How to Clean Your Ears

Most people dig down as far as they can go, but you can do serious damage to your ears that way. Use a Q-tip in the outer part of your ear only, don’t stick it down into your ear canal. If it makes you gag, you’ve gone too far!

They come in a kit, and if you have problems with wax stuck in your ears they’re just the thing. You put the drops in your ear, lay on your side for a little bit, then rinse your ears out with warm water with the little bulb syringe and wipe them out with a wash cloth.

If you get swimmer’s ear easily, don’t clean your ears out by putting water into them. Instead use a dry cloth or a swab and just clean around the outer parts, not on the deeper inside parts. The wax is in there for a reason, and it can keep you from getting an infection. Wear ear plugs in the shower and when you swim,and keep the plugs very clean.

Ear candling is weird and it takes a long time, but it works pretty well for really cleaning out your ears. You need to get special candles that are made just for using this way, you can’t just use any old candle. The candle goes through the center of a paper plate covered with tin foil after the wide end of the candle is lit. The narrow end of the candle goes in your ear, and whoever’s helping you lets it burn down an inch, then they take the candle out and cut off the top of the wick, and then the narrow end goes back in your ear. They do this three more times, then they put a few drops of oil in your ear and plug it with a cotton ball. Then you do the same thing for the other ear with a new candle.

You may want to find a professional to help you do this for your first time.

You can soften hard ear wax by putting a few drops of warm olive or paraffin oil into your ear, laying down to keep it in your ear for five minutes, then letting the oil run out. It doesn’t work all at once, but if you do it for a few days your ear wax will soften and you should be able to rinse it out with warm water.