Earwax Cleaning – Does Ear Candling Really Work?

Unlike the washed-up whale that had a foot-long column of earwax in its skull, your ears will only ever collect a small amount of earwax, but it can feel like it’s a lot more, and the smell might bother you too! (Depending on your ancestry, your earwax may or may not smell bad.)

While earwax may be gross, it serves an important purpose. It helps to stop dust and other unwanted objects from going into your ears, and it stops bacteria and fungi from growing in your ear canal. Any of these can lead to an ear infection, so your earwax is like the bodyguard of the ear.

But sometimes, your ears can create too much earwax. Or worse, the earwax can get impacted, which can make you feel dizzy, give you headaches, and temporarily affect your hearing. When this happens, it’s time to get the earwax out.

If you’ve been tempted by videos claiming you can remove earwax with ear candling, turn off YouTube and listen to an audiologist. Using earwax candles is dangerous.

To help you decide how to clean out your ears, I’ve listed some safer ways below so that you can make an informed decision.

What Is an Ear Candle?

Please don’t try this!

The idea behind ear candling is that the heat of the candle will create a vacuum that will pull out your earwax. No documented study says that ear candles are effective, and even though many proponents claim that the wax they show is removed earwax, it is usually just the residue from the end of the candle.

Because a flame is involved, there have been numerous reports of people setting their hair on fire, burning themselves, and even starting fires in their homes. The FDA warns against using ear candles.

Is Cleaning Ears with Q-tips or Cotton Swabs Safer than Ear Candling?

People have been using cotton swabs in their ears for decades, but this is another terrible way of trying to get earwax out of your ear canal. There’s a reason why we say you should never put anything smaller than an elbow in your ear.

People assume that the end of the cotton swab will collect the earwax as they roll it around, but this really just pushes the earwax further down the ear canal. This causes the earwax to become impacted, which will require professional removal.

When using cotton swabs, you also run the risk of perforating your eardrum. Although people say they would never let that happen, your arm might get unexpectedly knocked or you might slip, instantly pushing the cotton swab too deep.

Never use cotton swabs in children’s ears! They might move suddenly.

Good Alternatives to Candling Ears or Using Q-tips

Any of the following methods can help, but if your earwax is already impacted, it’s probably too late for a home remedy. Before I list these…

Don’t put any type of eardrops, liquid, or oil in your ear if you have a current or recent ear infection, ear surgery, or ear trauma. The drops can go into your middle ear, causing permanent damage.

You can buy a kit for earwax removal in most pharmacies and superstores. But there’s no need to spend extra pennies on one of these when you can buy eardrops instead.

An earwax kit can vary in its offerings:

• Most just include a bottle of eardrops and a cloth. Simply follow the instructions on how to insert the drops for the number of recommended days, and, hopefully, the earwax will fall out.

• Some kits have a battery-operated spiral swab that claims to break up the earwax. Just like cotton swabs, this can push your earwax further down into your ear canal and cause it to become impacted.

• Other kits have a battery-operated, handheld vacuum that will vacuum out softened earwax. Safer than cotton swabs, results vary depending on how much earwax you have and how impacted it has become.

This can work, but we don’t recommend any that use a syringe. You might use the wrong pressure and cause an infection. Spray bottles like the Rhino Ear Washer are safer because the trigger delivers the right amount of pressure.

You can buy these over the counter to reduce earwax buildup. Some recognized brand names are Debrox, Rite Aid, and Murine.

Mix 3% hydrogen peroxide with lukewarm water, and rinse out your ears by pouring in a little at a time. Hold a bowl under the ear to collect the runoff. Never use straight hydrogen peroxide; it will dry out your ear canal and make it itchy.

This is one of the safer methods of softening your earwax. Simply put one or two drops in your ear once or twice a day, and, after a few days, the wax will be soft enough to fall out.

However, if you have any allergies to the oil you’re using, don’t use this method.

The best way to remove earwax is to have a professional do it for you. At Cornerstone Audiology, we can remove all your earwax safely in five minutes or less. Thanks to the instruments we use, we’ll be able to see when it’s all gone.

Earwax Removal in Lubbock and Snyder

You can rest assured that we have many years of experience in removing earwax for our West Texas patients. We are particularly proud of our Earigator tool because it ensures that your earwax is removed quickly, safely, and comfortably.

The Earigator keeps the water at body temperature and regulates the delivery of water pressure, so the eardrum stays safe. Unlike with ear candling, there is no risk of burns! And because we can also see inside the ear canal with LED illumination and magnification, we can target your earwax effectively.

Another benefit of having a hearing clinic take care of your earwax blockage is that you can choose to have us check your hearing after removal to make sure that’s what was causing your hearing loss. Even if you have no history of hearing loss, it is always wise to have a baseline set of results to compare it to for any future hearing problems.

Book your earwax removal appointment at our Lubbock or Snyder location, or call us. We look forward to helping you hear clearly again.