How to Clean our Ear Canals?

In the human body there are some natural fluids secreted by various organs for cleaning and maintaining the organs.

Some of them are:-

• Tears from the eyes,
• Saliva from the mouth,
• Mucus from the throat/nose,
• Sweating from the skin.
• Wax from the ears.

Whenever the above fluids are secreted in excess, they need cleaning.

Ear wax is an important thing in human body’s cleaning mechanism, protecting the ear drums and the ear canal from dirt, bacteria and other small insects entering the ears. Sometimes, when the accumulation of wax is more, it will be necessary to clean the ears.

Cleaning the ear canals by cotton swaps, cotton buds, safety pins, hair- pins, sticks and feathers of chicken etc. are not advisable. It is dangerous and risky to clean the ear canals using any foreign material; the ear drum/s may get damaged, causing hearing problems.

We can clean the ear canals using Hydrogen Peroxide solution and a ear syringe obtained from a drug store.
We must:-

• fill the ear syringe with hydrogen peroxide,
• tilt our head back and to the side, allowing the ear to face upwards,
• carefully insert the end of the syringe into the ear and squirt a few drops
• hear and feel fizzing or popping sound caused by hydrogen peroxide reacting with the wax.
• tilt the head after sometime to allow the liquid to drain out into a tissue paper.
• repeat the same process for the other ear.

Hydrogen Peroxide cleaning should not be done more than once or twice a week. People having a perforated ear drum/s and those with some ear problem/s must not do Hydrogen Peroxide cleaning. If the earwax blocking or leakage is abnormal, it is advisable to consult an ENT Specialist, instead of having self medication and treatment.