Professional Ear Wax Removal in Toronto
The role of earwax
Our ear canals produce a waxy oil called cerumen or ear wax. Ear wax can be gray, orange or yellow-ish in colour. Earwax in healthy amounts is actually a good thing for our ears. The wax protects our ears from debris, dead skin cells, dust and foreign particles, and earwax naturally migrates out of the ears. This actually makes our ears self-cleaning. The absence of earwax can result in dry, itchy ear canals.
Excessive ear wax buildup
Different people produce different amounts of wax. Some ears are prone to producing more wax than is necessary, which can lead to wax buildup. A wax buildup only becomes a concern when the wax creates a blockage in the ear canal. This can in turn prevent the migrating wax to do its job and clean our ears, which can lead to infections. Other concerns of wax blockage include: temporary hearing loss, tinnitus, ear pain, sensation of fullness in the ears, or discomfort in the ears.What causes cerumen impaction?
The most common cause of wax blockage is actually created when people try to clean their ears by removing their own wax at home with Q-tips, bobby pins, cotton or any other objects. Wearing earphones or earbuds can also cause some wax buildup. This is because in both cases, the Q-tip, cleaning tool or earphone can prevent the wax from migrating out naturally, thus allowing it to buildup in the canal and eventually, potentially causing a wax blockage in the ear. There’s an old saying that goes: “Never put anything smaller than your elbow in your ears”. While this isn’t always realistic advice, it does hold true, to prevent wax buildup and blockage.
Toronto Ear wax Removal and Cerumen Management Services
At AudioSense, we can remove the wax for you, safely. We use specialized tools called curettes and irrigators, and we have been trained to do this. Depending on whether the wax in your ear canals is hard or soft, we may recommend an oil treatment, where we would ask you to put drops of mineral oil or natural oil in your ears to soften the wax, in order to allow us to remove it when we see you.