as a paper clip, a cotton swab or a hairpin. You may push the wax farther into your ear and cause serious damage to the lining of your ear canal or eardrum.
Alternative medicine
Some people try to remove earwax themselves using a technique called ear candling, also called ear coning. This involves lighting one end of a hollow, cone-shaped candle and placing the other unlit end into the ear. The idea is that the heat from the flame will make a vacuum seal that draws wax up and out of the ear.
Ear candling isn't a recommended treatment for earwax blockage. Research has found that ear candling doesn't work. It also may burn or damage the ear.
Essential oils — such as tea tree oil or garlic oil — also are not proven treatments for earwax blockage. There is no data that shows they are safe for earwax removal or that they work.
Talk to your healthcare professional before trying any alternative remedies for removing earwax.
Preparing for your appointment
You're likely to start by seeing your healthcare professional. In some rare cases, your healthcare professional may refer you to a doctor with special training in ear disorders, called an ear, nose and throat specialist.
As you prepare for your appointment, it's a good idea to write a list of questions. Your healthcare professional may have questions for you as well, such as:
- How long have you been having symptoms, such as earache or hearing loss?
- Have you had any drainage from your ears?
- Have you had earache, trouble hearing or drainage in the past?
- Do your symptoms happen all the time or only sometimes?
