Two situations where you need to get your child's earwax, the other… don't do anything

The article was consulted professionally by Specialist Doctor II Le Thanh Cam – Department of Pediatrics – Newborn – Share99 Da Nang International Health Hub. He has 15 years of experience in diagnosing and treating pediatric diseases, having worked at Da Nang Health Hub and Da Nang Obstetrics and Gynecology Center. His strengths are the diagnosis and treatment of pediatric pathology, resuscitation, pediatric emergency.

Not all parents know how to properly remove earwax for their baby. Cleaning your ears the wrong way can cause pain and otitis, affecting your child's ability to hear. So is it necessary to get wax for the baby? How to get earwax for your baby does not hurt?

Earwax is the self-born mucus in the ear canal, it belongs to the self-cleaning mechanism of the ear canal, which is pushed from the ear disc to the ear canal.

Many people think it is dirt, which makes the ear unsused and affects ear function, but it is not. Besides, earwax also has the function of protecting the body:

• Earwax is a wax that helps fight infections and warms, lubricating the ear canal secreted by the outer ear canal to take charge of catching dust, bacteria, even small insects … when they enter the ear canal. It simultaneously prevents dirt from invading the ear canal;
• Through the chewing movement of the lower jaw bone, the cilia in the ear canal will move gently in the direction from the inside out and push this wax block out near the ear. Here, under the action of air, the earwax gradually becomes dry, peels off the ears and falls out without us having to impact;
• Trying to remove earwax by picking up the baby's ear or other items can cause it to go deeper inside and clog the ear. Not to mention that these items can damage the ears, can even make deaf temporarily;
• In young children, when the earwax dries it will be pushed out on its own through eating activity from the teeth.

Therefore, in fact mothers do not need to take earwax for the child regularly. We should also not pick up the baby's ears daily because it will lose a natural protective element of the ear from dust and infection.

Earwax is only really troubling in two cases:

• Firstly, when they accumulate too much, hindering the observation of the eardrum of the doctor during the examination;
• Secondly, when they cause a complete blockage of the outer ear canal. At this time the child's hearing may decrease. The sensation of blockage or hearing loss may increase after the child bathes or swims, as the earwax button meets the enlarged water. Where the earwax button covers the entire eardrum, the child may lose the ability to hear temporarily. For young children who are in the learning stage of speaking, a wax button for too long can cause them to slow down to speak.

When examining and detecting that the child has a lot of earwax, which is hindering the observation of the entire eardrum, the doctor can use a tool to remove the earwax. In case the earwax is dry, hard, difficult to remove and the eardrum is not punctured, the doctor may advise the mother to soften the earwax at home before taking the child to the doctor again.

You should absolutely not use sharp items such as nails or cotton swabs to remove earwax for your baby because this method makes the earwax go deeper inside, affecting the eardrum inside the ear.

To get earwax for the baby painless and safe mother should only do the following:

Use a thin, soft cotton towel that penetrates slightly around the rim of the ear for the child then slightly twists an angle of the towel, slowly inserting it deep into the inside of the ear and continuing to twist. The earwax will follow the twist of the cotton towel and go out. With the soft properties of the towel will not harm the ear membranes of the baby, but the earwax is still cleaned.

When the baby's ears are scratched orespecially when they are suffering from otitis , parents do not use wax or other earwax tools to pick up the baby's ears, because they can cause pain and adverse effects on the baby's ears.

If the earwax is large and difficult to obtain, the mother needs to soften the earwax with old oxygen before taking the wax for the child in the following steps:

• Step 1: Place the baby on his side, the side of the ear to clean is located at the top. Show your child television or read stories to them;
• Step 2: Use a needleless plastic injection pump to soften the prepared earwax;
• Step 3: Put this mixture in the ear until it floods the outer ear canal. Usually about 5-10 drops are needed. It is advisable to slowly, drop one by one, so that each drop can go deep inside, softening the earwax. Keep your baby still for 5 minutes. If the child does not coordinate, a shorter time can be accepted;
• Step 4: Tilt the baby's head in the opposite direction so that the drug droplets flow out;
• Repeat this movement 1 time per day for 3-5 days.

After the last day, you can proceed to washing the baby's ears. Place your baby upright, tilt his head against a sink or basin, using a plastic injection pump without a needle that gently pumps some warm water into his ears. Pay attention to mixing water warm enough, if the water is too cold or too hot can make the baby uncomfortable. At this time, you can see the wax pieces drifting out.

• If the earwax disintegrates a lot, parents should continue to shrink the baby's ears for a few more days, until the earwax disintegrates and is completely ejected from the ear canal;
• If the earwax only softens without disintegrating and remains in the ear canal, parents should take the baby to the doctor to remove or suck the earwax out. This will make soft earwax easier to remove and does not cause the baby to burn.

In summary, it is not necessary for parents to remove earwax forthe child , except that the baby's ear is sealed by dry earwax or purulent discharge causing ear pain that causes the baby to always pull the ear or cry, the fluid flowing out of the ear has an unpleasant odor, hearing is worse than usual. In this case, the mother should not clean her baby's ears on her own, but should take her to the ear – nose – throat specialist.

To protect your child from health effects, you need to monitor and take him to the doctor when there are abnormalities. Parents can take their children to Share99 Health Hub for advice and examination because this is a key area of Share99 Health System, Pediatrics always brings satisfaction to customers and is highly appreciated by industry experts with:

• Gathering a team of leading doctors in Pediatrics:including leading experts, highly specialized (professors, associate professors, doctors, masters), experienced, used to work at large hospitals such as Bach Mai, 108.. The doctors are well-trained, professional, mind-centered, knowledgeable about the child's psychology. In addition to domestic pediatricians, pediatrics also has the participation of foreign experts (Japan, Singapore, Australia, USA) always pioneering the application of the latest and most effective treatment regimens.
• Comprehensive services:In the field of Pediatrics, Share99 provides a chain of continuous medical examination and treatment services from Newborn to Pediatrics and Vaccines,… according to international standards to take care of your baby's health with parents from birth to adulthood
• Intensive techniques:Share99 has successfully implemented many specialized techniques to make the treatment of difficult diseases in Pediatrics more effective: neurosurgery – skull, hematoma stem cell transplantation in cancer treatment.
• Professional care:In addition to understanding the young psychology, Share99 also pay special attention to the children's play space, help them play comfortably and get acquainted with the hospital environment, cooperate in treatment, improve the efficiency of medical examination and treatment.

To see experienced pediatricians at Share99. Please make an reservation at the website for service.