As a parent, it’s your responsibility to look after the well-being of your child. When it comes to their ears and hearing, you need to make sure that you’re cleaning them on a regular basis. If you fail to clean your child’s ears or do it wrong, it could lead to wax build-up and hearing issues.
Why is Wax Build-Up Dangerous?
It’s completely normal for children, like adults, to create earwax. In fact, having some in the ear canal is necessary for proper lubrication of the ear. It helps to decrease the chances of infection or irritation. If that wax begins to build up due to neglect or you push it deeper into the ear canal, it can harden.
When this happens, it can block sound waves from reaching the inner ear. This causes your child to have temporary hearing loss. You will need to visit the hearing care center to get that hard earwax build-up cleaned from your child’s ear. This restores your child’s hearing.
Cleaning Instructions
To help reduce earwax build-up in your child’s ears, it’s best to use drops. You can buy over-the-counter earwax removal drops. Or, you can make your own mixture. The most common mixtures are 50:50 mineral oil and vinegar. You could also do 50:50 hydrogen peroxide and distilled water. Use an eyedropper and put a few drops in each one of your child’s ears. This will soften up the earwax.
It’s also a good idea to give your child a hot bath or shower. The steam from the bath can assist with loosening up excess earwax. Once they get out of the tub, wipe the outside of the ear with a washcloth. This removes any excess earwax. If your child complains of water in their ears, it’s best to use a hairdryer on the coolest setting to blow into the ear. Make sure to hold it a good 10 inches away from the ear to prevent any hearing damage.
Should You Use Q-Tips?
As an adult, it’s likely that you use Q-tips to keep your ears free of excess earwax build-up. While this is a great option for adults, it isn’t the best for children. You know how far to stick the swab into your ear without causing any damage to your inner ear. Your child doesn’t. Additionally, it’s very hard to tell how far the Q-tip is going into your child’s ear. It’s best to avoid using these cotton swabs for your children’s ears.
Contact Us Today
If your child is experiencing an issue with their hearing, it’s time to call us today. Our hearing care specialists can find the cause of their hearing loss and can clean out earwax. We want to keep your whole family hearing well this new year.
