Is earwax toxic?

Earwax is medically known as cerumen. Adults will remind children not to eat earwax, as it will make them mute. In fact, this has no scientific basis. Is earwax poisonous? The answer is no. Earwax is a secretion of the human body and should be cleaned in time, otherwise it will affect hearing. However, when digging your ears, you must be gentle and avoid puncturing the eardrum. If necessary, you can go to the ENT department of the hospital to remove the earwax. There are more professional tools out there.

Earwax is relatively soft at the beginning, and some of it can fall off by itself, but some of it does not fall off and will gradually become hard. If it is not easy to come out, it will block the eardrum and seriously affect hearing. At this time, you need to go to the hospital to remove it. Is earwax poisonous?

The cerumen glands in the skin of the external auditory canal secrete a yellowish, sometimes sticky substance, commonly known as earwax, which is called cerumen in medicine. There is no scientific basis for the claim that eating earwax will make you dumb. The Han ethnic group also has taboos regarding earwax. I believe that earwax (commonly known as "deafness") should not be thrown around randomly, as it would be harmful to your health if others step on it. If you swallow your own earwax, you will become mute or deaf. In short, even though earwax has left the self, it can still have a magical effect on the self, so it should be avoided. What does earwax consist of? From a physical perspective, earwax is usually a light yellow waxy dry flaky substance that tastes bitter and is insoluble in water, alcohol or ether. From a chemical analysis perspective, earwax contains oil, stearin, fatty acids, protein and yellow pigment, as well as 0.1% water and a small amount of chalk and elements such as potassium and sodium. Because earwax is rich in oil, it can moisturize the fine hairs on the skin of the ear canal, which can block dust particles blown in from the outside. Earwax and fine hair can also prevent insects and other microorganisms from invading the ears. Small insects that accidentally break in will be blocked by the dense and fine hairs; earwax tastes bitter, and when the small insects taste the bitterness of earwax, they will "retreat in the face of difficulty." In addition, oil-rich earwax can keep the ear canal at a certain temperature and humidity, especially preventing the eardrum deep in the ear canal from drying out, thereby keeping the eardrum in the best exercise state. Earwax rich in fatty acids forms an acid film on the surface of the ear canal skin, making the external auditory canal an acidic environment and having a mild bactericidal effect. Some people have shown that the chemical components in earwax can inhibit the growth and reproduction of several types of bacteria. Earwax and fine hair can not only absorb dust and microorganisms that enter the ear canal to keep the ear canal clean, but also make the ear canal cavity slightly narrower, filtering and buffering the incoming sound waves, so that the eardrum will not be damaged by strong sound. From this we can see that normal earwax is not waste and it does play a certain role in protecting the auditory organs.

The above introduces whether earwax is poisonous. I hope it can better solve your doubts. The previous saying that eating earwax will make you mute has no scientific basis, but earwax is a waste product of the human body after all, so it is better not to eat it. Try to pay attention to personal hygiene and dig your ears regularly to remove the earwax, but be gentle and don't wait until the earwax becomes hard before removing it, as it will be painful.