How to clean and keep your ears healthy

From a medical point of view, the ears usually clean themselves, so that active cleaning is usually not necessary. Nevertheless, people produce different amounts of ear wax  (med .: cerumen). So it happens again and again that a clogged ear impairs hearing performance.

There is no earwax overproduction. Everyone is different. One ear produces more, the other less. Not to forget: the secretion is healthy and important. Its function is to remove dirt and bacteria. It arises in the wax glands, medically called glandulae ceruminosae. The glands are located in the anterior ear canal. Only there is the secretion. The glands that secrete it are slightly altered sweat glands. 

In general, it consists of more than 1000 substances, not all of which are known by a long way. The cerumen also contains antibacterial agents to make it as difficult as possible for the little intruders. This is another reason to leave enough wax in your ears. Because this can prevent infections such as otitis media. The reason for a clogged ear is an impaired removal of the ear wax. Then only liquid will help to dissolve it. 

• Step 1: Purposely let some lukewarm water run into your ear when showering or bathing.
• Step 2: Chewing movements stimulate the ear to transport the liquid to the outside.
• Step 3: Wipe the liquid that runs out after a few minutes from the auricle with a handkerchief.
• Step 4: If there is no improvement, use a spray or a rinse solution from the pharmacy to clean your ears.
• Step 5: still not better? Please see an ear, nose and throat doctor (ENT).

If you want to rinse your ears yourself, you should pay attention to a few safety instructions, as the ear irrigation can cause damage to the eardrum due to excessive pressure if it is not carried out properly . An increased water temperature also affects the sensitive equilibrium organ. In general, ear irrigation should only be performed on healthy ears without infections or damage to the eardrum. 

Performing an ear irrigation:

• If you want to do an ear irrigation yourself, all you need is a balloon syringe. These are available in pharmacies. 
• After cleaning the syringe, it is filled with water at 37 degrees Celsius.
• To cleanse, tilt your head to one side and pull your ear back and up. 
• Insert the tip of the balloon syringe into the ear canal, squeeze the balloon and rinse the ears with the water.
• The dirty water is best drained over the sink or bowl.
• Repeat this process until the ear is free of wax.

Cotton buds are not at all suitable for cleaning ears, because they often push the cerumen in front of the eardrum, which leads to the formation of a plug  . Ear wax is a natural protective film that has a killing effect on germs and bacteria and is used to clean the ear canals. When using cotton swabs, this protective film is pushed into the ear canal, where it can clump together and dry out. Damage to the eardrum, ear pain and, in the worst case, tinnitus  or acute hearing loss are not infrequently the result of improper use. 

To get an idea of ​​how to clean the ears, it is worth taking a look inside the ear. The ear canal becomes narrower and narrower deeper in the ear. After this "bottleneck" it expands again before it ends at the eardrum. This funnel shape in the first few centimeters explains why it makes no sense to remove ear wax with a cotton swab. This is because it automatically gets into an increasingly narrow area when you try to remove it mechanically. Therefore you have to loosen the wax in order to let it drain outwards. 

Nevertheless, many believe that they can clean their ears with ear buds. Perhaps because these are often used to care for the auricle in infants. But they do not have to be placed directly in the ear canal: the skin in the ear is very thin and not designed for mechanical friction. Even the “cotton wool” ends of the swab can injure the skin, creating space for bacteria that can cause inflammation when cleaning the ears.