Can earwax make you go deaf?

If you’ve ever looked closely at a tiny chunk of earwax, also medically known as cerumen, you might have wondered – can this disgusting and seemingly useless substance actually make me go deaf? Fear not my friend, for in this article we shall delve into the murky depths of our ear canals, explore the significance of earwax/ cerumen and determine whether it has the potential to cause hearing impairment. Spoiler Alert: your internal body is smarter than that!

What exactly is Cerumen anyway?

Let’s begin with some basic biology – did you know that our ears produce wax naturally and continually? Yes indeed, every day without fail. This gooey sticky mess isn’t an accident or something arbitrarily disgusting concocted by our bodies just to annoy us; on the contrary, it does serve a very fundamental purpose in keeping our ears healthy!

As mentioned earlier, the scientific name for earwax is “”. It’s produced by a combination of honeycomb-like structures called sebaceous glands and sweat glands (apocrine). The sweat gland component produces water together with specific chemicals such as lactic acid which gives cerumen its acidic property whiles enzymes from the sebaceous gland facilitates breaking down bacteria within accumulated wax.

With all this, I am sure like many people out there you must be wondering…Why do I even need any sort of substance blocking my Eustachian tubes or clogging up my eardrums?” Let’s paint a picture theme here folks:

Imagine your favorite pair of high-limited edition-designer-sound-sophisticated headphones (let’s say TONE) but suddenly discovered they aren’t performing their acoustic quality magic anymore. Every time sound waves try passing through those once fine designed pads now sorta defective due to dirt build-up & debris particles get stock via fine mesh wired lines making it harder to hear music & leading to devastating sound quality, “tsssk

Now, imagine yourself…same scenario but this time no cotton buds or medical aid involved. Exciting right? Okay Okay thats a joke! hear me out!

If earwax didn’t exist, incredible as that is , our inner ears would be constantly exposed to dirt, debris particles and who knows what else readily floating in the air waiting to get stuck there causing damage.

Can Cerumen Really Cause Deafness?

At this point you must already have guessed where we are heading right? So I’m just going to cut straight some soap here:

Cerumen can’t really make you go deaf.

Ever heard of the term ‘self-cleaning mechanism’? That’s exactly what your body does with cerumen: it moves excess wax outwards from deep in your eardrum through simple jaw movements (chewing) facilitated by something called cilia. Heard the term before?, Cilia are tiny hair-like projections found lining organs including our respiratory tract responsible for sweeping unwanted materials from lungs towards trachea typically expelled during coughs. They too reside in external auditory canal helping move wavy layers of adherent cerumen after which they fall off naturally hence regular exclusion/elimination of old non-adherent pieces – how clever our bodies are!

Even with all these natural processes taking place every day though, we’ve seen souls desire super PERFECT hearing either self-manipulating for home remedy with an alternative beyond saying actually “I want cleaning done!”

Yes -so despite its significance like many things involving health (#SwallowingDisinfectantChallenge), anytime people try self-diagnosing and treating their ears without consulting professionals or using certified supplies..problems arise most times especially ear perforation traced back.

Wax Blockages

Occasionally ceruminous impaction phenomenon develops (A foreign object, such as a cotton swab, hair or even buildup) that involves total blockage. Cerumen can become hard and dehydrated when dust gets attached making eardrum anchorage impossible due to complete obstruction of air flow leading to conductive hearing loss upto 30db if left untreated.

Though these occurences are quite rare there’s never too big an emphasis on this particular point however preventable it would be especially in homes, schools etc where unsterilised or bodily dirty objects should not be at ease wth our ears! Even with impaction cases noted professional medical help is best advised to get rid of kind by the astute/ practising audiologist.

Symptoms That Earwax Has Blocked Your Ears

How do you know whether your earwax has caused blockages? for starters listen out for:

  • A feeling of pressure inside your ears

  • Muffled sounds when encountering loud noise (#ReverberationTaskForce)

-beep constant ringing sound insistent

In severe cases, tinnitus could develop (“ringing in the ears”) as well as dizziness which increases chances for accidental injuries— vertigo may occur due to fluids retained much longer resulting from impaired balance causing unnecessary clumsiness .

Despite all these symptomatic effects above did I forget mentioning THIS CERUMEN THING BOOSTS IMMUNITY towards certain infectious substances?

It’s true – cerumen contains lactoferrin found within breast milk known for antibacterial properties also secretory IgA & opsonins capable of inhibiting bacteria attachment functions like Iron chelating & localise pathogens-immune complexes at inner surfaces reducing adherence potential producing neutralising acidity hence creating hostile environments around oral streptococci/bacteria lowering likelihood infectiou diseases establishing.

How Do You Get Rid Of Excess Ear Wax?

So far we’ve established that cerumen isn’t to blame for hearing loss or deafness but how about those excess blockages of earwax? Any solution to reducing discomfort levels associated with said blockage?

Yep,there are ways to manage/remove large amounts of cerumen build-up.

NOTE: Remember prompt consultation and scheduled health checks make the best possible prevention yet. Safety over sorry always stands!

Consulting An Audiologist:
First things first: a qualified audiologist should diagnose your condition before suggesting any form of treatment. They typically perform an otoscopy exam where a special headlamp helps projection/internal image visuals on screen(s) revealing air-filled tympanic membrane (eardrum), clarity, structure/form & hint(s) at issues that require medical attention

Here‘s what’s commonly done if excessive accumulation occurs:

  • Syringing/irrigation using pressurised water carefully inserted by professionals is another typical method known for removal though application highly discouraged in absence/(inexperienced use), could lead to further problems due burst eardrums and infection potential.

-In some countries outside UK, Otoscopes with large caliber soft suction tubing methods like wax-vacuum-suction instruments that ensure normal acoustic mechanics/movement usually used by doctors also don’t enter way too deep getting around every inch without pushing debris/wax towards Eustachian tubes.

In conclusion, even after all these discussions you might still think earwax as nothing but a smelly substance; Well beyond being icky & gross psychologically, it serves various essential protective functionalities such antimicrobial purposesmentioned earlier therefore completely blocking/disregarding presence proves potentially hazardous on several significant levels!

Remember – Earwax isn’t something terrible you need cleaning out weekly: It’s actually there helping you hear better! So please next time people try teasing how dirty your ears look inside compare metaphorically having healthy lungs (#NoSmokingZone)… 🙂

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