Earwax usually falls out on its own through movement of the jaw and through regular showering. You don’t need to interfere with your earwax as your ears self-clear naturally. If you want to clear your ears at home, you can put 2 or 3 drops of medical grade olive oil or almond oil in your ear twice daily for a few days. Over the next 1 to 2 weeks clumps of earwax should start to gradually fall out of your ear, especially at night whilst you’re lying down.
You may have some uncomfortable symptoms if your ear is blocked with earwax. Symptoms can include earache, hearing loss, ear infections, dizziness and ringing in your ear (tinnitus). Once the earwax has been removed, these symptoms should improve on their own. If the symptoms persist then you would need to speak to your GP.
A build-up of earwax can be caused by several things. The longer the wax stays in the ear canal, the longer it will take to fall out. Some people naturally have more wax in their ears or have narrower or hairy ear canals and can cause troublesome blockages. Also, the older you are the wax gets harder and is more difficult to fall out itself.
It is important not use your fingers or other long objects like cotton buds to remove earwax. This will push the wax further in and cause unpleasant symptoms. You can talk to an audiologist or health practitioner about earwax build-up as they can give you advice and offer treatments.
