The best time to clean your ears is in the shower using gentle soap and warm water. After washing your hair, wipe down the outer ear with a washcloth. Make sure to also clean behind the ears. The ear canal does not need to be cleaned, although you can let the shower water flush it out if it feels full.
According to Dr. Erich Voigt, a clinical associate professor and chief of general/sleep otolaryngology at NYU Langone Health, the best place to clean your ears is in the shower. “When you're washing your hair, you can clean [your ears] with a washcloth,” he says.
You can use warm water in the shower to do this. Tilt your head to one side and run some water in your ear canal, then tilt in the opposite direction so the water flows out. Avoid getting too close to the shower head – you don't want water to spray into your ear.
When washing hair, do not immerse the head under the bath water. Use a large ball of cotton wool in the bowl of the ear, smeared with a bit of Vaseline. This can be thrown away each time, and is much cleaner than ear plugs for regular use. Angling the affected side downwards has also been shown to help.
In most cases, swimmer's ear occurs when water or moisture is trapped in the ear canal. That means you can get it from taking showers or baths, washing your hair, or being in a moist or humid environment.
Showering or swimming can sometimes cause water to become trapped in the ears. Water can get trapped more easily when there is wax in the ear canals, when you have narrow ear canals, or when you have bony growths in the canals. If this water does not drain, a bacterial or fungal infection can result.
Fluid or discharge from your ear could be ear wax, but sometimes it can be a sign of an ear problem or injury. Fluid from the ear may be caused by middle or outer ear infections, damage to the ear drum, a foreign body in the ear or a more serious infection or injury.
Just use a washcloth. You also can try putting a few drops of baby oil, hydrogen peroxide, mineral oil, or glycerin in your ear to soften the wax. Or you can use an over-the-counter wax removal kit. Besides cotton swabs or any other small or pointy objects, don't use ear candles to clean your ears.
Frequent washing, however, can do more harm than good because it strips the ear of this delicate, protective lining, leaving the way open for bacteria to get in and multiply. Experts, recommend that you only clean your ears every two to four weeks.
If you don't take care of it soon, you can end up with an infection known as otitis externa, or swimmer's ear. When water sits in your ear canal, bacteria that live there all the time can multiply and cause an infection.
The best and safest option is to use a 50/50 mixture of vinegar and tap water. That mixture can be irrigated into the ear canal using a blue bulb syringe – the kind often used for cleaning babies' noses. They can be found at any drug store.
While your body naturally gets rid of earwax, it can only handle so much. If there's too much, some of it may harden before your body is able to push it out through the ear canal.
Earwax removal by a health care provider
Your health care provider can remove excess wax by using a small, curved tool called a curet or by using suction techniques. Your provider can also flush out the wax using a syringe filled with warm water and saline or diluted hydrogen peroxide.
Dark brown or black colored earwax is typically older, so its color comes from the dirt and bacteria it has trapped. Adults tend to have darker, harder earwax. Dark brown earwax that is tinged with red may signal a bleeding injury. Light brown, orange or yellow earwax is healthy and normal.
Symptoms of earwax build-up
hearing loss. earache or a feeling that your ears are blocked. ringing or buzzing in your ears (tinnitus) vertigo (feeling dizzy and sick)
Allergies, head colds, pregnancy, and air pressure are some common reasons it may feel like your ears are full. Typically, plugged ears settle after a few days. Decongestants and nasal sprays are the best treatment for plugged ears that allergies and head colds cause.
Itchy ears can sometimes be a sign of an ear infection. Bacteria and viruses cause them, usually when you have a cold, the flu, or allergies. One kind, swimmer's ear, can happen when water stays in your ear after you swim. Too much moisture wears away your ear canal's natural layer of defense against germs.
Earwax. Earwax is light brown, dark brown, or orange brown in color. If it gets wet, it can look like a discharge.
Earwax shouldn't really smell like anything. If it does, then it could be a signal that you have an infection or damage to the middle part of the ear. Foul-smelling discharge, problems with your sense of balance, ringing in the ears, or a feeling that your ears are full may be an indication of middle ear issues.
Usually, water accumulates in the ear during a shower, bath or through swimming. The water flows into your ear canal and can sometimes generate the characteristic muffled sound. This is because water floods the ear canal and settles in the ear. It works its way through the slightly sloping ear canal to the eardrum.
The only true way to know if your ears are clean is if a medical professional inspects your ear canals with an otoscope. However, if after using a product like WAX BLASTER MD, EARWAX MD, or EAR CLEAN MD you feel a clearness in the ear canal and your hearing has improved, chances are your ear is clean.