Do You Need to Clean Your Ears?

Have you looked at your ears in a mirror recently? You might have noticed that there seems to be a buildup of wax around the inner ear and wonder whether it’s time to clean them. Cleaning your ears is typically not necessary and should only be done by a professional if you do experience an impaction. When evaluating whether or not your ears should be cleaned by an audiologist, consider the following information.

Are the ears self-cleaning?

You might have heard that your ears are self-cleaning. This is somewhat true. What this means is that most of the excess wax in your ear should be pushed out and slowly but surely removed from your ear. However, there are issues that can prevent this from being as effective as it should be. Examples of this include the hardening of earwax. If the wax inside your ear hardens, then it will not leak out of the ear as it should. Instead, it will create a blockage. It is for this reason that some people will require their ears to be cleaned.

Signs your ears need cleaning

You might be wondering whether there are any signs you should watch out for that your ears need cleaning. There are a few to consider. The first is a visual cue. You might actually spot a build of wax within or around the outer ear. This is one of the most common signs that your ears do require a good cleaning. It can also highlight the fact that you do have a problem with excess wax developing inside your ear. If that’s true then it will typically need to be removed fairly regularly.

You might also find that you are experiencing sensory issues caused by a buildup of wax. This can present itself as echoing inside the ear or a noise that isn’t there. Excess levels of earwax can be mistaken for tinnitus. The main difference here is that while tinnitus is typically a condition without a cure, an ear cleanout can solve the symptoms very quickly indeed.

Should you clean your own ears?

You can clean your own ears to an extent. This means that you are able to clean the outside of your ear and the outer ear. However, you should be wary of cleaning inside the ear itself and particularly digging deep with something like a cotton swab. This can cause damage to the ear or irritate the inside causing discomfort. Instead, it’s best to contact an audiologist to complete a professional ear cleaning. By doing this, you can make sure that you avoid the issues here completely.

Are dirty ears dangerous?

You’ll be pleased to hear that while having dirt in your ears can be irritating, it is certainly not dangerous and should not be a cause for alarm. As well as this, the issue can be easily rectified with the help of an audiologist. They’ll give you a quick clean and in minutes your ears will look and feel far better.