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Article: Where does earwax come from and why is it there? (includes ear-cleaning tips)(Ask Doctor Cory)
- Article from:
- U.S. Kids
- Article date:
- June 1, 1994
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 1994 Children's Better Health Institute. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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Dear Anthony:
Earwax is made in your ear canal. The ear canal is the hole that starts at the opening of your ear and ends at the eardrum inside your head. Tiny glands in the ear canal produce cerumen (se-ROO-muhn). Cerumen is the medical word for earwax.
Earwax protects your eardrum by stopping dust or insects from getting too far into your ear.
The ear is "self-cleaning." This means that new earwax pushes the old wax out of the ear. You need only to wash off the earwax you see at the opening to the ear.
Some people produce wax so quickly that the old wax can't be pushed out fast enough. The old wax builds up in the ear.