What is Earwax?

Earwax is as natural as perspiration–

everyone has it. Special glands in your ear canal produce earwax in small amounts. The wax dries in your ear canal before the movement of your jaw pushes it out.

Earwax is an important part of your body’s natural defense system. It lubricates and protects your ear from foreign matter such as water and insects. Normally, earwax is the sign of a healthy body and you should not worry about it.

When is Earwax a problem?
Sometimes earwax can build up and eventually block the ear canal. This blockage may happen to people with narrow ear canals. Or it may happen to people with overactive earwax producing glands. When earwax does build up,you may sense a mild hearing loss and/or feeling of fullness in the ear canal.

How to use the Earwash kit:
Your doctor ordered an earwash because of wax build up in your ear. Carefully follow the steps below, using the materials provided for you.
1. Place 5 to 10 drops of OxyOtic solu-tion in the blocked ear. Keep the drops in the ear for several minutes by keeping your head titled (best done at bedtime–lie down with the blocked ear up). Do this nightly for three nights.
2. On the fourth (4th) day, fill the rub-ber bulb syringe with warm water. Place the tip only into your ear canal and gently squeeze the water into your ear. Keep your ear titled slightly so that the water doesn’t run out of your ear immediately. Repeat this step several times to dislodge the wax.
3. After the wax has been dislodged, tilt your ear down and shake to make sure your get the excess water out of the ear canal.
4. It is possible that water will drain from the ear for 24 hours after wash-ing. This is to be expected and is not a cause for concern.

Don’t!
Avoid putting anything in your ear “smaller than your elbow;” this includes cotton-tip applicators, Q-tips, hair pins, bobby pins, match sticks, or other similar items. You can cause serious damage to your ear–even dizziness and permanent loss of hearing.