A common culprit for muffled hearing is excessive ear wax (cerumen). Ear wax can sometimes build up in the ear canal and cause a blockage. Impacted ear wax can affect your ability to hear. Ear wax buildup and blockages often happens when people use items like cotton swabs or hair grips to try to clean their ears. The recommended treatment for cerumen impaction is micro-suction.
Do audiologists remove ear wax?
Yes, they do, and audiologists generally have a few ways of removing ear wax. Your audiologist will assess the seriousness of the ear wax buildup using a binocular microscope before deciding what actions to take. The more severe impactions will need dealing with using micro-suction. It’s the most effective, safest and most pain-free technique available.
What causes cerumen impaction?
Here are some of the more unusual causes of cerumen impaction. … Bony blockage (osteoma or exostoses) Infectious disease, such as swimmer’s ear (external otitis) Skin disease (such as eczema) Autoimmune disease (such as lupus) Narrowed ear canal (from birth, chronic inflammation, or injury) Making too much earwax due to injury.
Earwax doesn’t usually cause problems, but if too much earwax is produced it can lead to a blocked and painful ear, hearing loss and, in some cases, tinnitus. … A typical specialist microsuction procedure appointment to remove wax from both ears should take no longer than 30 minutes. Micro-suction earwax removal is the only method to trust. So in answer to the question, no, but not treating cerumen impactions may indeed cause tinnitus.