Ear Wax
EAR WAX
Ear wax is essentially shedding of skin and material from our ear canal. It begins from our ear drum and slowly migrates outwards.
Ear wax can unfortunately get built up, and block our ear canals if the canals are narrow, tortuous or if there are external objects such as cotton buds, which push the wax further into the canal. This can lead to pain, ear discharge and a blocked ear/ hearing loss.
Ear wax build-up is often characterised by the following symptoms:
- Feeling of fullness in the ear
- Pain in the ear
- Hearing difficulties
- Ringing in the ears
- Itchiness in the ear
- Discharge or odour from the ears
Treatment often includes the use of cerumenolytic solutions that can dissolve the ear wax for easier removal or olive oil drops to soften ear wax so that it can be easily removed by an ENT specialist. Never attempt to remove your child’s ear wax by yourself or with instruments. You are instrumenting blind and this can cause trauma to the ear canals, ear drum or worse still the important structures within the middle ear. Do not gamble with your child’s ears. Allow an ENT specialist to clean it for your child.
