Earwax Ear Candles

Often called candles Hopi ear candles have been known since antiquity. They are used to clean the wax content in the ears. They are characterized by a cylindrical appearance, or coiled and are normally based on beeswax often enriched with essential oils and spread on a frame-to-frame average cotton.

Sealingly placed at the entrance of the ear canal (Figure 6), the plug is intended to turn from the start of combustion, an effect of fumigation followed by a chimney effect suction eliminating the wax contained in the external auditory meatus. All this is an illusion.

A recent work [i] has been shown experimentally that there was no suction phenomenon when burning candles in a model of the external auditory canal with sensors. Similarly, attempts to extract wax candles with patients with a plug are all proved ineffective [ii].

Moreover, the wax residue highlighted after burning the candle is also found if the candle is burned without being applied to the input of the external auditory canal. The major drawback to the use of these candles is not ineffective but the problems they can cause: contact dermatitis at the entrance of the external auditory canal, burning the flag or the external auditory canal, partial occlusion total duct or by accumulation of wax from the candle and even perforation of the eardrum. These risks of injury are never mentioned in the advertisements for ear candles.


Moreover, very often, these candles cause deposits in the external auditory canal (Figure 7). These deposits will lead to an increase in the production of wax because they are considered foreign. Finally advertising falsely stated that these candles can be used to treat various diseases of the ear [iii], which is even more dangerous. They are not recommended for cleaning the ears is because the risks clearly outweigh the alleged benefits.

Earwax - Ear Cleaning

title="Figure 4 : mimikakis - ear wax removal" />Ear cleaning is part of ancient principles related to personal hygiene. In fact, the external auditory canal does not need to be cleaned regularly as it has its own self-cleaning system. Earwax moves spontaneously and slowly the shell where it will be easily cleaned without danger.

Regular cleaning wax should be done at the input of the external auditory canal and not in it. An ear cleaning becomes necessary only in the presence of a plug. Numerous methods have been described over the centuries and are still practiced today.

While cleaning the ear is often considered an easy gesture and unimportant, it can be difficult sometimes and cause injury as a significant laceration of the skin of the external auditory canal or a perforated eardrum. This is a move that must be practiced in peace and do not forget to reassure the patient because it is often very fearful when you touch his ears.

When talking about ear cleaning, it is necessary to differentiate self-cleaning, cleaning by another person and that made by a doctor. In addition, one can still distinguish cleaning using small instruments specifically designed for this purpose or using ceruminolytics products, which have the property of dissolving the wax to flow more easily to the outside. The self-cleaning action is not recommended as it involves many risks and dangers that the individual does not even suspect.

Without seeing what one does, not control his actions when cleaning the ear with a small instrument. It is an illusion to believe that we control the exact depth at which it is pushed into the ear.

Swabs, Q-tips or other similar instruments, are useless because they will push the wax deeper into the ear canal and make her self clean much longer. After using the swab, wax will form a plug by accumulation, sometimes to the eardrum.

We can say ironically that the swab is the best friend of ENT! It is an instrument to banish the family pharmacy it is used for self-cleaning ears. Similarly, all the instruments like trombone, key, pencil stub, safety pin, hairpin match, toothpick, nail or other should be avoided because they are not only dangerous but they can induce the contact dermatitis because some of them contain nickel.

Cleaning ears using an instrument must be made by a third person looking at what it is doing in the external auditory canal. In eastern countries such as India and Japan, many people practice these is cleaning the streets, or in rooms specially equipped for this purpose. They are also often practiced by mothers who clean the ears of their children.

The best instruments for this type of cleaning are small instruments, often in the shape of a spoon, called mimikakis Japan (Figure 4).


 In Western countries, the ear cleaning is considered a medical procedure. It should therefore be performed by physicians, regardless of the method used. To do this, we use specific instruments like small hooks, small curettes, tweezers or vacuum systems specially adapted to the external auditory canal (Figure 5).

All actions are performed under direct vision [i] and allow a secure wipe. Céruminolytiques some solutions are sold in drugstores or pharmacies. Their effectiveness is hotly debated in the literature. For the most part, these solutions are even completely ineffective in the presence of a "real" ear wax. Products seem to be the most useful warm water, baking soda and 10% hydrogen peroxide diluted to 3%.

These substances should be used only if you are sure of the integrity of the skin of the ear canal and eardrum. In case of ear disease are to be avoided because they can worsen. Rinses or washes ears with a syringe can not be performed if the ear is normal. These washes should be followed by drying with a hair dryer to avoid increasing the humidity in the duct and thus the production of earwax. We must simply remove the wax that comes spontaneously from the external auditory canal and not "get him" into the duct.

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Wax plug

The wax is probably the cause of the slight modification of hearing especially the elderly and the holders of a hearing aid. This is a common reason for consultation in ENT.

There are two main types of plugs of wax: the wax and classic earwax epidermis. The classic cap is most often located in the cartilage and in the beginning of the bony part of the external auditory canal. It can take different forms depending on its composition, its quantity and its life (Figure 3).

Epidermal cap [i] is characterized by obstruction of the external auditory canal in the bony portion of a block of skin debris and wax, very adherent to the skin, hard and tight the ear canal to the eardrum. It can cover a skin of poor quality or, rarely, superficial ulceration. It is often very difficult to remove. After removal of a plug epidermal ear canal may require regular care for several weeks to find a normal-looking skin. Some wax plugs may contain foreign objects such as pieces of cotton remained long in the external auditory canal.

The presence of hair quite thick at the entrance of the ear canal as well as the narrowness of the duct, increasing the risk of wax plugs. Some people have an overproduction of earwax whose origin is unclear.

Handling or touching other regular external auditory canals certainly increase the production of wax and therefore the risk of wax plugs. Each manipulation in the duct produces a "microtrauma", which will cause the production of wax to lubricate the irritated area by handling.

Ear wax : Composition and Role

The wax is composed mainly of wax itself, keratin debris and hair. The composition of the wax is dry than that of the liquid wax. Constituents vary not only in quantity but also in quality. Earwax contains a mixture of fats (lipids), free amino acids and many minerals, including copper and iron. Between different types of wax, there are mostly variations in the fat.

The main function of the wax is to protect the skin of the external auditory canal in the lubricant. The wax film is not only a chemical barrier, but also a real trap foreign matter such as dust or other small debris flying in the air. The wax also has antibacterial function, normally preventing the development of otitis externa in any contact with bacteria. A thin layer of wax is beneficial for ear protection and strive to remove can only be cons-productive. The absence of ear wax can cause itching and irritation of the outer ear canal. Earwax has no acoustic role as imagined in the early nineteenth century. In the Middle Ages, the wax has been used by artists as a pigment in the production of illuminated manuscripts.

What is Ear Wax ?

Cerumen, more commonly called ear wax is a substance naturally produced by the ear, especially in the cartilaginous portion of the external auditory canal. The cartilaginous portion of the conduit has two types of glands: glands that produce cerumen ceruminous and sebaceous glands that produce sebum will mix with the wax. The mixture thus produced is also called cerumen. Ceruminous glands are large glands of a particular type that resemble sweat glands located under the armpit. They have the form of a long tube rolled into a ball which is coated inside of cells producing earwax. The outer wall of the tube is covered with muscle cells that can contract to evacuate the wax content in the gland. This secretion occurs particularly when touching the skin of the external auditory canal and in emotion.

Sebaceous glands like other body. They secrete sebum, an oily liquid, which will mix with the secretion of the ceruminous glands to form the so-called "liquid wax." This wax liquid extends on the walls of the conduit, normally only in the cartilaginous portion. Then it hardens and mixes with dead skin and hair detached to form the wax which is usually in the ears. The external auditory canal bone does not produce earwax. However, the part of the skin called keratin, gliding slowly toward the outside of the duct to renew itself, as a process of self-cleaning surface. This keratin will then be mixed with the wax to be discharged outside. This process of sliding outward also about keratin produced in the external auditory canal cartilage. The latter is also removed with the wax. There is schematically two types of earwax: the wax dry and wet earwax. Wet earwax (Figure 1) is most frequently seen in whites and blacks, while the dry wax (Figure 2) is more common among Asians.