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Earwax, officially known as cerumen, is part of the ear’s natural cleaning system and serves a healthy purpose, protecting ears from incoming dirt, bacteria, bugs, dust, and noise pollution. You definitely need and want to have a build-up of earwax, but too much can lead to hearing loss. It feels natural to want to put something in your ears to pull wax out, but doing so can push wax deeper into the eardrum or puncture the eardrum.
Keep foreign objects out of your ears and try these three safe and effective ways to clean your ears instead.
1. Saline Solution
Directions:
- Mix 1 teaspoon of salt and 1/2 cup of warm water in a saucepan, mug or glass. Mix until the salt dissolves.
- Soak a cotton ball in the mixture.
- While sitting down, tilt your head sideways, with the ear you’re prepping to clean toward the ceiling.
- Take your soaked cotton ball and squeeze a few drops in your ear, careful not to drown your ear.
- Tilt your head to the opposite side and let the saltwater run out.
- Repeat steps on the opposite ear.
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2. Hydrogen Peroxide Solutions
Directions:
- Mix equal parts warm water and hydrogen peroxide (3%) in a mug or glass.
- Soak a cotton ball in the mixture.
- While sitting down, tilt your head sideways, with the ear you’re prepping to clean toward the ceiling.
- Take your soaked cotton ball and squeeze a few drops in your ear, careful not to drown your ear.
- Tilt your head to the opposite side and let the saltwater run out.
- Repeat steps on the opposite ear.
3. Baby or Mineral Oil Drops
Directions:
- Fill a medicine dropper with your choice of baby oil or mineral oil.
- While sitting down, tilt your head sideways, with the ear you’re prepping to clean toward the ceiling.
- Squeeze two to five drops of oil directly in your ear. Use a cotton ball to keep oil from running out.
- Let the oil sit in your ear for several minutes.
- Remove the cotton ball and gently flush out the ear wax with warm water.
- Repeat steps on the opposite ear.
Make Ear Cleaning Easier: A good time to clean your ears is right after you get out of the shower. The steam helps soften the wax.
Can You Smell That? Ear Odor Causes & Treatments
Do you smell that? An offensive smelling odor from the ear is often assumed to be a sign of infection but there are a few other non-infectious causes that also need to be considered. The odor may be associated with an ear discharge, ear wax, or something even more serious.
Causes of a Smelly Ear Odor
1. Hygiene
Excessive cleaning of the outer ear is more likely to result in offensive odors than the untouched ear canal. This is in stark contrast to other parts of the body where a foul odor is a sign of poor hygiene. By interfering with the microenvironment of the outer ear through cleaning with cotton wool q-tips, matchsticks or hairpins, the normal cleaning mechanism is disturbed.
The chance of injury and infection is greatly increased (otitis externa/swimmer’s ear). Usually, the discharge is odorless and clear but can progress as described below under infections.
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Other factors that may also affect the ear canal and disrupt the cerumen are water in the ears (bathing, swimming pool), detergents, shampoos, and allergic reactions usually due to these substances entering the outer ear.
2. Ear Infections
An infection of the outer and middle ear (otitis externa and media) is the most common cause of smelly ear discharge (otorrhea). A purulent discharge may appear white to pale yellow initially. Initially, the discharge may be odorless but can progress into a foul-smelling odor. With more chronic infections (like chronic otitis media) or discharge that is not easily expelled, the color may change to yellow to green. The reason for this is explained under Green Mucus. Necrotizing otitis externa is a more likely cause of smelly ear discharge.
Most of these infections are due to bacteria although fungal infections (otomycosis) may also be responsible. Discharge in a fungal infection is usually not as pronounced and may sometimes present just with a clear thin discharge (serous). Otomycosis usually affects
the outer ear. Immunocompromised patients are more likely to experience
chronic (persistent or recurrent) fungal infections of the middle ear (consider mucormycosis).
3. Cholesteatoma
A cholesteatoma is a keratin mass in the middle ear. It may be congenital (present from birth) or acquired and predispose the middle ear to chronic infections. In addition, it may cause erosion of the surrounding tissue and even the skull. In a cholesteatoma, the tympanic membrane (eardrum) may be intact. While there is no perforation, ear discharge is still able to exit into the outer ear through a retraction of the eardrum.
A cholesteatoma causes a chronic but scanty offensive smelling ear discharge. In the early stages, the condition is often painless and apart from the discharge, only an impairment of the hearing may be noticed. A cholesteatoma is a serious condition that needs immediate medical attention by an ENT specialist (otolaryngologist).
4. Tumors
Cancer of the ear can affect the outer, middle or inner ear, although temporal bone cancer may be responsible for outer ear lesions. In the outer and middle ear, the cancer may cause ulcerations and erode surrounding tissue. A foul-smelling blood-stained discharge and pain are often noted although at times this may not be present. It nevertheless has to be considered as a possible cause especially if there is any degradation of the sense of hearing.
Remedies
– Ear drops prepared from diluted white vinegar are effective in keeping the ear dry. It also acts as an antiseptic solution.
– The choice of antibiotic ear drops is always preferred when the infection is bacterial in origin. At times when the infection is substantially severe, your doctor may also prescribe oral anti-bacterial medications.
– Eating food with high nutritional value always helps boost your immunity. Maintain healthy immunity to ward off infections naturally.
– Make the ear wax soft and lose before you attempt to remove it. To do this, put a few drops of warm mineral oil in your ear passage and let it remain for a few hours by plugging the ear with a simple and clean cotton ball.
– Dip a Q-tip in rubbing alcohol and clean the outside ear canal once every week in a gentle manner. It helps clean the accumulated dirt and grime.