Do you have earwax in your ears?

[Mashrums]

Feel really weird talking about this. Sorry if it's gross. I'm guessing my family has lots of earwax because my mum has always had her ears syringed. Whenever I have had a doctor look in my ears they always seem shocked that there is earwax in there. It's always an appointment unrelated and I don't have hearing issues or any ear pain/discomfort. When they look at me sternly and say "there's earwax in there" I think where else would it be?

Anyway, when my son was about a year old they looked in his ears and told me there's wax in there as if it shouldn't be. Now I guess with myself they think I should be doing olive oil in my ears everyday? But I forget because I don't have any ear problems, I'm only ever told by a doctor that there is wax there. Was I supposed to olive oil my son's ears from birth? Is it like brushing your teeth and I'm really gross to forget every night? Is it surprising to have earwax in your ears?

I know I should ask the doctor but I always feel awkward to ask because they say it in a way that I must know what they mean, like it's really obvious earwax shouldn't be found in ears. If nobody had ever looked in my ear with a magnifying glass and a bright light I would never have known there was anything odd about my ears.

No, I don’t think everyone is clearing their ears and you missed a memo!
Having said this, I do specifically pour water onto my DS’ ears when he is in the bath, but that is more to keep the outer folds clean than to go inside and fight wax.
If you don’t have any ear problems and your hearing is good, I don’t think you have a problem…

Everyone has earwax - it's just that some produce more than others. My Dad had problems and so do I - particularly as one inner ear is smaller than the other so it blocks me easily. Unless your son is experiencing pain, tinnitus or reduced hearing leave well alone.

I’ve always had issues with earwax.

I was having my ears syringed by the practice nurse in a sort of corridor. As another nurse walked by she commented to her that I had “ears like an old man”.

Don’t think she meant it in a kind way.

Thanks for the replies, glad to hear I didn't miss the memo!

BorsetshireBanality that's horrible it's not like you can choose what the insides of your ear do, I don't know why people comment on things like that.

I had an ear infection that I couldn't get the back of, just before the first lockdown and was quite surprised when the doctor said I had no earwax. I did used to have ear wax before the infection so not sure where it went!

My dd has loads and loads of ear wax, literally lumps of it almost daily. Ds has hardly any. I sometimes have, sometimes don't. Think everyone is just different! I use cotton buds (only around the very outer part of the ear) and then just wash well when I was mine/dc's hair.

Ears are designed to be self cleansing but some are better than others. Some people produce more wax. I do. I also according to the nurse have narrow inner ears so it gets stuck. She says it’s genetic. My dad was the same.

Some ear wax is normal and actually protects the ears. It's only a problem if it starts affecting your hearing. You generally don't need to remove the wax as the ears are self-cleaning. Some people do get impacted wax because of the anatomy of their ear canals or because they use cotton plugs/earphones/earplugs etc. Hence the saying
'don't put anything smaller than your elbow in your ear'

"Having said this, I do specifically pour water onto my DS’ ears when he is in the bath, but that is more to keep the outer folds clean than to go inside and fight wax."
I wouldn't do that. Why not just clean the outer folds with a flannel?

My daughter has major ear problems and it's mostly down to over production of wax.
We were told not to ever clean them out or put water in them because you can do damage.

My DH used to always have earwax problems and was constantly getting blocked ears, going to the doctor for it, getting them syringed. I bought him something called a Japanese ear scraper and it's solved it completely. Google it. I dont use one myself as I produce very little wax but his ears are ridiculous. We're all different.

My dad, my middle daughter and I all have narrow (and hairy!) ear canals. When my daughter was wee she kept failing the hearing test because of it. She often has great lumps of wax fall out. I once had my ears syringed and the nurse said she'd never seen anything like it proud face. Warm (not hot!) olive oil every so often seems the best treatment.

Please don't pour water into your child's ears, this is really asking for trouble, just clean the bits you can see with a flannel.

I come from a family of earwax havers. That is, DD and I have both had problems with terrible blocked ears caused by a build up of wax and we need to do the daily olive oil thing and/or have them syringed. Maybe once every five or six years.

I only do olive oil if it’s causing problems though, not routinely every day or anything.

At my last ear syringe appointment I was told I have small ear canals which I presume results in them filling up quick with wax. I was advised to do olive at night twice a week.

My sister has had recurrent ear infections all her life and that has always been put down to her ears not producing enough wax! Wax is the ear's own cleaning mechanism.

I have very little earwax. My younger dd has lots. She is rarely ill but on one of her few doctors visits the doctor looked in her ears, tut tutted a bit, shaking her head and said 'she has a lot of wax in her ears'. It sounded like a criticism and I asked what I should be doing about it. She said there was nothing I could do. I'm still not sure why the tut tutting was necessary.

I think syringing ears used to be fashionable but has now gone out of favour. A lot of GPs won't do it now and I think the view is you should leave your ears alone unless there's a problem which isn't going away by itself.

OP please don't become paranoid about your earwax or your DC's - it could lead to more problems if you end up going overboard with the the cleaning.

Agree with PP - just use a flannel to gently wipe around the ear, including the outer ear every time you shower / wash your face.

Don't pour water directly into the ear, and please don't use cotton buds. You may be removing more ear wax (and encouraging more production), may bruise the ear canal and cause an infection or - worst case - do some serious damage.

If you do find you are having problems with your hearing, get them professionally cleaned - it's perfectly normal.

Doctors/nurses I've seen about my ears seem to have a weird empathy fail. I get wax build up every few years, and can't hear, obviously used to get them syringed, now we have an ear irrigation thing we bought that seems to be keeping it under control for now.

First they say not to put anything on your ears in a very accusatory way, as if me stuffing things in my ears has caused the problem (I never do, I hate anything in my ears). A couple of times they've commented on how hairy my ears are, like it's disgusting (I did point out that might be why I have problems with wax 🤔).

It's like a weird blind spot, I never found them routinely so judgy and unempathetic about any other issues.

I think this is just maybe slightly poor communication on the part of the health professional. They are saying you have ear wax, but they mean you have an excessive amount of ear wax.
I think a lot of the time we say things with implied meaning and sometimes it can be confusing.

My son has loads of ear wax, I just clean around the ear canal with a cotton bud, or put a wet wipe on my finger and give them a quick clean. Not in the actual ear hole.
I had my ears syringed as a child, I've had numerous problems with my ears, so many ear infections, especially if I go swimming. I don't have particularly waxy ears. I wouldn't dream of putting anything in my ears, unless instructed by a doctor. I have Euston tube dysfunction as well so that's made me super cautious.

Side note: There's also a gene for dry earwax/no body odour. It's quite interesting. Gene ABCC11

Every couple of years one of my ears will reach crisis point and I will hardly be able to hear! I go to have them done every couple of years now, used to go to GP and a nurse would do it, but I think perhaps the NHS don't do it anymore (it's certainly not a priority) so last time I went to Specsavers and it was micro-vacuumed or something! Apparently that is safer than syringing. I did ask whether to use olive oil more regularly and the audiologist (?) said he wouldn't recommend it, as sometimes it can cause it's own problems- just to use olive oil for a couple of weeks before getting them done properly every two years (or when necessary).
I have never had people be so insensitive as what is described by some PP! Sorry to those that's happened to. It's nothing to be ashamed of, just something some people seem to have 🤷‍♀️

Since i stopped going swimming I haven't had any issues with wax.

My sinuses are my nemeses, I always have wax build up after a heavy head cold as the wax naturally increases to protect the ear drum. It's unfortunate but happens for a reason!