Dear Alice
How often should I clean my ears? Is daily too much?
Dumbo
Dear Dumbo,
You should clean the external portions of your ears every time you
take a shower or bath. To clean the inner portion of your ears, do
not use cotton swabs (Q-tips)-- they only push any wax that is
present further into your ear canal. Try a hot shower to liquefy
the wax and use a wash cloth to wipe out the ear canal. If you
know that you have wax build-up, you can also occasionally use a
few drops of an over-the-counter wax softener and then flush the
canal gently with warm water and a bulb syringe.
- Alice
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