Earwax Removal in Brooklyn and Forest Hills

No, and the clinical guideline recommends against it. There is no evidence that candling removes impacted cerumen, and it carries a real risk of serious damage to the ear canal and eardrum, including burns. It is one of the few things in this field where the professional position is unambiguous.

You should not. Guidance advises against cotton swabs and small objects in the ear canal: they can lacerate the canal, perforate the eardrum and dislocate the hearing bones. In practice they also push wax deeper, which turns an ordinary amount of wax into an impaction that then has to be removed professionally.

You cannot tell from the outside, which is exactly the problem. Muffled sound, a blocked feeling and a rising television volume describe both. An examination of the ear canal settles it in a few seconds, and it is the first thing we do at an appointment, before any hearing testing.

The clinical guideline supports irrigation, manual removal using instrumentation, and softening agents including water or saline. The right one depends on your ear, on how impacted the wax is, and on whether there is any history of perforation or surgery. The examination establishes that before anything begins.

It should not. Some sensations are unfamiliar: irrigation feels strange, and instrumentation can feel like pressure. Discomfort is not expected, though, and you should say so if you feel any. Tell your clinician about any history of ear surgery, perforation or infection before you start, since it changes the approach.

Please ask the clinic when you book. Softening the wax in advance helps in many cases and is one of the approaches the guideline supports, but it is not right for every ear, particularly when there is a history of perforation. A short phone call can save you an unproductive appointment.

For most people, never. The ear canal clears itself, and wax is normal, not a hygiene failure. Some people produce more, some have canal shapes that trap it, and hearing aid wearers are more prone to impaction because the hearing aid blocks the canal. How often it needs to be removed varies from person to person.

Because the wax may not have been the whole story. If hearing remains reduced once the canal is clear, that is a finding worth pursuing with a full diagnostic evaluation, not something to wait out. The same audiologist can do the assessment, which is why we offer both here.