Earwax isn’t dirt. It’s your ear’s own cleaning system: it traps dust, keeps the skin of the ear canal moisturised, and works its way out on its own. Most people never need to do a thing about it.
But sometimes wax builds up faster than it clears. When it fully blocks the canal, you’ll notice — and that’s the point at which it’s worth getting it removed properly. Here are the signs I see most often.
1. Your hearing has gone muffled
The most common sign by far. It usually creeps up over days or weeks rather than arriving overnight, and it often affects one ear more than the other. Voices sound distant and you find yourself nudging the TV volume up.
2. Your ear feels blocked or full
That sensation of pressure, or of wearing an invisible earplug. Patients often describe it as feeling like they’re underwater.
3. You’ve noticed ringing or buzzing
Tinnitus has many causes, but a wax blockage is one of the more straightforward ones — and often one of the easiest to resolve.
4. Your ear aches or itches
A dull ache, or a persistent itch deep in the canal you can’t reach, can both point to compacted wax pressing against the ear canal wall.
5. You feel slightly off-balance
Less common, but wax pressing against the eardrum can occasionally cause mild dizziness.
6. You get a tickly cough
Odd but true. A branch of the vagus nerve runs through the ear canal, so wax touching the canal wall can trigger a reflex cough.
7. Your hearing aids have started whistling
If your aids suddenly feed back, feel uncomfortable, or seem less effective, wax is a likely culprit — it blocks both the sound going in and the fit of the mould.
What not to do
Cotton buds. They push most of the wax deeper and compact it against the eardrum, turning a minor build-up into a proper blockage. I remove a lot of wax that started this way.
Ear candling. No evidence it works, and a real risk of burns.
DIY syringing kits. Without being able to see inside the ear, it’s easy to cause damage.
What you can do first
A few drops of olive oil in the affected ear, once or twice a day for three to five days, will soften the wax. Sometimes that’s enough on its own. If it isn’t, it makes removal quicker and more comfortable when you do come in.
When it isn’t wax
See your GP promptly rather than waiting if you have sudden hearing loss in one ear, discharge from the ear, severe pain, or hearing loss following an injury. These need assessing in their own right, and sudden hearing loss in particular is treated as urgent.
Earwax removal in Leicester
NHS ear syringing is no longer routinely available in most of Leicester, so private microsuction has become the usual route.
I’m an HCPC-registered audiologist and a practising NHS clinician, and I run Crystal Clear Hearing myself. Every appointment is with me — the same clinician each time you come in, and no sales targets pushing you towards a hearing aid you don’t need.
I examine both ears first, then remove the wax by microsuction. It’s a gentle vacuum method that uses no water, so it suits people with perforations, grommets or a history of ear infections. Most appointments take around 20 minutes and you’ll hear the difference before you leave.
My clinic is at 41 Spencefield Drive, Leicester LE5 6FE, open seven days a week from 8am to 10pm. Blocked ears are uncomfortable and there’s rarely a reason to wait, so same-day appointments are usually available — just give me a call.
I see patients from across Leicester and the surrounding areas, including the city centre, Evington, Humberstone, Oadby, Wigston, Great Glen and Syston.
Call 0116 442 2877 and I’ll usually get you seen the same day, or send me a message.