6 important secrets you need to know about that wax in your ears

As an audiologist working in a hospital settings I am opportuned to attend to many patients with different hearing concerns and complaints. Nine (9) in Ten (10) patients believed it is unhygienic to have earwax in their ears.

Earwax, also known as cerumen, is produced by glands in your ear canal and made up mostly of substances, including lysozyme, an antibacterial enzyme, fatty acids, alcohols and cholesterol.

Earwax is a secretions and it actually serves as one of your body's protective mechanisms. So when next anyone accuses you of being dirty by not cleaning your earwax, simply tell them “NO” you are not but you are actually healthy and your ears are well protected from infections and germs by having them in there.

Below are five things you need to know about your earwax 

You will always have cerumen in your ears whether you like it or not

The physiology of the human ear is designed in such a way that you will constantly produce earwax in your ears whether you like it or not. Earwax is secreted so that, ideally, you'll maintain just the right amount in your ear canals. Unless you have an earwax impaction and blockage, it's actually advisable to leave your earwax alone – don't try to remove it with cotton swabs or other objects.

Earwax helps to keep your ears lubricated

There have been a lot of complaints from my patients about feeling uncomfortable with their ears because it feels so dry and itchy. My simple response to them is this; consider after taking a shower, you left your body without rubbing your body lotion, how  do you feel? Obviously you feel dry and for some persons they feel irritated until they apply body lotion, then their body feels moisturized. Same applies to the ear; by cleaning earwax out, you will keep your ear canal dry and itchy. Earwax secretion keeps the ear canal lubricated. 

Earwax prevents dust, bacteria, and other germs

Earwax serves as protective mechanism which helps to keep way germs, dust and bacteria from entering and damaging your ear. It helps to trap dirt and also slow the growth of bacteria. 

Prevents skin irritation

Earwax helps to protect the skin of your ear canal from becoming irritated by water, because water can carry germs that are unseen to our eyes unless when carefully observed under microscope.

Earwax is self cleaning

The wax in your ears is self cleaning so you don’t have to worry about cleaning them. New earwax is secreted every now and then and when new ones are secreted old ones are pushed out. The ones that are pushed out will usually drop off unknown to us when we take our bath or are seen hanging around our earlobes. Unfortunately, many people mistakenly believe that earwax should be routinely removed for personal hygiene. This is not so. In fact, attempting to remove Earwax with cotton buds or other objects can result in damage to the ear and can be traumatic. These objects only push the wax in deeper, and can block the ear canal entirely. However, earwax around the ear lobes can be cleaned out but not the ones in the ear canals. So why not just leave them and let them be?

The colour of your earwax is determine by your gene

Just as the colour of the eyes is determined by variations in a person's genes, so is the colour and texture of your earwax is determined by your gene. Earwax ranges in color from light to dark brown or orange and in texture which can be wet, sticky, dry and crumbly. In children, earwax is usually softer and lighter than the earwax produced by adults. Children produce a lot of earwax, as compared to adults and this reduces as they grow older.

Africans and Europeans are known to produce wet earwax compared to dry earwax among East Asian populations. So you don’t have to worry again about your earwax for they are good for you.