This guide shows you the most effective way to clean your ears without running the risk of damaging your hearing.

Your ears usually do a good job cleaning themselves and don’t need any extra care. The only reason you should clean them is to soften or remove earwax from the outside of your ear canals.

Here are some tips on how to safely clean your ears, what not to do, and when you should contact a doctor. Symptoms of impaction Earwax , or cerumen, is a self-cleaning agent your body produces.

Try ear drops: Patients clean their ears with cerumenolytic agents, which help loosen ear wax, says Villegas, who notes that there are many over-the-counter options available.

Why your ears are always itchy even after cleaning with the real reasons behind persistent ear itching and what actually helps ...

The use of cotton-tipped swabs to clean ears is “ubiquitous,” he wrote. Out of 100 patients that he surveyed at his office, 77 percent used cotton swabs, and nearly half did so on a daily basis.

Ears are self-cleaning, and earwax should not be removed by someone without medical training. “It’s a very sensitive area,” Dr. Ashley Kita, otolaryngologist at UCLA Health, ...

Medicare doesn’t cover routine ear cleaning. However, if you have a severe buildup of earwax, Medicare will cover earwax removal. We explain Medicare coverage, your options, and how to choose.

In other words, earwax makes your ears naturally self-cleaning. In most cases, you don't need to dig into your ear canals or do anything to clean them out -- they'll do the job on their own.