What is Earwax Made of?

Earwax is integral to the maintenance of healthy hearing. It lubricates our internal ears, protects them from infection, and prevents debris from entering our ear canals…but what exactly is earwax made of?

Everyone has it: it’s waxy, brown, sometimes orange, sometimes dry, and prevents us all in both of our ears. Earwax is made in the lining of the ear canal, between the fleshy outer ear and the middle ear. The glands inside your external ear canal produce earwax, which collects dead skin cells and other debris as it rolls out of the ear. This process, from production to removal, can take months to complete.

It’s an essential and fascinating substance with a variety of purposes. It acts as a waterproof lining for your ear canal; it traps dirt and dust while collecting debris and dead skin cells from the inside of your ears to the outside while maintaining healthy moisture in the ears. It’s also a natural antimicrobial, containing special chemicals that ward off infections before they can develop inside the ear canal.

Yet, before we begin, we have a myth to debunk: earwax isn’t wax at all. Earwax is a collection of skin cells in the ear and its canal. As the skin in this area of the ear dies and renews, the old skin cells are collected and removed from the ear through the “wax.” The earwax then works its way out of the ear as the jaw moves in conversation or while eating: it is a conveyor belt triggered by jaw movements and the beating of the eardrum. The name earwax comes instead from its texture, but its scientific name is cerumen.

But what is earwax, and why is it so important?

The Glands

Earwax production is down to the union of the sebaceous glands and the ceruminous glands. These special glands produce the oily substance we know as earwax on tiny hairs in the inner ear.

The sebaceous glands, themselves tiny, are attached to small hair follicles inside your ears, which secrete an oily substance called sebum. This material works to lubricate your ears to keep them from drying out.

The ceruminous glands are sworn glands that secrete peptides (a compound of two or more amino acids) and antimicrobial proteins. What these glands produce works to protect your ears, but it also lubricates the ears. The cerumen prevents the skin of the ear canal from drying out.

What is Earwax Made of?

Earwax is a delicious mix of dead skin cells, sebum, and hair. Cholesterol (another waxy substance that our bodies use to make vitamins and hormones and to build cells), long-chain fatty acids, and squalene (found in sebum) are also found in earwax.

The primary purpose of earwax was always thought to be lubrication, but its antibacterial properties make it an incredibly fascinating substance. In 1980, researchers Tuu-Jyi Chai and Toby C Chai took twelve people’s earwax – or cerumen – and mixed it into an alcohol solution. 

They added some bacteria to the mix and watched as the earwax killed off 99% of the bacteria strains introduced. 

A few decades later, in 2011, German scientists found that the peptides in earwax prevented bacteria and fungi from developing. It’s super stuff.

Genetics

You might not think so, but your earwax is as unique as your eyes. Both are the result of your genetic makeup, and two types of earwax are found in humans.

Humans have either a predominantly wet earwax or mostly dry earwax. Wet earwax is the dominant gene, so most people have this. 

However, people of East Indian descent have recessive dry genes. 

Therefore, The composition of earwax plays a vital role in the anthropological tracking of human migration worldwide.

Too Much of a Good Thing

So earwax locks in moisture inside the ear, kills microbes, traps dead skin, and keeps out dust and bugs. But what happens if there is too much in your ear?

Some people naturally produce more earwax than others, and when earwax builds up, it can become compacted. This can also happen for those who regularly use earphones or hearing aids. You can become aware that too much earwax is present in your ears if your hearing becomes dulled or you begin to experience ear pain. This is easily treated either at home or by visiting a hearing professional.

Hearing Associates of Las Vegas provides professional, tailored hearing care if you are in the Las Vegas area. If you are concerned about your ears or want to learn more about the inner workings of your ears, from the production of earwax to possible side effects associated with a build-up of earwax, head to their practice today or visit a local hearing professional, too.