Cerumen is the fancy medical term for the waxy stuff inside your ears, commonly known as earwax. It is a brownish-orange, reddish-yellow, or greyish waxy substance, secreted from the ear canal of humans and all animals.
Earwax is secreted in the outer ear canal, i.e., the area between the fleshy part of the ear and the middle ear. It then gradually moves towards the outer part of your ears. You don’t need to do anything special to remove this sticky, waxy substance. Washing your hair regularly is enough to keep your ears clean.
Cerumen — a pretty useful lubricant
So, why do your ears produce earwax? Primarily, it protects the skin of the ear canal and assists in cleaning, moisturizing and lubrication of the ears. Cerumen or earwax also protects against bacteria, fungi, dust and water.
Maintaining cleanliness
In some people, ear canals make extra cerumen. This affects your hearing, causing pretty embarrassing situations. In that case, be careful and try not to nudge it out with anything, as putting anything inside your ears without consulting a professional is not the apt medical thing to do. Ears consist of very delicate membranes and sensitive tissues that optimize your hearing and using earbuds, ear picks, sticks or tweezers can cause irreversible damage. Instead, doctors can prescribe you with particular medicines that are placed in the ear to get rid of the extra wax. Or, they can do painless procedures to remove the excess earwax safely.
Earwax isn’t something to be too worried about in general. As disgusting as it can seem in colour and texture, it does a lot of work to protect your ears from harmful external factors.
