Gross earwax is actually a good thing

I hit a roadblock — not a concrete one, but it might as well have been. I was examining a cute little 20-month-old and just could not see her right eardrum. The culprit: a large mass of earwax.

I excused myself from the room and returned with a lit-up device with a tiny plastic spoon on its end — an ear curette, or as the kids like to call it, my “light saber.” With the mother's help, I was able to gently restrain the little girl on the exam table, reach into the ear canal with the spoon, remove the offending wax and see what I needed to see.

Mom was shocked, awed and also more than a little embarrassed by the impressive sized chunk of earwax that came out of her daughter's tiny ear canal. I quickly assured her that she was doing nothing wrong by leaving her child's earwax just where it was. The only reason that I removed the substance, I told the mother, was to get a good look at her child's tympanic membrane, or eardrum.

I like to remind parents that they should not try what I do at home. As the ear-nose-throat specialists like to say to the general public, nothing larger than an elbow should ever enter the ear canal. Using cotton swabs inside the ear can cause the wax, which normally accumulates on the walls of the ear canal, to be pushed still deeper into the ear and over the eardrum.

Earwax, also know as cerumen, is normal and serves a protective function. Experts at the American Academy of Otolaryngology explain that earwax lubricates the ear canal and helps trap dirt and dust particles, keeping them away from the eardrum. Lack of wax can cause ears to become dry and itchy, and attempts to remove wax at home can result in trauma to the ear canal or even perforation of the eardrum.

Otolaryngologists and officials at the Food and Drug Administration specifically caution against use of an ear candle, which is a long hollow candle marketed as an earwax removal device. Ear candles have not been proven to aid in wax removal, and attempted candling can result in burns to the face or hair, ear blockage due to candle wax or tears to the eardrum.

Ears are described as “self-cleaning,” since left alone, earwax naturally makes its way out of the ear canal. If earwax is excessively dry or plentiful, specialists note that adding a few drops of over-the-counter ear preparations, mineral oil, baby oil or glycerin into the ear canal can help moisten the cerumen and allow it to migrate out of the body. These drops should not be placed in the ear canal if the child has had ear tubes inserted.

The academy advises parents to seek the help of a physician if earwax builds up and blocks the ear, causing a condition referred to as cerumen impaction. This can cause children to experience ear itching, pressure or pain, ear canal odor or discharge, ringing of the ear (tinnitus), reversible hearing loss or vertigo.

• Dr. Helen Minciotti is a mother of five and a pediatrician with a practice in Schaumburg. She formerly chaired the Department of Pediatrics at Northwest Community Hospital in Arlington Heights.