What is the cause of excessive earwax?

Most of the time we don’t pay attention to the relationship between earwax and our physical health. Do some people feel that they have a lot of earwax? They always pick their ears, but there is still a lot of earwax. We should pay attention to this phenomenon. We should understand what is going on with too much earwax, where so much earwax comes from, and what harm it does to our body.

You may not know much about some situations involving earwax. Nowadays, there are many diseases of the ears, the most common of which is otitis media. But what is the cause of excessive earwax? Is it related to some diseases? Let's take a look at the causes of excessive earwax.

Earwax, also known as cerumen, is a substance secreted by the cerumen glands on the skin inside the external auditory canal of the human body. It is generally in the form of light yellow/white flakes and attached to the wall of the external auditory canal. People often regard it as human excrement, but you should know that it has a protective effect on the external auditory canal and can prevent water and insects from entering the ear. In addition, the glandular secretions and immune proteins contained in earwax can inhibit bacterial growth. Under normal circumstances, earwax can be discharged out of the body in the form of thin flakes through jaw movements such as chewing and opening the mouth, and has no effect on ear health. However, if the amount of earwax increases suddenly in a short period of time, you should pay attention, as this may be a distress signal from your body. Generally, increased earwax may be caused by the following diseases.

Cerumen embolism

If there is too much earwax secreted in the ear canal, it is brown in color, some of it is soft like mud, some of it is hard like stone, and it sticks tightly to the wall of the external auditory canal, slowly gathering into clumps, and even blocking the external auditory canal, accompanied by symptoms such as stuffy ears, tinnitus, dizziness, and hearing loss. When it swells after being soaked in water and the symptoms worsen, then it is very likely that you have cerumen embolism. The disease can cause ear pain or inflammation, and in severe cases it can cause swelling and erosion of the skin of the external auditory canal.

Otitis media

If you suffer from otitis media, it may cause external auditory canal papilloma, and it is easy to bring fungi into the external auditory canal, causing itching of the external auditory canal, increased earwax, and even yellow discharge.

Chronic congestion of the skin of the external auditory canal

Long-term chronic congestion of the skin of the external auditory canal will stimulate the cerumen glands to secrete earwax, and the earwax will gradually increase. Editor's recommendation: Be alert to the signs of tinnitus.

Throat disease patients

Generally, when abnormalities occur in the throat mucosa, they often have a certain impact on the ears. For example, when a person suffers from certain throat diseases, such as acute tonsillitis, acute laryngitis, tracheitis, etc., it will cause ear itching or pain, and an increase in earwax. When this happens, don't worry too much. Once the throat disease recovers, the itchy and painful feeling in the ears and the increase in earwax will disappear.

After seeing this, you will definitely pay attention to the problem of increased earwax, right? Many people often use ear picks to pick their ears when their ears are uncomfortable. In fact, this will damage the skin in the ear canal. Over time, it will cause hair follicle infection, or cause otitis or external otitis. Especially in the hot summer, due to excessive sweating, the ears are very prone to moisture and the probability of infection will increase.

Therefore, it is recommended that you use the following method to solve the problem when your ears feel very itchy: soak a cotton swab in warm water and squeeze it slightly dry, put it into the external auditory canal, and gently rotate it in one direction so that the earwax can be softened and taken out. Or use the same method to soak the earwax first to loosen it, then gently take it out with an ear spoon. If the earwax is too hard to soften, do not try to take it out by yourself. Ask a doctor for help to avoid injuring the ear skin and causing infection.

If the external auditory canal becomes itchy due to too much earwax in the ear canal, you can gently wipe it with a cotton swab dipped in alcohol and squeezed dry. This can relieve the itching on the one hand, and eliminate acne on the other hand to prevent infection. If earwax causes inflammation, it should be treated actively and the plug should be removed as soon as possible to prevent the spread of inflammation due to poor drainage.

What is the cause of excessive earwax? Now everyone should know that it is related to many diseases, especially the common otitis media. Don’t ignore the phenomenon of excessive earwax. If some ear diseases occur, you must seek timely treatment. If not treated in time, it will cause more serious diseases, which will cause great harm to our body.