Embarrassing Illnesses

People who produce a lot of earwax are more likely to experience a blockage in their ear compared with those who only produce a small amount.

Risk factors

Your risk of developing problems as a result of a build-up of earwax also increases if you:

• have narrow or deformed ear canals,
• have a lot of hair in your ear canals,
• have benign (non-cancerous) bony growths in the outer part of your ear canal (osteomata),
• have a skin condition of your scalp or preauricular area (the area just in front of your earlobe),
• have hard wax, as it is more likely to become impacted (firmly lodged in your ear canal),
• are elderly: as you get older, your earwax becomes drier,
• have recurrent (repeated) ear infections,
• have a history of recurrent impacted earwax, and
• have learning difficulties (the reason for this is unknown). 

If you produce a lot of earwax, further blockages may occur, even after you have had an earwax plug removed by your GP or practice nurse.

Further blockages are also likely to occur if you have particularly narrow ear canals that become blocked more easily.

Your chances of developing impacted earwax also increase if you:

• use cotton buds: they can push the earwax deeper into your ear canal and pack it harder together, which creates an earwax plug, or
• wear a hearing aid or earplugs: they prevent the wax from being excreted (falling out of your ear naturally).