Eh? What’s that you say deary? If this is a familiar question you find yourself asking your partner, it could mean one of a few things. Rather than feign interest in what they have to say you’re playing innocent; or your hearing has genuinely deteriorated; or your External Acoustic Meatus is a little clogged up with cerumen. In Lehman’s terms, your ears are full of gunk!

So where does this gunk—aka earwax—come from, why is it important, and why does it sometimes end up causing us a problem? Well firstly, there are glands in the skin of our external auditory canals called ceruminous glands, which create secretions which form with dead skin cells to produce earwax. Believe it or not, earwax actually serves an important purpose in the body—to protect our ear canals from water and other foreign matter, which could lead to infection. However, when earwax is not able to move through the ear canal as freely as it needs to, that’s when you can encounter problems. This could be due to an existing blockage in the ear canal, over production of earwax or your earwax becoming too hard and immobile. Also known as impacted earwax, these are all common issues you’ll likely encounter with age.

Aside from age, impacted earwax can be a symptom of an underlying health concern such as eczema, auto-immune disease, swimmer’s ear or simply a narrow ear canal. But not to worry. Rather than try to attack the problem with cotton buds—which will only serve to make the problem worse—why not visit an ear wax removal clinic—yes that’s a thing! Whilst symptoms can range from irritation to hearing loss, in most instances treatment can be provided. Your healthcare provider may prescribe medicinal ear drops, irrigation of the ear canal or a method of manual extraction—one of the most satisfying of which involves micro-suction.

To find out more, or to book an appointment on the Gold Coast, get in touch with one of the listed providers today.