How to Safely Soften and Remove Earwax at Home

You will want to tilt your head toward the shoulder of the ear you are cleaning and hold your head over a basin or over the sink. Do a final rinse with plain warm water. After irrigating the ear, it is important to dry the ear thoroughly. A good way is to dip a cotton swab into some rubbing alcohol, and wipe the ear with the swab.

Sometimes the wax is stubborn and doesn’t come out easily. In that case, for SOFTEN IT WITH OIL a day or two before doing the irrigation, soften the wax in the ear canal by lubricating it with warm garlic oil. Take about 1 tablespoon of sesame oil, add ½ clove of freshly chopped garlic, and boil it until the garlic pieces turn brown. It will have a pleasant smell.

Then press the oil from the garlic, and strain it into a jar or other container. (Plain sesame oil will also work, but the garlic oil will be more effective.) Then, 2 or 3 times a day, put a few drops of that oil—when it is warm, not hot—into the ear. That will lubricate the ear passage and soften the wax for easy removal. You can also use a mild hydrogen peroxide solution (about a 3 DISSOLVE IT WITH HYDROGEN PEROXIDE percent solution) to dissolve the wax.

You can buy this solution in most pharmacies. Put a few drops in the ear. It will oxygenate the ear, and the wax will simply dissolve. When you’re finished, clean the ear with some warm sesame oil.

For stubborn earwax, massage the outside of the ear. Put a little MASSAGE TO LOOSEN STUBBORN WAX sesame oil or castor oil on the mastoid bone (the bone behind the ear), and gently massage. Pull the ear lobe, and at the same time open your mouth. This will help to loosen the ear wax, and it will come out quite easily when you irrigate with water.