Is It Hearing Loss or Just Earwax?

One of the more common things I get called about is hearing that dropped off suddenly. Someone woke up and the world sounded muffled on one side, or the TV needed to go up another five notches over the space of a week. It feels like hearing loss arriving all at once.

Often it is. Sometimes it is earwax.

Earwax is supposed to be there

Wax is not a hygiene problem. It protects the ear canal, keeps it from drying out, and slowly works its way outward on its own. Most people never need to do anything about it.

The trouble starts when it stops migrating out and builds up instead. Narrow or bendy ear canals, hearing aids or earbuds worn daily, and simply getting older all make that more likely. Wax also gets drier and harder with age, which makes it more inclined to sit still.

Once it presses up against the eardrum or fully blocks the canal, sound stops getting through properly.

What points to wax

• The change came on quickly, over days rather than years
• It is noticeably worse in one ear than the other
• Your ear feels full or plugged
• There is ringing, or your own voice sounds boomy in your head
• You wear hearing aids or earbuds most of the day

What points to hearing loss

• It came on gradually, over years
• Both ears are affected fairly evenly
• Voices sound clear enough in a quiet room but not in a restaurant
• You hear that someone is speaking but cannot make out the words
• Other people noticed before you did

That last one is worth sitting with. Hearing loss usually arrives slowly enough that you adapt without realizing, which is why family often raises it first.

Please do not dig it out

Cotton swabs push most of the wax further in and pack down what is left. Ear candling does not work and has burned people. Over-the-counter drops soften wax, which helps sometimes, but they cannot tell you what is actually going on in there.

If your eardrum has a perforation or tubes, home removal can do real damage.

What actually happens at a visit

I bring a video otoscope, so we look in the ear together on a screen. That takes about a minute and settles the question immediately.

If it is wax, I remove it and you hear the difference before I leave. If it is not, we do a full diagnostic hearing test right there at your kitchen table, and you get a straight answer about what is going on and what your options are. No commute, no waiting room.

Plenty of people book expecting a hearing test and turn out to just need their ears cleaned. That is a good day.

Book a visit

Valley Mobile Hearing Care brings a fully equipped clinic to your home across Kelowna, West Kelowna, Peachland, Summerland and Penticton.

Call or text 778-215-5261, or visit valleymobilehearing.com.

Joe Wadden, RHIP