Today at the specialist clinic, a middle-aged male patient, Mr. Wang, came over with his hands over his ears as he sat down and said, “Doctor, it’s itchy! Quickly apply some drops to my ears.” What was this about? It turns out that Mr. Wang usually likes to take out earwax with things like matchsticks and small hairpins when he has nothing to do. As a result, the more you pull out, the more itchy it gets, and the longer you pull out, the more itchy you can’t stop, only by dropping in strong stimulating white wine or safflower oil to stop the itch for a few hours. I examined his external ear canal with an otoscope and found that it was full of granulation tissue with a rough surface. Based on clinical experience, he was considered to have cerumen adenocarcinoma and was advised to be immediately admitted to the hospital for surgery, and the pathological examination after surgery did confirm the diagnosis of cerumen adenocarcinoma. What is earwax? Earwax, medically called cerumen, is a secretion of the cerumen gland in the external ear canal, which is normally hidden in the external ear canal and has the function of protecting the skin of the external ear canal and adhering to foreign substances (such as dust, small flying insects, etc.). Under normal circumstances, cerumen can be discharged on its own with the help of human head movements, chewing food, opening the mouth, etc. If there is too much cerumen, it can block the outer ear canal and affect your hearing, and sometimes it can irritate the outer ear canal and make it itchy. Why can’t I just pull out my ears? The skin of the external ear canal is thin, closely connected to the cartilage membrane, with little subcutaneous tissue and poor blood circulation. This can lead to boils, inflammation and ulceration in the external ear canal, and even cause pain in the ear, affecting the opening of the mouth and chewing, and in serious cases, causing perforation of the eardrum and hearing loss. Frequent ear-pulling can also cause swelling of the cuticle of the outer ear canal, blocking the hair follicles and facilitating the growth of bacteria, leading to itchy and yellow water in the ear canal. Long-term chronic congestion of the outer ear canal skin also tends to stimulate cerumen secretion, resulting in more earwax. The ear canal is often filled with blood, and the earwax can be more than the earwax. This is the reason why you should not go to the hairdresser’s office and use the public ear-pulling tool to pull out your ear. This is why you should not go to the hairdresser’s office and use public ear-pulling tools. Also, using unclean ear-pulling tools can easily bring mold into the outer ear canal, making the ear canal itchy and unbearable. What is the correct way to pull out my ears? Your ears are self-cleaning, so you should not pull out your ears. If there is too much earwax, i.e., too much cerumen is secreted or its discharge is obstructed, it will gradually form hard lumps and block the outer ear canal, causing tinnitus, ear pain, and even vertigo, or stimulating the vagus nerve branch of the outer ear canal and causing reflex coughing. The correct treatment is to remove the cerumen that is movable and not completely blocked in the external ear canal under direct vision with gun-like tweezers or cerumen hooks, or to gently clean out the earwax with a cotton swab rolled in skimmed cotton; if the earwax is hard, the specialist will prescribe ear drops for cleaning the ear. You can also go to the hospital for external ear canal irrigation or use a suction device to suck it out (the ear, nose and throat treatment table is equipped with a suction device). Therefore, if you have discharge in your ears and itching is unbearable, it is best not to use unclean matchsticks, hairpins, keys or metal ear spoons to pull out your ears to avoid irritation and inflammation. It is also important not to share ear-pulling tools between family members. If you have ear wax, go to a regular hospital and see an otolaryngologist, who will treat it according to the patient’s condition.