Hey guys you're probably here because you want to know all about earwax and
how to get rid of it safely well i'm going to answer that question along with
many other questions in this week's responding to your comments
where we look at fun questions we look at science-based questions but most
importantly we always look at the evidence Groot C
hey Abraham may i ask you to make a video on treating earwax also
love your videos they are always so helpful Groot C thank you for your
comment sending you and everyone who's watching
this video awesome vibes wherever you are in the world and of
course i can do a video on it how can i possibly say no to Groot
my favourite Marvel character so let's begin with a little about earwax it's
basically a buildup of cerumen sebum dead cells sweat hair
and foreign materials like dust earwax is a normal physiological substance
which actually protects the ear canal now the cerumen that we just mentioned
also has antibacterial and antifungal properties
useful for you to know that now the amount that we produce
varies between individuals and earwax can either be dry ear wax
or wet earwax you're probably now thinking to yourself who knew that
earwax could be so interesting so as i was saying we have two types of ear wax
dry earwax and wet ear wax children more commonly have wet ear wax
and the elderly more commonly have dry earwax also those
from Asia tend to have more dry ear wax than
we earwax and it's the dry ear wax which is more
likely to become compacted and cause symptoms and complications so
how can you tell if you have an earwax buildup well a lot of people
are asymptomatic so they show no symptoms but some people
do show symptoms and the most common for example would be
difficult hearing a blocked ear ear discomfort
tinnitus itchiness and even vertigo but some experts do believe that earwax
isn't a direct cause of vertigo now you may have an earwax buildup due to many
different reasons some people naturally produce more
earwax other people have hairy ear canals or thin narrow ear
canals so they're more prone to a buildup
age can be a factor hearing aids can cause
an increased earwax buildup basically anything that you put in your ear
can potentially cause the wax to go further in and a build up to occur
you may also have a history of water exposure and this water can actually
cause the earwax to expand which could potentially cause a complete
blockage of the ear so as you can see there's many different reasons for an
earwax buildup okay so you now know all about earwax
why we get it what it is why it builds up but what about treatment
well first of all please do not place your fingers
or any foreign objects in your ear this includes cotton buds
and i know you've probably heard it 100 times but i'm going to tell you 101
times because all you're going to do is you're
going to push that wax further in the ear canal
and it's going to impact and over the time you're going to keep doing it
and this impaction is going to get thicker and thicker and thicker
and then it gets really hard to get out secondly
if you're using a cotton bud it's very easy to push it in too much
and pierce your eardrum and believe me this does happen
now the good news is that earwax usually falls out on its own
but if it is starting to build up and it's starting to block your ear then i
do find olive oil works very well for patients
it's going to help soften that earwax and help it fall out naturally now i
know what you're probably thinking a lot of you're going to be thinking
olive oil i need something stronger than that i need something better than that
but olive oil actually works really well you can pick
up a small bottle of olive oil from any pharmacy really
and it comes with a dropper that's the most important thing
the usual dose for it is two to three drops in the affected ear
twice a day please follow the instructions that come with it
so you're using it properly for maximum effect now please remember
it might not tell you this on the instructions to press down on your
tragus but when you put the drops in press down
on your tragus it's this little bit here press it a few times and that's going to
cause it to evenly spread through the ear canal and it's going to
help it go further into the ear which is what you really want
now the key to getting results when you're using olive oil for ear wax is to
use it every single day when you have an earwax build up
so put a reminder on your phone so you don't forget to use it
and try to use it for about two weeks now you're gonna start to see results
when the wax starts to fall out it's naturally just going to fall out
either throughout the day or at night time when you're sleeping especially
that's when it tends to fall out the most so you might wake up with a load of
ear wax around your ear or on your pillowcase i'm sorry about
that but it's a good sign because it shows that
it's working there are also other ear drops and treatments that you can get
from your pharmacy so the best advice i can give
all of you is to speak to your pharmacist first so they can assess your
symptoms and then advise the appropriate
treatment for you but i also want to give you a little more information
to consider when purchasing these products for example
sodium bicarbonate ear drops quite popular for earwax as well
but it can cause dryness of the ear canal also
urea hydrogen peroxide ear drops or docusate sodium ear drops
again quite popular for earwax but it can irritate the ear canal as well
so it's just worth mentioning that you're aware of these also please do not
use ear candles or ear vacuums for earwax there's no
evidence that they work for earwax removal
and also they can be very dangerous so there you have it Groot and anyone else
watching i hope you find this video helpful
but please remember that if your ear wax hasn't cleared after five days
or your ear is completely blocked and you're struggling to hear you need to
make an appointment to speak to your healthcare professional
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