Cleaning baby ears wax

Cleaning your baby's ears and nose

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Keeping your baby’s head and face clean is important for their good health. That’s because baby skin is fragile and more sensitive than adult skin, so it can easily become irritated. It can take a little while to get used to cleaning their tiny ears, eyes and nose, but with practice your confidence will grow.

Do I need to clean my baby's ears, eyes and nose?

Although young babies don’t move around much, you’d be surprised at how dirty their faces can get. Just like adults, they can develop ear wax and mucus in their nose and discharge in their eyes.

Paying special attention to these parts of your baby’s body will prevent problems in future.

When should I clean my baby's ears, eyes and nose?

Your baby’s ears, eyes and nose should be wiped every day. All you need is some cotton wool and warm water. Don’t use soap because this can dry out your baby’s sensitive skin.

A good time to clean your baby's ears, eyes and nose is just before you give them a bath. Newborn babies don't need a bath every day — 2 or 3 times a week is enough — so on other days you can just wash their face and bottom. This is known as 'top and tailing'.

Some babies get upset when you wash their faces, so choose a time when they’re relaxed. It’s best not to wash their face when they’re hungry, or right after a feed. Talking or singing while you’re washing them might help to calm them down.

How do I clean my baby's ears, eyes and nose?

If you are going to give your baby a bath, fill the bath with warm water and get together everything you need first. Always make sure the water is no hotter than 37 to 38°C. If you don’t have a thermometer, use your elbow or wrist to check the water isn't too hot.

Before you undress your baby, lay them on a safe surface. Dip some cotton wool in lukewarm water. Gently clean the corners of their eyes, wiping from the inside corner to the outside corner. Use a new cotton wool ball for each eye.

Then gently wipe around each nostril to get rid of any mucus. Wipe around your baby's ears, including around the outside.

Use a soft towel to gently dry your baby's skin, making sure you also dry behind the ears.

It's very important not to stick anything into your baby's ears or nose as this can cause damage. It can cause the lining of the inside of the nose to bleed and damage the eardrum. Pushing something into your baby's ear or nose can increase the risk of infection.

When their face is clean and dry, you can undress them and give them their bath.

Should I remove my baby's earwax?

Usually there is no need to remove your baby's earwax. It has an important role in protecting their ears. It blocks germs that could cause infection from reaching the eardrum and it prevents dirt and dust from entering your baby's ear.

Ear wax usually makes its way to the outer ear naturally. You can gently wipe it away when you're cleaning their ears. Don’t ever poke a cotton swab, finger or anything else into your baby's ears.

You should also avoid using remedies to remove ear wax. This risks damaging the ear canal and can even affect your baby’s hearing.

If you think your baby's ears are causing them discomfort — for example, if they're tugging or pulling their ears a lot — then tell your doctor in case they have an ear infection.

Sources:

The Royal Women’s Hospital (Caring for your newborn baby), Raising Children (Cleaning baby eyes, nose and ears), Raising Children (Bathing a newborn), The Royal Children's Hospital Melbourne (Ear infections and glue ear)

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Last reviewed: April 2021

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Steps, Safety, When to Seek Help

It’s important to keep your baby’s ears clean. You can clean the outer ear and the skin around it while you bathe your baby. All you’ll need is a washcloth or cotton ball and some warm water.

It’s not safe to use cotton swabs or to stick anything inside your baby’s ear. If you notice earwax inside the ear, you don’t need to remove it.

Earwax is healthy for your baby because it’s protecting, lubricating, and has antibacterial propertires. Removing it can cause potentially harmful damage.

Read on to learn steps for cleaning your baby’s ears, plus safety tips.

To clean your baby’s ears on a daily or regular basis, you’ll need a cotton ball that’s been soaked with warm water. You can also use a gentle washcloth with some warm (not hot) water.

To clean baby’s ears:

Wet the washcloth or cotton ball with warm water.
Ring out the washcloth well, if using.
Gently wipe behind baby’s ears and around the outside of each ear.

Never stick the washcloth or cotton ball inside your baby’s ear. This can cause damage to the ear canal.

Eardrops

If your baby has been prescribed eardrops or you want to use them to remove wax buildup, follow these steps.

Lie your baby on their side with the affected ear facing up.
Gently pull the lower lobe down and back to open the canal.
Place 5 drops in the ear (or the amount your pediatrician recommended).
Keep the drops in your baby’s ear by keeping baby in a lying position for up to 10 minutes, then roll them over so the side with the drops is facing down.
Let the ear drops run out of your baby’s ear onto a tissue.

Always use drops according to your pediatrician’s recommendation. Follow their instructions for how many drops to administer and how often to give them to your baby.

Cotton swabs are not safe to use on infants or young children. In fact, from 1990-2010, ear cleaning was the most common cause for a child in the United States to be omitted to the emergency room for an ear injury.

More than 260,000 children were affected. Most commonly, these injuries involve an object stuck in the ear, perforated eardrums, and soft tissue injuries.

The safest rule to keep in mind is that if you see any waxy buildup or discharge on the outside of the ear, use a warm, wet washcloth to gently wipe it away.

Leave anything inside the ear (the part you can’t see) alone. Injury to the eardrum, hearing bone, or inner ear can all cause long-term health complications for your child.

Earwax buildup in infants is rare. Usually, the ear canal makes the correct amount of earwax it needs. But in some cases, excess earwax buildup can interfere with hearing, or cause pain or discomfort. Your baby may tug on their ear to indicate discomfort.

Some causes of earwax buildup include:

Using cotton swabs. These push the wax back in and pack it down instead of removing it
Sticking fingers in the ear. If wax is pushed back by your infant’s fingers, it may build up.
Wearing ear plugs. Ear plugs can push wax back in the ear, causing buildup.

Don’t try to remove earwax buildup at home. If you’re concerned about earwax buildup, see a pediatrician. They can determine if your infant’s earwax needs to be removed.

Is earwax dangerous?

Earwax is not dangerous. It serves many important functions including:

protecting the eardrum and ear canal, keeping it dry, and preventing germs from causing infection
trapping dirt, dust, and other particles so they don’t enter the ear canal and cause irritation or injury

Let your baby’s pediatrician know if your infant is tugging at their ears. If you don’t already have a pediatrician, you can browse doctors in your area through the Healthline FindCare tool. Also let them know if you suspect a blocked ear canal is making it difficult for your baby to hear you, or if you notice any yellow-green discharge from your child’s ear.

Your doctor may remove the wax if it’s causing discomfort, pain, or interfering with hearing.

A pediatrician can usually remove the wax during a regular office appointment without requiring any further treatment. In rare cases, the wax may need to be removed under general anesthesia in the operating room.

If your pediatrician notices signs of an ear infection, they may prescribe antibiotic eardrops for your baby.

Seek medical help right away if you notice bleeding from the ear after an object was inserted in the ear canal. You should also seek medical help if your child looks or acts very sick, or their walking is unsteady.

It’s important to keep your baby’s ears clean. In most cases, you can clean the outer ear and area around the ears during your regularly scheduled bath time. You’ll just need a washcloth and warm water.

Although there are several products on the market made specifically for cleaning the inside of your baby’s ears, many of them aren’t safe. Cotton swabs also aren’t safe for your baby.

If you notice a large amount of wax buildup or are concerned about your baby’s ears, let your pediatrician know. They can determine if it needs to be removed and advise you on the best treatment.

Are ear candles effective? - Simerex

A popular treatment, ear candles are used to clear the ears and relieve ear pain. But how can they help?

If you have experienced blockage of wax in your ears (wax plugs), then you understand how painful and unpleasant it is. Mostly people use such familiar means as ear drops, cotton swabs and candles to remove it, but not all of these are really good choices. For example, ear candles are often described as a panacea for wax buildup in the ears, but are they really effective or even safe, as many believe?

What are ear candles?

It is believed that they are wonderful help from various problems. Their supporters are convinced that this way you can relieve pain in the ear and clean it, cure tinnitus and even flu.

At their core, ear candles are extremely simple. These are wax tubes about a foot long, that is, 30.5 cm. One side of them is placed in the ear, and the other is set on fire. The idea is that a burning candle should help draw wax out of the ear. After the manipulation, they cut the candle and find particles in it: as they say, these are sulfur and garbage. Those who practice this method believe that the ear is an open passage, and candles can "clear" it.

For the “purge”, you will first be asked to lie on your side, then a candle will be inserted into your ear. A protective plate will be put on your ears and face so that you do not burn yourself with hot wax. After that, a candle is lit, and it will burn for about 15 minutes. During this time, it should draw out impurities from your ear. The process is then repeated on the other ear.

The question is, does this method really work?

The answer is no. Many studies on the effectiveness of "candling" the ears have shown that this approach is useless. When the candle is lit, there is no retraction and the ears are not cleared. In fact, this procedure is also quite risky.

The truth about "seeing through" the ears

Ear candles are not useful and therefore we do not recommend their use. With an unfavorable outcome, their use can even lead to hearing loss. Here is some data about the ears and why you still don’t need to “see through” them.

"Ear candles effectively remove wax from the ear."

Wax is a sticky and thick substance that lingers on the inside of the ear canal. Gradually, as it dries out, the movements of the jaw push it outward. Candles cannot draw sulfur, because for this they need too much retracting force, the use of which can violate the integrity of the eardrum.

Candles melt wax.

Even if the burning temperature of a candle were high enough to melt the wax, so much heat is unsafe. And this will not help in any way, because the sulfur will simply drain back into the depths of the ear and harden again into a dense mass. The only melting that is present here is the melting of the candle wax.

Candles can clear your ears.

The eardrums cover and protect the middle and inner ear. Therefore, ear candles cannot draw anything out of them. If they are damaged, you can lose your hearing altogether.

What are the risks in the ear candling procedure?

When lighting a candle in the ear, there are the following dangers:

Push the earwax even further into the canal and tighten it more.

Get burned if hot candle wax gets on your face and scalp. Protective coatings are not always sufficient, and the wax can also get inside the ear.

Adding wax to the ear plug. If there is already a blockage, then this only exacerbates the problem. Some people get worse and the pain gets worse after using suppositories.

Damage to the eardrum. This can happen if the candle is very deep in the ear or hot wax drips into it. Because of this, serious hearing problems are quite real. In general, it is important to avoid getting any foreign objects into the ears.

How to Get Rid of Earwax Buildup

If you are prone to wax buildup, then ear candles can be seen as an affordable and inexpensive solution. But the truth is that they can cause you more trouble than before they were used. In this case, we recommend that you abandon home remedies and immediately go to a specialist. ENT doctors know how to remove blockage of earwax in a safe and convenient way.

Important: You only have one pair of ears! Unfortunately, their damage can be irreversible. Sticking objects such as candles, cotton swabs, or tweezers into your ears in an attempt to clear blockages is ineffective and dangerous. No need to risk your hearing like that, contact a professional.

Read also the article "Recommendations for the removal of cerumin (earwax)"

If you are interested in other articles about ear health and hearing loss, Simerex specialists will provide you with additional information.

Ear candles: to use or not?

Ear candles are often advertised as a home remedy for wax plugs. But do they really work, how safe are they?

If you suffer from earwax buildup, then you know how painful and annoying it can be. Many people turn to home remedies such as ear drops, ear buds, and ear wax to get rid of wax plugs. Some of these remedies are not the best choice for treatment, in particular ear candles.

What are ear candles?

Ear candles are hollow beeswax tubes that are inserted into the ear canal and set on fire.

They are shown to remove sulfur, eliminate inflammatory processes and infections, as well as relieve pain, which can accompany many pathologies of the human hearing organ.

Does this practice really work? The answer is no. Extensive research has been done on the effectiveness of ear candles and it has been specifically found that this practice does not make sense. While the candle is burning, there is no suction, and there is no point in “lighting up” your ears. In fact, an ear candle carries serious risks.

The truth about ear candles

At best, an ear candle is ineffective and pointless. In the worst case, this can lead to hearing loss. Here are the facts about your ears and why these candles are always a bad idea.

"Ear candles suck out earwax"

Earwax is sticky and thick. It clings to the inside of your ear and slowly dries out. Over time, due to the movements of the jaw, it is removed from the ear canal and wiping with a damp cloth is enough.

Ear candles do not produce any suction, which makes this claim false. Assuming they can, it would take a lot of suction to remove the wax from your ears that could rupture your eardrum.

"Ear candles melt wax"

Even if the candle could burn at a temperature high enough to melt the wax, that amount of heat would be dangerous. Never put open flames or heat sources into your ear. There is no point in melting earwax, as it can flow back inward and solidify in a mass.

Despite this, candles do not melt earwax, but only candle wax.

"Ear candles clean my ear canals"

Your eardrums block your middle and inner ear from the outside world. It is impossible for ear candles to suck out debris and fluid from these areas because they are sealed in your head. If these areas are damaged, then you risk infection and hearing loss. Ear candles are meaningless, so this is a completely false statement.