The wonderfully misunderstood substance produced in your outer ear canal, wax is the miscast villain of your ears. Honestly.

Known as ‘cerumen’ to science-types, wax is a super natural substance that works darn hard to protect your ear from bacteria, fungus, insects, dust and even dryness. Your body’s protective balm, it moisturises (by which it produces an oil barrier so hydration can stay in your skin) and generally keeps the party going down your ear all hours of the day and night.

The party we’re talking about here is the maintenance of normal pH levels, the flora of your skin microbes and general enjoyment of sound reaching your ear drum.

The majority of people’s ears (probably not yours since you’re here reading this…) usually keep the amount of wax to pretty decent levels as they are ‘self-cleaning’. Think of your ear as a conveyer belt, always moving things outwards over a long period of time. Eventually, wax just drops out or a finger helps at the last few millimetres to be washed away in the shower. Some, however, don’t always enjoy this miracle of automatic ear valeting.

Problems arise when the ear cannot get the wax out fast enough before it blocks up or gets lodged in an unfortunate place that stops you hearing so well. There may be discomfort, reduced hearing or even accompanying tinnitus (usually a ringing or buzzing noise in the problem ear). This is when microsuction to remove the stubborn wax can be a huge quality of life improvement; it’s a safe, super effective method of clearing the problem (far better than using water, which used to be more common).

Ear wax removal via microsuction is internationally recognised as the best, most effective and safe way of removing excessive wax build up from ears.

The friendly microsuction clinician assesses the ears and what the issue is and then applies a gentle suction to the offending wax to remove it and clear a passage for sound to your eardrum. The beauty of microsuction is that it’s continually observed, there is never a moment where there’s guesswork (like water irrigation) so the clinician can be sure what’s being taken out and what’s being left where it is.

It’s kind of like a tiny 2mm vacuum cleaner getting the place ship-shape again for you.
You’ll then be advised - depending on what the issue was - on how to maintain the ear as healthy as possible for as long as possible.

Unless someone has told you or shown you, it’s hard to know with 100% certainty but you may have a good idea what’s going on in your ears if you have the following sensations:

> Reduced hearing / feels different to usual
> Tinnitus (usually a ringing or buzzing sound)
> Discomfort (could be a sharp pain if the wax is dry or a dull ache)

Because each of these also have several other causes apart from wax, it is ALWAYS a good idea, and never a waste of time, getting your ears seen-to by a friendly clinician.

If you’ve seen someone and had your wax removed, yet you still feel your hearing is muffled, then take note!

You should always be shown the before and after of your ear. This allows you to see that the ear drum is visible and so sound waves can reach it.

You should always be offered a hearing check if you have any further concerns on your hearing: this is the only way to determine where the muffled sensation is coming from.

If hearing is muffled after wax microsuction, this can be a number of different reasons:

For some people, it could be that there is a temporary threshold shift - caused by a clever muscle in your ear that protects your hearing by contracting for several hours after exposure to loud sounds (like the suction noise from wax removal).

For others, it may be that following the clearance of wax in the outer ear, there may be congestion or hearing loss caused by something happening in the middle or inner ear (which aren’t visible; hence the importance of getting a hearing check).