What should I do if my earwax is too much and hard?

A netizen asked: A few days ago, my daughter said her ears hurt. I looked at her ears and found two large lumps of hard things. My family said that this was earwax clumps. I wanted to dig it out, but when I touched it, my daughter cried out in pain. What should I do?

Cerumen (commonly known as earwax) is the normal secretion of the cerumen glands in the skin of the external auditory canal. Generally, the secretion amount is very small and can be discharged on its own.

Some people have abnormalities in the external auditory canal, such as stenosis, deformity, thickened skin, epithelial exfoliation mixed with earwax, etc., which can cause earwax accumulation and form embolism, which is sometimes as hard as a stone.

During treatment, smaller earwax can be directly removed using an earwax hook.

For larger and harder earwax, you can first use earwax water to drip into the ear, 8 times a day, for two consecutive days. After it softens, go to the hospital on the 3rd day to flush or remove it.

When there is a lot of earwax and an infection occurs, the infection should be controlled first. After the inflammation is controlled, the earwax can be removed using the method mentioned above.

If symptoms do not improve after 2 to 3 days of medication, a doctor should remove the earwax in batches or under anesthesia.

For children with a lot of earwax in the external auditory canal, parents are advised not to remove it on their own. They should go to the ENT department of a hospital and have the doctor remove it to avoid accidentally damaging the external auditory canal or eardrum.

After removal, especially for patients with obvious embolism, regular check-ups in the hospital are required. If excessive earwax is found, it should be removed in time to avoid embolism again.