In life, many people have the habit of taking out earwax, and the soft and smooth feeling coming from the ear canal is very comfortable. Many barber stores, beauty salons and other places also have special ear-tucking services, and many teachers are favored by many regular customers because of their excellent craftsmanship. In recent years, more and more people are questioning whether they should take out their ears or not. So, should you take out your ears or not? What is earwax? Earwax is medically known as earwax, which is a secretion from the cerumen gland in the external ear canal. In some people, the cerumen is thick and greasy (wet earwax) and is often mistaken for pus, but it is not inflammation and pus. Should I take out earwax? Dry earwax can be discharged on its own in the form of flakes with the help of jaw movements such as sneezing, coughing, chewing and opening the mouth, and it’s does not cause any adverse effects on hearing. Therefore, it is not recommended for people with dry earwax to pull out their own ears with special tools. Moreover, cerumen is not useless waste. It has a protective effect on the skin of the external ear canal, prevents infection by harmful strains of bacteria such as mold, and sticks to dust that enters the ear canal, etc. Moreover, the special smell of earwax prevents small insects from approaching. Is it harmful to take out earwax frequently? 1. Many people pull out their ears because of itching in the outer ear canal, or simply to enjoy the thrill of pulling out their ears. Whatever the purpose, digging deeper into the ear canal with a tool can easily cause damage to the ear canal. 2. The skin of the ear canal is delicate, so if you pull out your ears with improper force, it is most likely to cause damage to the outer ear canal and become infected with boils, causing pain in the ear and, in severe cases, hearing loss. 3. Regular ear-pulling can also swell the cuticle of the outer ear canal, blocking the hair follicles and promoting the growth of bacteria, causing itchy and yellow water in the ear canal. 4. Since the ear canal is deep, the tool will touch the eardrum if the depth is not properly controlled. The tympanic membrane is a very thin membrane, only 0.1 mm thick. Once the eardrum is punctured and perforated, a person can lose their hearing. Clinically, tympanic membrane perforations caused by ear-pulling are not uncommon in the daily practice of otolaryngology. In what cases should I pull out my eardrum? 1. For people with wet earwax, it may be inevitable that the earwax will block the ear canal, but it is not recommended to remove the earwax by pulling out the ear yourself because the blocked wet earwax is very hard and difficult to dig out, not to mention that it may get deeper and deeper and may damage the surrounding tissues. Therefore, this group of people should seek medical attention in a timely manner when they experience hearing loss and tinnitus, and after confirming the diagnosis of cerumen embolism, the earwax should be removed under the guidance of a doctor. 2. Narrow ear canal by birth is also one of the important reasons why earwax is difficult to discharge by itself. If you have a narrower than average inner diameter of the external ear canal, you should also clean the earwax with the help of a doctor when which you feel ear blockage, tinnitus and hearing loss. 3.Pulling out the ears of babies and toddlers, especially those who can’t express themselves yet, if they scratch their ears a lot, they may have earwax in the outer ear canal. Parents had better not solve the problem by themselves because pulling out badly can cause very serious problems and they need to ask for professional help. 4. When insects, spherical objects and other foreign objects enter the ear, it is best not to pull out the ear by yourself. For insects, if you pull out your own ears, it will stimulate the insects to crawl deeper and even break the eardrum; for spherical objects, pulling out your own ears will poke the foreign objects deeper, and in this case, you must call an ENT doctor.