How to Clean Your Ears Without a Cotton Swab

Cerumen, also known as earwax, is necessary for the health of your ear. In fact, it's not really wax at all, but made partially of dead skin cells from the ear canal. 1 The area inside the auditory canal consistently revitalizes itself, and as the dead cells are removed, they're pulled into a process producing earwax. The ear canal is also lined with hairs, 2 which help move the earwax along the canal and out of your body. Earwax is created by secretions from the ceruminous and sebaceous glands, located in the outer ear canal. 3 The ceruminous is a sweat gland, while the sebaceous glands excrete oil to help soften the skin. The role of earwax is to protect the skin from infection as it is a natural antimicrobial. Another function of earwax is to clean the ear canal as it slowly moves through the canal and out of the ear with jaw movements like chewing. 4 During this motion it carries with it debris and waste that may have made its way into the canal. 5 , 6 Like many other