Ear wax removal

Our canals are coated in skin which sheds like every other part of our body, our ears naturally produce wax in order to pick up these shedding skin cells to carry them out of the canal. 

A small amount of wax in the ear canal is perfectly healthy as wax is responsible for preventing infections, and keeping our ear canals hydrated.

Wax can become problematic for various reasons, some of which are as follows:-

- It can be due to the natural shape or size of the canal: 

When someone has narrow canals, or sharp bends in the canal it can cause the wax to get caught within the canal, it then hardens and over time can slowly block the canal completely. 

- Dried skin, or skin related conditions:

As the wax is produced to remove shedding skin cells, if the skin is dry, or there is a skin related condition it causes the wax to also become dry. This then slows the migration process and causes the wax to harden, this may then block the canal.

- Wax displacement:

When the wax migration is disturbed, or pushed back into the canal, it causes the wax to dry and harden. This, therefore, slows or stops the migration process altogether. This can be caused by many things, such as, cotton bud use, water, hearing aid use, custom ear plugs etc. 

The consultation will involve an extensive case history, a full examination of both ears followed by video otoscopy which will allow you, the patient, to see inside your own ears but more importantly so that we can keep a detailed record and visually explain the next steps.

Our prices include a full consultation as stated above.

It is not always possible or safe to remove the wax in one session. Because of this we offer a second appointment to ensure the best chance of a clean and complete removal, while ensuring the highest standard of safety and comfort during the removal.

We also include a wax treatment plan in order to help guide you on the best way to manage your wax long term. This can reduce how fast the wax builds up. 

When wax is properly managed wax removal procedures are usually  required less frequently.

We recommend using a drop of olive oil in the affected ear(s) 3 consecutive nights before your wax removal appointment.

Micro suction is usually more effective when the wax is harder in texture, during the procedure we will add more olive oil if/when required.

Olive oil is recommended rather than any other type of ear drops, it is completely natural and is unlikely to have any adverse effects on the ear canal.