Your ear canal produces a waxy oil commonly known as earwax. This wax protects the ear from dust, foreign particles, and microorganisms. How do you treat a buildup or blockage?

So, most times, the reason you’d have an earwax blockage up against your eardrum is because you tried to clean your ears with a cotton swab — or something like it — and pushed the wax in deeper.

The ears are self-cleaning and produce earwax to push out dirt and debris. In this article, learn what different ear wax colors and textures indicate, as well as how to safely clean the ears.

What causes an earwax blockage and how it can affect your hearing? A small amount of earwax is perfectly normal and actually beneficial, but occasionally it can accumulate, leading to various issues.

The following is the first in a series of four past columns on aging as Alvia heals from knee replacement surgery. The ...

Every day, millions of Americans use cotton swabs to clean their ears. However, cotton swabs can push earwax further into the ear, causing wax blockage in the ear canal.

Cotton swab fibers, while appearing “nice and fuzzy,” she said, are “actually quite abrasive.” And that can cause your ear to produce more wax to protect the now-vulnerable skin.