A detailed analysis of how earwax is formed

Earwax is present in everyone's ear canal. A moderate amount of earwax is helpful to the health of the ear canal, but too much will affect hearing. Earwax is generally secreted by a sebaceous gland in the ear canal, and it starts out as a layer of debris on the surface of the skin.

How is earwax formed?

1. There is a section of skin in the ear hole (the 1/3 cartilage segment outside the external auditory canal) that is different from the skin elsewhere on the body. There is a modified sweat gland called the cerumen gland, whose structure is somewhat similar to the sweat glands of the skin. The skin of the external auditory canal, like the skin elsewhere, also has a sebaceous gland that secretes a special type of oil.

2. From a physiological point of view, these secretions in the cerumen gland are discharged from time to time through the opening. At first, the secretions just coming out of the cerumen glands look a bit like melted wax. They mix with the oil secreted by the sebaceous glands to form a very thin layer attached to the surface of the skin. These original earwax are mixed with the dust in the ear canal and the fallen skin debris. After drying, they become small pieces of light yellow loose and thin flaky earwax, which accumulate in the ear canal.

3. Some people have very much secretion from the cerumen and sebaceous glands, and the secretion is brown, oily and sticky. The substance accumulates in the outer part of the eye before it dries. Some even flow out of the ear, and some condense into clumps. These are collectively called soft earwax, commonly known as "oily ears", and medically called oily cerumen. Some people have particularly strong cerumen secretion, and the earwax cannot be discharged. It gradually dries up and gathers into dark brown lumps, which are sometimes as hard as stones and tightly block the external auditory canal. It is commonly known as hard earwax, and is called cerumen embolism in medicine. If you find cerumen blockage, especially when water enters the ear canal and the cerumen swells causing stuffiness, hearing loss or even ear pain, you should consult a specialist. Do not dig it out randomly to avoid causing ear canal inflammation.