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Earwax blockage occurs when earwax (cerumen) builds up in your ear or becomes too hard to wash away naturally. Earwax is a helpful and natural part of your body's defenses. It cleans, coats and protects your ear canal by trapping dirt and slowing the growth of bacteria.
If you're prone to earwax blockage, your health care provider can show you safe ways to reduce wax buildup at home, such as using ear drops or other earwax-softening agents. People shouldn't use ear drops if they have an ear infection unless it's recommended by a health care provider.
If your eardrum doesn't contain a tube or have a hole in it, these self-care measures may help you remove excess earwax that's blocking your ear canal: Soften the wax. Use an eyedropper to apply a few drops of baby oil, mineral oil, glycerin or hydrogen peroxide in your ear canal. Use warm water.
If your eardrum doesn't contain a tube or have a hole in it, these self-care measures may help you remove excess earwax that's blocking your ear canal: Soften the wax. Use an eyedropper to apply a few drops of baby oil, mineral oil, glycerin or hydrogen peroxide in your ear canal. Use warm water.
Talk with your health care team if you have concerns about your earwax or concerns that you may have a wax blockage. They can remove excess wax in the clinic using a small instrument called a curette, or suction or other specialized methods.
Soften the wax. Use an eyedropper to apply a few drops of baby oil, mineral oil, glycerin or diluted hydrogen peroxide in your ear canal. Use warm water. After a day or two, when the wax is softened, use a rubber-bulb syringe to gently squirt warm water into your ear canal.
With plugged ears, your eustachian tubes — which run between your middle ear and the back of your nose — become blocked. You may experience a feeling of fullness or pressure in your ears. You may also have ear pain, dizziness and muffled hearing.
When too much wax builds up in the ear, it can be removed by a health care provider using a small, curved tool called a curet.
Over time, earwax can block the ear canal and keep sound waves from passing through. Earwax removal can help restore hearing. Ear infection or unusual bone growths or tumors. In the outer or middle ear, any of these can cause hearing loss. Ruptured eardrum, also known as tympanic membrane perforation.
Ear infection or ear canal blockage. Your ear canals can become blocked with a buildup of fluid (ear infection), earwax, dirt or other foreign materials. A blockage can change the pressure in your ear, causing tinnitus.