If you’ve noticed any of the symptoms below, they may be an indicator of impacted, excessive or dry earwax. While some signs are shared with broader hearing loss, many are specific to a wax-related cause. Get in touch to hear about the solutions we can offer, or read more here.
Occlusion
Internal sounds – such as chewing, breathing, your heartbeat and your own voice – can no longer escape out of the ear and are therefore heard much louder inside your head.
Vertigo
An increase in air pressure due to the wax inside the ear canal can inadvertently stimulate the organ of balance, located inside the inner ear, causing vertigo.
Coughing
Similar to vertigo, an increase in air pressure due to the wax inside the ear canal can inadvertently
stimulate the facial nerve, located inside the middle ear, causing you to cough.
Tinnitus
Tinnitus is a ringing/whistling/buzzing type of sound that originates from inside your ear and can only be heard by you – not anyone else around you. Read more information about tinnitus here.
Conductive hearing loss
Wax restricts sound waves from travelling efficiently through the ear canal and vibrating against the eardrum, resulting in some degree of hearing loss.
Whistling hearing aid
Sounds which are amplified by the hearing aid are reflected back out of the ear due to the wax, causing acoustic feedback (ie whistling) of the hearing aid.
Itchiness or irritation
Wax that is impacted – especially dry wax – will rub against the side of the ear canal upon any jaw movements, likely causing some discomfort.
