Health

Ear Wax Impaction and Effect on Tinnitus

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Are you suffering from a case of ringing in your ears? Are you very worried about what is causing it and what you can do about it? One of the first things you must do when you get Tinnitus is to get your ear wax checked out. Accumulated or hardened ear wax can over time disable the functions of the eardrum. You essentially go partially deaf or even fully deaf if the eardrum is not able to vibrate. This then means that your brain doesn’t process the same amount of auditory signals that it does usually. Sensing a silence and assuming that your ears have stopped working, your brain then invents a noise that only you hear. This is essentially what you call Tinnitus.

Thankfully, Tinnitus caused by ear wax impaction is easily solved, if you take the right approach to treating it. First and foremost, the smartest decision would be to visit an ENT. ENT clinics are set up to professionally remove your ear wax, with the right tools. They have magnifying equipment and ear wax softeners that allow the doctor to carefully and cleanly dislodge hardened ear wax. The ear wax is first softened before it is removed. 

If you don’t want to visit an ENT clinic, you can try a ear wax softener at home. These softeners that you can buy over the counter are usually softeners that have hydrogen peroxide in them. At the right dosage, hydrogen peroxide is excellent with ear wax removal. You can learn more about Hydrogen Peroxide Tinnitus connection here. With these solutions, you can use a dispenser to gently release about 3 to 4 drops of the solution in each ear that is affected. Then, after a brief wait, you flush it out with warm water. The water flushing will allow ear wax to dislodge and flow out. When your impacted ear wax is removed, relief from Tinnitus can be immediate. 

Most people are in a hurry to remove their ear wax and try to use Q-tips. This is however not at all recommended. While Q-tips are good for removing ear wax around the peripheral and just inside your ear canal, they are not meant to be inserted anywhere close to the eardrum. If you don’t use the Q-tips properly, you can easily cause eardrum injury that can become permanent in nature. 

Even while using a specialized hydrogen peroxide ear wax softener, it is highly recommended that you follow the instructed dosage. Sometimes, it takes a few uses before the ear wax becomes soft enough to get dislodged. Many people make the mistake of using the ear wax solution quickly and many times a day, in the hopes of flushing it out sooner. This is however detrimental and can even prove harmful, potentially even exacerbating your Tinnitus.