Simple And Natural Home Remedies To Remove Ear Wax Easily

Did you know that sticking cotton buds into your ears, for ear cleaning, can be extremely harmful for your ears? This is because when you put something into your ears, attempting to remove ear wax, you are in the risk of pushing the wax further into the ear where it can become blocked! This is one of the most common causes for hearing loss. So what are some effective ear wax removal methods that you can start implementing at home, in order to get rid of this risky and rather embarrassing situation? Keep reading to find out.

What is Ear Wax?

Earwax is a brown or yellowish waxy substance naturally secreted by glands in the ear canal. It helps in protecting our ears from dust and other foreign particles from infecting the eardrum. Earwax is only harmful when it is produced in excess and builds up causing a blockage.

What are the Causes and Symptoms of Earwax?

Earwax Causes:

Excess earwax doesn’t automatically lead to blockage. Normally, earwax comes out of the ear opening naturally and is washed away. Problem only arises when earwax buildup takes place. Here are some causes that lead to that situation.

• Using cotton buds or Q-tips, bobby pins and even your fingers will only remove some earwax from the surface but pushes the rest of the wax deeper into the ear canal.
• Frequent usage of earphones or earplugs also lead to earwax blockage as it prevents earwax from naturally coming out of the ear canal.

Earwax Symptoms:

Take notes of these symptoms of earwax build up. If these symptoms persist for a significant amount of time, you need to visit your doctor.

• Ear pain
• Decreased hearing or partial hearing loss
• Ringing or buzzing in the ear
• Feeling of fullness in the ear
• Drainage from the ear canal
• Dizziness
• Odour coming from the ear
• Irritation or itchiness of the ear

Go to the hospital immediately if you have these symptoms:

• Severe spinning sensation.
• Loss of balance.
• Inability to walk.
• Vomiting.
• High fever.
• Sudden loss of hearing.

Home Remedies to Remove Ear Wax

If you don’t have the symptoms mentioned above or you believe that your ears are otherwise healthy (you don’t have a perforation or hole in your eardrum), you will be able to safely attempt earwax removal at home. One of the most renowned earwax removal treatment at home is as follows:

1. Oil Method

• First, you will need to soften the earwax. For a few days, apply several drops of baby oil, or mineral oil, or glycerine, or hydrogen peroxide into your ear canal.
• Once softened, the earwax is ready to be washed out. Tilt your head to the point where your ear canal is straight and use a rubber bulb syringe (they are inexpensive and can be found in pharmacies or in online stores) to gently flush warm water into the ear canal. The water needs to be at body temperature.
• Dry your ear with a towel or with a hair dryer set on the cool setting.

2. Salt Water method

Another effective way to remove ear wax at home is using the Salt Water method.

• Mix 1 teaspoon of salt in a half cup of warm water until the salt dissolves completely.
• Soak a cotton ball in this solution.
• Tilt your head pointing the affected ear up towards the sky.
• Squeeze the cotton ball to put a few drops of the solution into the affected ear.
• Stay in the same position for about 3-5 minutes.
• Afterwards, tilt your head in the opposite direction in order to allow the water to drain out.
• Clean the outer part of your ear with a clean cloth or towel to remove the softened wax.

3. Using Rubbing Alcohol

Here’s another beneficial earwax treatment at home using a Vinegar and Rubbing Alcohol solution:

• Mix equal parts of white vinegar and rubbing alcohol.
• Soak a cotton ball in this solution.
• Tilt your head pointing the affected ear up towards the sky.
• Squeeze 2-3 drops of this solution into the affected ear.
• Stay in the same position for about 5 minutes.
• Afterwards, tilt your head in the opposite direction in order to let the solution along with the earwax come out of the ear.
• Clean the outer part of your ear with a clean cloth or towel to remove the earwax.

4. Garlic Oil Method

This last remedy is our personal favourite remedy as it fills two needs with one deed. It is the Garlic-Infused Oil Treatment. Not only does it clear out earwax, it can also reduce the ear pain caused by infection.

• Take 1-2 teaspoons of warm (or slightly above body temperature) olive oil in a glass container.
• For every teaspoon of oil, take 1 crushed clove of garlic.
• Mix the garlic and the oil well and let it sit (without any additional heat) for about 30 minutes.
• Afterwards, remove or drain out the garlic from the oil.
• Now, warm the garlic-infused oil once again but make sure it’s not hot (it has to be just slightly above body temperature).
• Tilt your head pointing the affected ear up towards the sky.
• Using a dropper, put 2-3 drops of the oil into the affected ear.
• Stay in the same position for about 5 minutes.
• Then flip your body towards the opposite direction and let the excess oil or wax drain onto a towel or use a rubber bulb syringe to suck out the loose wax.

Ear Candling is not recommended! Ear candling is a renowned method of earwax removal that many people fall for. Ear candling does not have any proven benefits and can in turn cause burns, deposits of candle wax in the ear canal, wax blockage, and punctured eardrum. In addition to all of these, this practice may result in serious injury.

How to Prevent Earwax?

Taking earwax prevention measures is necessary, in order to prevent earwax from clogging your ear, especially if you know you’re prone to this situation.

You can often prevent earwax blockage by just getting rid of the habit of poking things into your ears like cotton buds, and other objects (that are already mentioned above) that push the wax deeper into the ear canal.

Some studies suggest that the glands in your ear canals produce high amounts of earwax if you don’t get enough quality omega-3s in your diet. Meaning that your earwax problems could be caused by a simple omega-3 deficiency. Here are some solutions to this:

• Consume wild-caught fish that are rich in omega-3 every week. Some of these fishes are: Mackerel, Salmon, Herring, Sardines and Anchovies.
• If you’re on a plant-based diet, you can take: Flaxseed oil, Chia seeds, Walnuts and Soybeans.

The presence of some earwax is normal and healthy. Our ears are self-cleaning and normally, the wax works its way out of our ears so there is no blockage. If a blockage does happen, and you have tried all the home remedies to remove ear wax mentioned above but nothing has worked out for you and the symptoms have only kept on persisting, you need to see a doctor in order to avoid an ear infection. We hope this piece of information was useful. DO share with us how was your Earwax removal experience using our simple techniques.