Ask an Audiologist: Can Impacted Earwax Affect My Hearing?
Earwax – is as natural as cherry blossoms in spring or snow in the dead of winter.
Also known as cerumen, the development of earwax in your ears is a necessary bodily function that actually acts as a natural antimicrobial.
Watch this Ask an Audiologist video post “How to get rid of ear wax?”
Earwax builds up more quickly in some people’s ears than others and you may need to visit your local Audiologist to rid yourself of the excess cerumen, which can become impacted and make it difficult to hear.
Read on as one of Hearing Solutions’ registered Audiologists answers the following enquiry.
Ask An Audiologist
Can impacted earwax cut my hearing off passed 15kHz?
Audiologist Response
Hello there,
Thank you for your submission to Ask an Audiologist.
Earwax can definitely cause a significant degree of hearing loss when impacted in an ear canal. The frequency range in which the hearing is affected would depend on the quantity, viscosity and position of the wax in the ear. In Audiology, we typically focus on hearing in the range of 250-8000Hz because that is where most speech sounds fall on the spectrum. I am not entirely sure how impacted wax would affect hearing sensitivity at 15 kHz. However, I would suspect that the hearing would be reduced to some degree.
At Hearing Solutions we offer a free hearing test in which we can check your ears for impacted wax and evaluate your hearing sensitivity from 250-8000Hz. One of our trained clinicians can also make recommendations for the removal of wax and help you hear better. Would you be interested in scheduling an appointment at one of our locations in Ontario?
I hope that this information is helpful to you. Please do not hesitate to contact me if you have any further questions.
All the best,
Stephanie Loder, B.Sc., M.Cl.Sc., Reg. CASLPO Audiologist, Aud(C)
Stephanie is a registered Audiologist with the College of Audiologists and Speech-Language Pathologists of Ontario. Stephanie currently sees patients at Hearing Solutions’ Carlingwood Shopping Centre location in Ottawa.
