This Morning: Dr Phillipa reveals link between earwax and stress
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People often overlook their ears in their daily routines, despite the time-honoured warning to clean behind them when they wash. This is because ears clean themselves, cycling lubricating wax around the inner canals. Sometimes, however, there is too much wax for the body to process, leading to health problems.
How often should you clean your ears?
Ear health rarely factors into people’s daily hygiene routines for one reason: it doesn’t need to.
Ear, nose and throat specialists recommend people leave their ears alone in most cases unless they have unusual wax buildup.
Some people suffer from excessive wax, which can cause hearing problems if left unattended.
Problems caused by excessive wax may include:
- Hearing loss
- A cough
- A full feeling in the ear
- Ear itching
- Dizziness
- Tinnitus (ringing ears)
- Earache
US-based audiologists Alexandra Audiology recommended people should see an audiologist if they have any of these issues.
Many of these issues can be debilitating, requiring specialist care.
Audiologists can effectively diagnose problems and address excess or compacted wax if this is the root cause.
But in some cases, they are little more than a nuisance, in which case self-cleaning is possible.
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Alexandra Audiology offered a way people can safely clean the inside of their ears.
Their non-invasive solution requires people to clean around the outside of their ear with a damp washcloth.
Doing so eliminates excess dirt and wax, even more so if people use baby oil first.
The audiologists also expanded on what people should avoid during cleaning.
They said hydrogen peroxide, which some experts have recommended in the past, should not factor into ear cleaning.
Ear candles are also ill-advised, as they can cause “injury and burns”.
Specialists also recommend people don’t use cotton buds, which can push wax much further into the ear.
In more severe cases, people risk puncturing their eardrum and cause hearing loss, nausea and even loss of taste.
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