Earwax 102: Smarter Earwax Prevention and Hearing Aid Care

How Do You Manage Earwax?

Your ear is trying to protect you—then a hearing aid shows up and the wax response kicks into high gear. We unpack that tug-of-war and share a clear plan to keep sound crisp without risking your ears or your devices. In this episode, Dr. Jill Copley maps out the practical routines that make the biggest difference: what to wipe daily, what to clean weekly, and how to spot a clogged dome or filter before it ruins your day.

We break down the small components that matter most—domes, wax guards, receivers, and microphone ports—and explain exactly how to brush, swap, and inspect them. You’ll learn why some people naturally produce more earwax, how body chemistry and narrow canals raise the stakes, and which signs tell you it’s time to clean now rather than wait. For heavy producers, we cover safe at-home strategies like gentle irrigation and wax-softening drops, plus the red flags that mean you should skip DIY and see a professional.

We also talk visit cadence and support: quick front-office cleanings for tricky small parts, deeper checks every two to three months, and tailored schedules for those who need more frequent wax removal. By aligning ear care with device care, you’ll prevent clogs, reduce muffled sound, and stretch the life of your hearing aids. Ready to hear more clearly with less hassle? Follow the show, share this episode with someone who wears hearing aids, and leave a review to tell us your top ear care tip.

To learn more about Total Hearing Care visit:
https://www.TotalHearingCare.com

Total Hearing Care
Multiple Locations Across the DFW Metroplex
(469) 809-4487

Transcript

Welcome And Focus On Earwax

SPEAKER_00 0:00

Welcome to the Total Hearing Care Difference, where we help you experience life through better hearing. Hosted by the Experts of Total Hearing Care, a leading private audiology practice serving the DFW Metroplex, we are here to provide guidance on hearing loss, tinnitus, and the latest advancements in audiology. Transform your life through better hearing. Let's get started.

SPEAKER_01 0:28

Earwax may be natural, but when it meets hearing aids, prevention and care become essential. Welcome back, everyone. I'm Sophia Yvette, co-host and producer, back in the studio with Dr. Joe Copley. Dr. Copley, how's it going today? It's going wonderful. Thank you, Sophia. Great. Well, great to be back with you. Now, Dr. Copley, let's get into the continuation of our previous discussion on earwax, earwax 102. Hearing aids and earwax prevention and care. I'll let you take this one away.

SPEAKER_02 1:04

So, yes, last time we talked about earwax, um, just just as general generalizations, but today we were going to talk about um how hearing aids interact with earwax. So uh some people, as we talked about last time, have a body chemistry that produces a lot of earwax, and some people don't. But one of the things that earwax does is it tries to prevent things that get in your ear from going down into close to your eardrum. So by putting a hearing aid in your ear, you're putting something foreign in there, you're putting a foreign body, if you will, and your ear and the wax it makes may try to overcreate wax to keep that hearing aid from going deeper into your ear. And so that's when we start to have issues. And so we want to look real carefully at how to clean the hearing aids first to make sure they don't build up with earwax where you can't hear out of them. But also we want to look at how can you safely clean your ears, possibly at home, um, or have an audiologist or your physician check them regularly to make sure you're not building up earwax in your ear canal as well.

Cleaning Parts And Office Support

SPEAKER_01 2:22

Now let's go ahead and dive into things deeper. How can audiologists educate patients about balancing natural earwax with hearing aid care?

SPEAKER_02 2:33

Okay, so that's a great question. So when a patient does purchase hearing instruments, we show everyone how to clean them. And so usually you need to wipe them off with like a tissue when you take them out, and you'll want to look at the part or the tip that goes into your ear. So some of them may have a little dome or they may have a filter on them that collects wax. And so you want to check those and make sure they're clean. And so you will have a little brush and you can brush them off. You may have replacements where you can change the dome or that little filter. Or if you have some trouble seeing those little parts because they are very small, or maybe you just don't have the dexterity to be able to change those parts very well, then you can come in and see us. Um, at the front office, you don't even need to see one of our audiologists. The front office can help with that. So sometimes we have patients that come in once a month or once every two months to have us help them change those small parts or clean those parts so that you're not getting buildup into the hearing aids.

SPEAKER_01 3:45

Now, on a day-to-day basis, how often should those hearing aids be cleaned?

SPEAKER_02 3:51

I believe that when you take them out of your ear, that you should at least wipe them off with the tissue to make sure there's no buildup of your wax. I understand that it's hard to add something to your routine to do every day because I know it's hard for me to do something every day to add something to my routine. So I try to tell my patients to please just look at the hearing aid when you take them off and make sure there's no wax buildup, but try to do an in-depth cleaning about once a week. But if you do see some wax or you feel like you're not hearing very well out of the hearing aid, to make sure to check it and clean it sooner than once a week. And then we recommend people come into our office at least every two to three months to have our staff look at the hearing instruments and clean them more in depth if needed.

Safe At‑Home Wax Management

SPEAKER_01 4:45

Now, next question for you, Dr. Copley. Are there safe at home methods for managing earwax buildup if, say, you do produce a lot of earwax?

SPEAKER_02 4:58

Well, that's a great question too. So we um there there are a few things. So if somebody is building up wax a lot, we may recommend that they use an irrigation method at home. That could be just rinsing your ears out under the shower with some water pressure. It could mean actually using some wax softening drops in your ears and then flushing it out. Um those those kinds of systems typically use like a bulb syringe and you put some water into it and then flush the ear out directly. There are some other systems that are a little more advanced that may work as well. And um and that can help for people that really produce a lot of wax. If people are uncomfortable doing that, we can certainly see them for wax removal, and we do see quite a few people. Um, the person I saw the most for wax, uh, she was coming in every three weeks. She had just very, very small ear canals. And so we had to remove just a little bit of wax every few weeks to make sure she could hear with their hearing aids. So some people it may be once a year that we see them, some people it may be every six months. Um, we can get people on a schedule. For most people, it's not a, we don't see everybody. I would say we probably see 10 or 15% of our patients regularly for wax removal. So um typically it really has to do with the body chemistry if you're overproducing. For most people, it's usually okay.

Visit Schedules And Body Chemistry

SPEAKER_01 6:34

Well, Dr. Copley, that was so helpful today for all of our hearing aid users. Now, thanks again, and we'll see you next time on the Total Hearing Care Difference Podcast.

Closing And How To Book

SPEAKER_00 6:48

Thank you for listening to the Total Hearing Care Difference. If you're in the DFW Metroplex and ready to take the next step toward better hearing, call 469 809 4487 to book an appointment. Or visit totalhearingcare dot com because when you hear better, you live better. See you next time.