The main reason sulfur plugs occur in your ear is the use of cotton buds to clean your ears. The thing is that thanks to them, sulfur is pressed back into the ear and rammed in the region of the eardrum. If you clean your ears and notice a large amount of sulfur on a cotton swab, this is by no means evidence of a good cleaning of your ears. A cotton swab captures only liquid substance, while denser particles settle in the ear.
As it turned out, sulfur cork is a phenomenon common to many people. Very frequent cases of its occurrence in people who suffer from chronic dermatoses.
However, some do not even suspect its existence. When its formation begins, the hearing aid is only partially blocked. But then the situation may take a more serious form due to several factors:
- Frequent cleaning of the ears with cotton buds, as a result of which its active compaction begins.
- Liquid in the ear. When water enters the ear, this causes the sulfur plug to swell. She thus becomes larger and blocks the ear canal. As a result, a person notices a sharp decrease in hearing.
Therefore, you should carefully consider such a phenomenon as a sulfur plug in the ear. Symptoms of its presence may be as follows:
- Auditory perception is impaired.
- A person begins to notice some tinnitus.
- Rare signs are coughing, headaches, sometimes vomiting, or nausea.
If a person has normal hearing, this is the main sign that his auditory canals are clean. Of course, if the sulfur plug does not completely block the auditory canal, then its presence may remain invisible. Symptoms may occur, for example, after water enters the ear, resulting in an increase in volume.
However, you should not immediately sound the alarm if, after getting into your ear, the fluid has blocked your ear. Sometimes this symptom is short-term and is not associated with the presence of a cork. But in the case of the duration of such a condition, the consultation of the otolaryngologist is simply irreplaceable.
Once you know for sure that you have a sulfur plug in your ear, you should immediately remove it. Remember that self-medication can cause hearing impairment and other pathologies, therefore you should seek professional help. You need to choose a specialist who has experience in removing sulfur plugs.
The most basic method is flushing, which consists in the fact that a pulsating stream of water along the back wall is directed to the area of the ear canal. The cork along with water then flows out of the auricle.
Some cases of inefficiency of using this treatment method have been recorded. Therefore, another option has been developed, thanks to which the sulfur plug is eliminated. The treatment in this case consists in the use of sodium bicarbonate, the drops of which are heated to 37 degrees, and then buried in the ear for several hours. The time depends on the size of the cork. Thus, its preliminary softening is carried out. In addition to drops, the solution also includes glycerin and water. After that, the cork is washed in the usual way, which is described above.
Remember that self-medication negatively affects your health, therefore for help you should only contact a specialist. Perhaps the cause of your malaise is not a sulfur plug, but some other pathological diseases of the auditory canal. A qualified examination will help establish an accurate diagnosis and choose the appropriate treatment, which is very important in this situation. Because hearing is a very subtle mechanism that is easy to damage.