Why you should never use cotton buds to clean your ears
Cotton buds feel productive. Most of the time they pack wax further down the canal and scratch the skin that produces more wax.
If your ear feels blocked, itchy, or muffled, stop digging and book a clinical look. HearMed uses microsuction when wax needs clearing.
Reviewed by Rose Multaney and Rauri Keogh, HearMed audiologists · Updated September 2026
What cotton buds actually do
The canal is self-cleaning for most people. A bud acts like a piston: soft wax smears deeper toward the eardrum, where it hardens and blocks sound.
You can also graze the canal skin or, in rare cases, injure the eardrum. Neither is worth the short-term “clean” feeling.
Safer home steps before a clinic visit
Wipe the outer ear with a cloth only. Do not insert anything into the canal.
If a clinician has previously advised olive oil drops for soft wax, follow that advice for a few nights, then stop if pain, discharge, or dizziness appears and seek care.
- No bobby pins, tissue corners, or key ends.
- No ear candles. They do not remove wax safely.
When to book microsuction
Book if hearing drops suddenly on one side, you feel fullness after swimming or flying, you wear hearing aids and wax keeps blocking the mould, or drops have not helped.
HearMed clinic wax removal is €60. Home wax removal is €100. Microsuction, not syringing.
Tullamore, Portlaoise and Portumna
Book a free hearing test
Call the local number, send a WhatsApp, or leave your number. No referral.