3 Reasons You Don’t Need to Clean Your Ears

Earwax plays a huge role in your day-to-day life. In fact, when most Canadians spend a major part of their day with wired or wireless earbuds inside their ears, all the attention is on earwax. It isn’t uncommon the find a thin coating of cerumen on your earbuds after taking them off. Cerumen, the medical name for earwax, is a substance that is naturally produced by the body.

Before the current digital revolution where work tasks and entertainment activities can be directly streamed to your earbuds for zoom calls or listening to your favorite Spotify playlist, earwax wasn’t at the front of everybody’s mind. However, right now, millions of Canadians are feeling self-conscious about earwax each time they remove their earbuds.

So, should you put more focus on ear cleaning to keep your favorite gadgets in pristine condition? The answer is not as simple as it seems. In fact, excessive ear cleaning is the last thing you want to do. Here’s why.

Ear Cleaning Happens Naturally

Your ear produces earwax in order to coat and protect the ear canal. The ear has a natural self-cleaning process as part of earwax production. Every time new wax is produced, it pushes the old wax outward. This process is designed to keep small particles out of your ear canal.

The old wax appears at the top of the ear canal, and this is what you can see peering through the inner ear. So, when it comes to keeping your ears and your earbuds clean, the only recommendation an audiologist will make is to gently wipe your inner ear while washing or with a warm and damp washcloth. There is no need to go inside the ear canal.

Earwax is Not Linked to Poor Hygiene

Earwax serves many essential purposes in your ear health. Firstly, it provides a moisturizing coating to the inner ear canal, ensuring the skin and the micro hair don’t go dry. Earwax also protects your ear by trapping small dust and dirt particles before they can reach deep into the ear canal. It also acts as a barrier against bacteria and other harmful organisms.

Finally, earwax absorbs the dirt and dead skin inside the ear canal and removes it once it is pushed outwards.

Cleaning Your Ear Canal Can Cause Damage

It is important to note that while earwax production is natural, some people produce more than others. In this case, they will need to wipe their inner ear clean more frequently. For older people, the earwax can become harder and drier, making it tough to wipe off. However, you can talk to your audiologist to find some gentle methods to aid inner ear cleaning, such as softening the dried wax with a few drops of baby oil.

While it can be tempting to remove more earwax by pushing a cotton-tipped swab inside the ear canal, you should never attempt to clean your ear canal. This could lead to issues and even permanent damage:

• Causing earwax buildup by pushing the wax farther into the canal.
• Rupturing the eardrum.
• Causing damage to the ear canal.
• Causing ear infection.

If you are concerned about dirty earbuds, you may want to talk to your audiologist regarding ear cleaning tips for excessive cerumen production. Alternatively, learning how to keep your inner ear clean and how to sanitize your earbuds could make a big difference. Remember not to push anything into your ear canal for cleaning purposes.