Everyone’s ears create earwax. It’s one of the human body’s more unpleasant forms of protection against natural elements – special mention to excessive sweating here! For most people, earwax is not a bother more than an occasional itchy ear. In some cases, however, wax can build up to obstruct the ear canal. This can lead to sensations of hearing loss, tinnitus or general pain and discomfort. And during this particularly humid time of year, your ears are likely to produce more wax than usual. So if you feel the symptoms of a wax buildup, it’s time to get those ear canals cleared out!
One of the most common methods of wax removal is syringing, or irrigation. This method involves getting warm water into the ear canal to “flush out” the wax. Most GP’s will be able to offer this technique if you find yourself with a wax buildup. It may be worth using wax drops as well to soften the wax before the procedure. However, in cases of repeated ear infections or perforated eardrums, your doctor may advise against syringing. Our ears are very sensitive and sometimes flushing water into them isn’t the best way forward! In such cases, however, there are alternative methods.
Arguably the more popular method of wax removal is by micro-suction. The concept here, as the name suggests, is to gently suck out the wax from the ears. This is a safe and painless way of removing earwax if a bit noisy being so close to the eardrum. For this procedure, you need a big micro-suction machine which most GP’s don’t have onsite. If this is the case, they may refer you to an ENT, or to certain audiologists with the right equipment.
Falls of Sound is one such audiology clinic. Micro suction allows us to remove earwax or any other debris lodged in your ear canal. This also lets us clear out any wax blocking your eardrum before we do a hearing test for example. Once we’ve taken out the wax, we also include a quick hearing screen. If the sensation of hearing loss was not due to a wax blockage, we need to know! And if you are one of our existing hearing aid wearing patients, we offer wax removal at half price.