The ears are organs that provide two main functions — hearing and balance — that depend on specialized receptors called hair cells.

Your ears do the remarkable job of allowing you to hear a huge range of sounds, from a whisper to a loud bang. To do this, the ear transforms sound energy into electrical signals which the brain can interpret. Your ears also help to maintain your balance.

As one of our most important senses, the ability to hear enables us to connect to the world for many very important, even vital, reasons. Most importantly, hearing connects us to people enabling us to communicate in a way that none of our other senses can achieve.

The ears are the most visible part of the human hearing system. Taking care of your ears is important in many ways. Cleaning is one step, while preventing and treating infections is another. Ear care also include taking steps to avoid unnecessary noise and watching for possible hearing loss.

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.

Here are nine easy ways to protect your ears and your hearing health.

1. Use earplugs around loud noises.
2. Turn the volume down.
3. Give your ears time to recover.
4. Stop using cotton swabs in your ears.
5. Take medications only as directed.
6. Keep your ears dry.
7. Get up and move.
8. Manage stress levels.

Things You Should Never Do to Your Ears

1. Ear Candling. Ear candling is a method of removing earwax, and also, as one researcher put it, “the triumph of ignorance over science.”
2. Employing cotton swabs to clean your ears.
3. Listening to excessively loud music.
4. Overlooking the signs of hearing loss.

Experts, recommend that you only clean your ears every two to four weeks.

Aim for no more than once a day until the excess wax is gone, but preferably only one or two times a week.

Too much cleaning may bother your ear canal, cause infection, and may even increase the chances of earwax impaction. Understand symptoms of earwax impaction (wax blocking the ear): decreased hearing, fullness, ringing in the ear (tinnitus), and distortion/changes to hearing aid function.

The ear is self-cleaning. No routine maintenance is required. If you’re inserting swabs into your ears to remove earwax or prevent its buildup, think again. Earwax is produced within the ear canal and naturally migrates from deeper inside to outside.

If your eardrum doesn’t contain a tube or have a hole in it, these self-care measures may help you remove excess earwax that’s blocking your ear canal: Soften the wax. Use an eyedropper to apply a few drops of baby oil, mineral oil, glycerin or diluted hydrogen peroxide in your ear canal.

The real issue all along was dietary gluten. Most likely, the overproduction of earwax was an autoimmune response to inflammation caused by gluten. Think of gluten as poison and inflammation as the body’s healthy response to try to protect itself.

You can put a couple drops of baby oil or commercial ear drops into the ear, which should soften the wax and facilitate removal. The day after using the drops, use a rubber-bulb syringe to squirt warm water into your ear. Tilt your head and pull your outer ear up and back, says the Mayo Clinic.

Signs and symptoms of earwax blockage may include:

1. Earache.
2. Feeling of fullness in the affected ear.
3. Ringing or noises in the ear (tinnitus)
4. Decreased hearing in the affected ear.
5. Dizziness.
6. Cough.

If left untreated, excessive earwax may cause symptoms of earwax blockage to become worse. These symptoms might include hearing loss, ear irritation, etc. A buildup of earwax might also make it difficult to see into the ear, which may result in potential problems going undiagnosed.

You don’t actually need to clean your inner ears. Ears are self-cleaning and earwax should work its way out of your ear naturally in time where you can clean it with a damp cloth. If you do get a build up of ear wax that’s causing you problems, visit your GP to have it removed.

Often the earwax goes away on its own with time. In rare cases, removing earwax can cause problems. Providers may advise removal for people who can’t talk about their symptoms, such as young children.

You should also hit behind your ears. But the outer ear canal is not a part of the ear that you should clean, Dr. Voigt says. It might seem harmless to take your little pinkie finger and dig in your ear to dislodge a bit of wax at the beginning of your ear canal, but you really shouldn’t do it.

If you’re still wondering if earwax removal hurts, the answer is no. It’s a safe and effective treatment that’s done in around half an hour, and it doesn’t require any special medication or anaesthesia to deal with pain or discomfort. In fact, you’ll hardly feel anything at all.

Typical costs: Without insurance, an appointment to have earwax removed can cost between $40 and $110 at a primary care physician’s office or a clinic for people without insurance. CVS Minute Clinic[1] charges $99-139 for ear wax removal. With insurance, typical copays and deductibles will apply.

The Vagus nerve—a branchlike structure that runs from your brain to your butt—can be stimulated via the ear, Dr. Pross says. This may play a small role in that pleasurable sensation you feel from the Q-tip, he says.

A good rule of thumb is to see a professional for ear cleaning every six months or so.

Unfortunately, we will no longer be taking bookings for ear wax removal at any of our hearing centres. If you’ve noticed a change in your hearing or you have mild concerns about your hearing, you can still book a free hearing health check or visit us in store to chat with one of our trained professionals.

Use an eyedropper to apply a few drops of baby oil, mineral oil, glycerin or hydrogen peroxide in your ear canal. Use warm water. After a day or two, when the wax is softened, use a rubber-bulb syringe to gently squirt warm water into your ear canal.

Ear drops alone will clear a plug of earwax in most cases. Put 2 or 3 drops of ordinary olive oil down the ear 2 or 3 times a day for 2-3 weeks. This softens the wax so that it then runs out of its own accord without harming the ear. You can continue for any length of time, but 3 weeks is usually enough.

Light brown, orange or yellow earwax is healthy and normal. Children tend to have softer, lighter-colored earwax. White, flaky earwax indicates you lack a body-odor producing chemical. Dark-colored, sticky earwax indicates you should probably use deodorant.

Earwax is most often amber orange to light brown, wet, and sticky. For some people, it is drier and lighter in color, closer to off white or yellow. In general, the color has a bit to do with the age of the earwax. Newer earwax tends to be lighter in color, and it darkens as it ages and picks up more debris.

“Normal” earwax is typically a yellowish color. Sometimes, accumulated earwax can look tan, brown, or black. Red earwax, however, can be a sign that blood has mixed in with cerumen. Many causes of bloody earwax are minor and may not necessarily require a doctor’s visit.

Most of the time, any fluid leaking out of an ear is ear wax. A ruptured eardrum can cause a white, slightly bloody, or yellow discharge from the ear. Dry crusted material on a child’s pillow is often a sign of a ruptured eardrum. The eardrum may also bleed.