Does eating earwax really make you dumb? Many people have been scared since childhood, but the truth is...

Expert of this article: Zhao Liheng, deputy chief physician of the Department of Otolaryngology, Beijing Xiaotangshan Hospital

I don't know how many people have heard this sentence.

"Eating earwax will make you mute!"

When we were young, our parents always used this sentence to scare us.

If you can't eat it, then pay for it.

For many people

Ear cleaning is a very comfortable thing

As the saying goes, "It feels good to clean your ears, but it feels better if you keep cleaning them."

But have you ever thought about

Will eating earwax really make you mute?

(Want to verify but don’t dare)

Do you need to remove earwax frequently?

If you don't clean it, where does the earwax go?

Look down

What is earwax? Will eating it really make you dumb?

Earwax, medically known as "cerumen", is a normal secretion of the ear. Just like the skin of other parts of our body, it also has different secretions every day. However, due to its special location, if it is not intentional, we rarely clean the external auditory canal by washing our face or taking a bath. Therefore, earwax is often retained.

Regarding the topic of "eating earwax will make you mute", let's first talk about the composition of earwax.

The main component of earwax is secreted by the cerumen glands. It is composed of proteins, lipids, amino acids, short-chain and long-chain fatty acids, aromatic long-chain hydrocarbons, volatile organic compounds and minerals. It is also mixed with sebum secreted by the sebaceous glands, dust, dandruff and bacteria.

Once these substances are produced by the human body, they will not have obvious adverse reactions to the human body . Even if they accidentally enter the digestive tract through the mouth, they will be digested or excreted from the body after mixing with gastric juice in the stomach. Moreover, the amount of ingestion is extremely small, so the adverse reactions to the normal human body can be ignored.

Secondly, it is not a small task for a healthy person to become mute. To pronounce accurately requires the joint efforts of multiple organs and systems. First, the brain issues instructions, the chest cavity and lungs jointly guide the airflow, and the nerves that control the vocal cord muscles prompt the vocal cords to move and close the glottis. The vocal cord mucosa vibrates under the impetus of the airflow to form sound. Different sounds and changes in intonation require constant instructions from the brain and constant division of labor and cooperation among various departments.

Although a small ball of earwax has complex ingredients, it does not contain any obvious toxic or harmful substances and cannot make a person mute.

Do I need to remove earwax frequently?

So do we need to remove earwax regularly? This has to do with the function of earwax.

Earwax is a normal secretion of the external auditory canal. The sebum secreted by the sebaceous glands and the cerumen secreted by the cerumen glands together maintain the weakly acidic environment of the external auditory canal (PH 5.2-7.0), which has the functions of sterilization and moisturizing, and can also protect the ears from infection, and provide a barrier to adhere to foreign objects and prevent the entry of insects and dust . Therefore, small earwax is not only not our enemy, but also the health guardian of our external auditory canal and our friend. Don't get rid of it immediately.

For some people who are addicted to picking earwax, it involves a series of complex psychological phenomena. When the ear pick enters the external auditory canal and touches the wall of the external auditory canal, it brings a tingling and trembling feeling that goes straight to the soul, and after picking out the earwax, seeing the large golden mass brings a visual impact and a great sense of accomplishment. This is another psychological topic.

What causes dry ears and oily ears?

Of course, our earwax friends also have times when they "overexert themselves". This is due to heredity, gene mutations or some external factors, such as: excessive consumption of spicy foods (chili peppers, ginger, hot pot, etc., as well as overly greasy foods) can stimulate the cerumen glands and cause them to secrete vigorously. At this time, the cerumen will contain a large amount of protein and fatty acids.

In other words, when the oil secretion is high, some oily, semi-solid earwax will appear, forming oily earwax, which is what people call oily ears. Excessive earwax blocks the opening of the external auditory canal, causing a series of symptoms such as stuffy ears, hearing loss, and occlusion. At this time, we should go to the hospital for treatment in time, and a specialist will flush the external auditory canal or use an earwax hook to remove the earwax embolism deep in the patient's external auditory canal. The patient's symptoms can be gradually relieved.

In most cases or for most people, the earwax material is relatively thin. When the water is fully evaporated and dried, thin white earwax flakes are formed. This is what people call dry ears.

Where does the earwax that is not removed go?

Oily earwax, due to huddling together for warmth, forms earwax embolism, causing ear discomfort to the owner. This is actually not their intention, they just want to attract the owner's attention, but the result is counterproductive, and the strong ear discomfort prompts the owner to want to remove them faster.

And where do all those white earwax flakes go?

Under normal circumstances, the external auditory canal can clean itself with the help of the natural movement of the mandibular joint and the migration of the epithelium. The earwax that is not removed will break into pieces when we chew, and will fall down with gravity when we turn our head to the side, so-called "I wave my hand and not a cloud will be taken away".

This is me - earwax

It is normal secretion

I can protect your ears.

Not infected

It also has the functions of sterilization and moisturizing

Whether you care or not

I will always protect you silently