Excessive earwax
Excessive earwax is the most common cause of acute (sudden) hearing loss. About 2.3 million people each year have problems with earwax sufficient to require intervention, especially those using hearing aids or earbud type headphones and hearing protection.
Before earwax fully occludes (blocks) the ear canal, it’s important to know that hearing will have already been affected. The ear canal acts as a resonator, like the sound box of a guitar. Imagine how different a guitar would sound if it were half full of earwax!
Unlike the guitar, that amplifies all sounds from the strings, the ear canal's natural amplification of sounds (resonance) peaks for high pitch (3.4kHz) sounds required for understanding speech (clarity). The ear canal acts to naturally amplify these sounds through resonance, determined by the length of the ear canal.
The reduction of resonance with the presence of excessive earwax can make communicating with family, friends and people at work more difficult as sounds are less clear. As we get older the majority of adults typically lose some high pitch hearing and, will often attend Ear Clinic hoping their hearing problem is caused by excessive earwax.
If excessive earwax is not removed, hearing difficulties worsen and patients often report a gradual increase in discomfort and itching. Once the ear canal is occluded (blocked) by the earwax, resolution is often sought as a matter of urgency as the patient fails to hear and so communicate.
Patients cannot see inside their own ear canals as excessive quantities of earwax build, leading to an urgent need for treatment when the ear canal eventually becomes occluded.
The accumulation of an excessive earwax and poor hearing can also be compounded by patients as follows:
If a patient has treatment for the removal of excessive earwax, then we advise making a further follow-up appointment before the ear is likely to become blocked again. Especially prior to taking a holiday in warmer countries.
See Management of Excessive Earwax in the Learn More section below.
Before earwax fully occludes (blocks) the ear canal, it’s important to know that hearing will have already been affected. The ear canal acts as a resonator, like the sound box of a guitar. Imagine how different a guitar would sound if it were half full of earwax!
Unlike the guitar, that amplifies all sounds from the strings, the ear canal's natural amplification of sounds (resonance) peaks for high pitch (3.4kHz) sounds required for understanding speech (clarity). The ear canal acts to naturally amplify these sounds through resonance, determined by the length of the ear canal.
The reduction of resonance with the presence of excessive earwax can make communicating with family, friends and people at work more difficult as sounds are less clear. As we get older the majority of adults typically lose some high pitch hearing and, will often attend Ear Clinic hoping their hearing problem is caused by excessive earwax.
If excessive earwax is not removed, hearing difficulties worsen and patients often report a gradual increase in discomfort and itching. Once the ear canal is occluded (blocked) by the earwax, resolution is often sought as a matter of urgency as the patient fails to hear and so communicate.
Patients cannot see inside their own ear canals as excessive quantities of earwax build, leading to an urgent need for treatment when the ear canal eventually becomes occluded.
The accumulation of an excessive earwax and poor hearing can also be compounded by patients as follows:
- Wearing hearing aids or communication devices in the ear canal
- Trying to remove earwax with a cotton bud. Can be accompanied by pain as wax is pushed against the tympanic membrane (eardrum).
- Using oils and drops. Oils will typically cause the earwax to soak-up the oil and expand like a sponge, occluding the ear canal. This is often unexpected by the patient who has not arranged an appointment to have the earwax removed, before using ear drops.
- Water entering the ear canal when showering
- Water entering the ear canal when swimming, typically when on holiday. This may also lead to an increased risk of infection as unchlorinated water is trapped in the ear canal behind the earwax.
If a patient has treatment for the removal of excessive earwax, then we advise making a further follow-up appointment before the ear is likely to become blocked again. Especially prior to taking a holiday in warmer countries.
See Management of Excessive Earwax in the Learn More section below.
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See our Contact page here for more details.