"Ear Picking" - A Barber Shop Service Health Hazard?

It was only recently that I heard of "ear picking," a barber shop service that is apparently quite common in Asia and recently becoming more popular in the United States in cities with large Asian populations.

In essence, ear picking is when a variety of implements - scrapes, picks, and lights - is used within the ear canal.  Why is it popular among Asians? Mainly because of the type of earwax that is produced by Asians which is mainly dry and flaky which causes an itchy sensation. Ear picking helps remove some of this cornflake-like earwax as well as get the itch "scratched" and is apparently quite a pleasurable experience... like getting an itch on your back scratched. Caucasians have more peanut butter or wet type of earwax which is not amenable to "picking".

This unlicensed service is most often performed in barber shops and unfortunately has led to a number of ear related infections (eardrum perforations, fungal ear infections, bacterial ear infections, etc) as the tools are not sterilized in between customers.

If you want a "professional" type ear cleaning, see your local ENT. Itchy ears can be treated without resorting to ear canal instrumentation along with its risks of infection and eardrum perforations!

Read more about this phenomenon here.

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How to Unclog a Clogged Ear

First, one needs to know what is causing the clog before proper treatment can be initiated. There's a few assumptions here before proceeding.

• You have no ear problems typically
• There is no "pain" per se other than perhaps a pressure type pain. If there's actual PAIN present, you most likely have an ear infection and this article does not apply to you.
• You currently have no other symptoms (ie, sinus or nasal problems). An upper respiratory infection or sino-nasal problem may have triggered your ear problem, but you no longer have those symptoms anymore.
• You are older than 8 years of age.

Step 1:
Examine the ear canal with an otoscope. Look for any blockage like earwax or fluid.

If earwax is found, the first step is to get the earwax out! Although your doctor or an ENT specialist can do this for you, some rather try it at home by attempting to flush the earwax out. My personal at-home earwax flush kit favorite can be found here on Amazon.com.

Step 2:
Assuming no earwax is present, the next step is to get a hearing test. Why? The hearing nerve can become damaged causing a sense of fullness or clogged sensation. Click here to read a Washington Post article about this. Treatment must be urgently pursued as there is only a short window of time when medications can reverse the nerve damage (around 4 weeks). After this period of time, there's not much that can be done other than wait and cross-the-fingers.

Step 3:
Assuming there is no earwax and a hearing test revealed no nerve damage, you either have fluid in the middle ear (serous otitis media) or pressure (eustachian tube dysfunction).

Regardless of fluid or pressure presence, the treatment is the same. Click here to read the protocol to fix this problem.

Remember that pressure/fluid buildup in the ear is just like water/pressure contained inside an inflated (water) balloon. It needs to be "released" in a physical manner. There is no "pill" that can automatically do this for you. Watch video explanation. Read more about this here.

Mythical Treatments:
There are a couple key points to make if you have reached Step #3.

You do NOT have an ear infection and antibiotics will make little if any difference. Antibiotics help with infections and only infections. It does not get rid of pressure or fluid (ie, throwing antibiotics into a swimming pool will not make the water disappear). Other common myths also need to be dispelled:

• Sudafed and other oral decongestants do not help unless you have nasal congestion and/or runny nose.
• Antihistamines like zyrtec, benadryl, allegra, claritin, etc do not help unless you have other allergy symptoms affecting the nose.
• Saline flushes or nasal sprays also do not help unless there are associated nasal symptoms.


Products That Help Pop the Ear Due to Eustachian Tube Dysfunction or Fluid in the Middle Ear:

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Geared Toward Adults

Balloon Geared Toward Kids

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Why Do We Have Earwax?

This question was addressed in today's Washington Post.

The question itself wasn't really addressed, but the article did contain good general information.

Read more about earwax here.

Read the Washington Post article here.

Watch a video of earwax being removed by an ENT specialist under the microscope:

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New Video Uploaded on Earwax Removal Under the Microscope

Our office has produced a new video on earwax removal under a microscope that we have uploaded onto our YouTube Channel.

Click here to watch it or watch it below!

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Our Office Now Offers Real-Time Video Ear Microscopy

Ever wonder what your ear looks like under the microscope? Ever wonder what it looks like while an ENT is removing earwax from your ear?

Ever wonder what exactly is meant by that "hole" in the eardrum along with any other findings mentioned?

Well, our office now offers real-time video of everything done under the ear microscope.

See exactly what the ENT sees under magnification on a TV screen while he looks into your ear!!!


Or not... but at least you now have that option available!

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Strange But True (And Disgusting) Stories in ENT

True Story #1

There was an ENT named Dr. Lloyd Storrs of Lubbock, TX. He used to save all the earwax he removed from patients. With the collected earwax, he would heat it to melt it, strain it, cool it down, and then heat it again to make an unique earwax solution he would give to patients suffering from ear canal seborrhea with cerumen. Only 2 drops per week worked.

Strange but true... in fact, he wrote a paper about it. Read it here.

True Story #2

Earwax, by the way, is often a tasty treat for cats! And I do have a few patients who request that I save the earwax I remove from their ears so they can feed their cat with it.

True Story #3

Back in the day, ENTs would harvest cartilage taken from noses (septoplasty) as well as middle ear bones from ears (cholesteatoma surgery) and save them in the lab or locker. The harvested cartilage and bone was than "reused" at a later time to repair defects in patients who needed extra cartilage or middle ear repair.

Of course, nowadays, we no longer recycle ENT parts like this like we used to.

True Story #4

Leeches are often used after certain major head and neck surgery in order to prevent clots from forming in the surgical site. In fact, there are "medical grade" leeches which are sold by companies specifically for this purpose.

Here is one paper describing medical use of leeches.

True Story #5


Maggots are sometimes used to remove necrotic tissue from wounds in order to allow healthy tissue growth.

Here is a paper describing this mode of treatment.



If you have any other strange but true ENT stories, comment below!

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Can Earwax Be Made Into a Usable Candle?

Can you make a candle out of ear wax? Well according to a scene in the movie Shrek, it sure can. However, in reality, earwax can not produce a candle that's any good.

This "myth" was attempted to be reproduced by the friendly gang of Mythbusters (a serial show on Discovery Channel), episode 136 (air date: Dec 28, 2009).

Earwax was collected from Tory’s ears and ignited alongside paraffin and beeswax which are two common materials used for candles. The earwax burned with some sparking and sputtering. More earwax was collected from other members of the cast/crew as well as volunteers without much more improvement. In the end, they attributed this poor result to the fact that the earwax material did not melt as smoothly as the paraffin.

What Mythbusters may not have realized is that not all earwax are physically the same. Earwax comes in a multitude of different consistencies as well as moisture content. A better test would be to create an earwax candle trying out these different earwax types to see if it makes any difference.

Other interesting facts:

- I have a few patients who like to take the earwax I remove from their ear to feed their cat. Apparently, cats like to eat earwax!
- There are quite a number of patients who come every 3-6 months to get their earwax removed by me.
- Earwax have different odors. I do not make it a practice to smell them, but sometimes it can't be helped given I'm so close to the ear when removing it.

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WSJ: Ear Candles Are Hazardous To Your Ears!

The Wall Street Journal published a story on 2/18/2010 and the hazards of using ear candles to remove earwax. In the story titled "FDA: That Wax in Your Ear Shouldn’t Be a Burning Candle," the FDA states that:

"Consumers should steer clear of ear candles — hollow cones that are about 10 inches long and made from a fabric tube soaked in beeswax, paraffin, or a mixture of the two.”

In fact, the FDA has seized some ear candles and sent warning letters to three big manufacturers saying that such products weren’t approved in the U.S. Read the FDA info here.

In our office, we see about one patient a month where ear candles were used with disastrous results including:

1) Burns to the ear canal skin
2) Burns to the eardrum
3) Eardrum ruptures
4) Hearing loss due to wax from the candle

It is worth repeating... do NOT use ear candles.

Read the WSJ story here.

Read more about earwax and its treatment here.

If earwax is a big problem, try a liquid earwax removal substance like debrox.

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