Don't try this at home: DIY ear wax removal kits likely to be ineffective, and some are potentially unsafe
Some popular products advertised for home ear wax removal are potentially risky and could damage your ears. Others may be ineffective at best, wasting your money and delaying proper treatment.
We asked leading expert, Kevin Munro, Professor of Audiology at the University of Manchester, to assess how effective and appropriate a selection of products were for home use.
Ear wax helps to keep your ears clean and lubricated. But for some people it becomes a problem, becoming hardened and impacted, and not naturally dispersing. This can affect your hearing, which if left untreated can have significant knock-on effects including social isolation and depression.
GP surgeries used to offer an NHS ear cleaning service, but in England they aren't contractually obliged to provide ear wax removal treatment and many no longer do.
Private ear wax removal options can be pricey, so it’s no surprise people are attempting DIY treatments, but our snapshot investigation found that there are products you'd be wise to avoid.
Two gadgets sold on Amazon (of which there are many similar versions available online) were considered potentially risky by our expert due to poor advice on safe use and the potential to cause serious damage in amateur hands.
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Home ear wax removal products: the verdict
We asked Professor Munro to examine a range of popular home ear wax removal treatments, including big-brand high street options, and some of the most popular devices and gadgets sold online. He was sceptical about most, as there is little good evidence to back their use, and thought some were potentially unsafe.
Professor Munro was most concerned by two products. First is the Bupaly wireless ear camera, which he said contained no guidance on safe use and could cause serious damage if not used correctly. And he thought the KVK Ear wax remover, and similar products like it, could seriously damage the ear canal or ear drum and push wax deeper in.
Bupaly wireless ear camera with ear pick accessories – £22.99 (bought from Amazon)
This product looks to be a hi-tech solution to home ear wax removal. It's a tiny camera on a pencil-like device, like an endoscope, sold with the aim of helping you to see what’s happening in your ear canal (via your phone) as you remove wax using a tool.
It may seem tempting, but Professor Munro had concerns. He said it contained no guidance on safe use and could cause serious damage if not used correctly, for example by inadvertently inserting it too deeply (or without the plastic/rubber tip) into the ear canal, damaging the skin or perforating the ear drum.
He added: ‘In unskilled hands this could cause serious damage ... I am amazed that this product and similar ones are available to the lay person.’
Bupaly told us its products are certified for quality 'and other aspects', though it didn't give any details. It said it has upgraded to new instruction manuals giving customers clear understanding of the product and what to look out for. It considers it unlikely consumers will damage their ears and says it will try to minimise this through self-care advice.
KVK Ear wax remover Q grips Cleaner Spiral Earwax Removal Tool – £8.98 (bought from Amazon)
There are a number of products available that aim to scoop wax manually out of the ear, like this KVK spiral ear wax remover tool.
You insert the flexible tip, which has spiral grooves, into the ear canal and rotate, hoping, in the process, to scoop up ear wax.
The instructions are brief and basic, with little guidance on how to use the device safely or possible hazards and risks - such as how much force is too much.
Professor Munro considered that this product, and ones like it, could seriously damage the ear canal or ear drum, and potentially worsen wax impaction by pushing wax deeper in. He also said he knew of no independent studies that evaluated how safe and effective this type of tool is.
More broadly, the clinical evidence says that inserting foreign bodies into the ear canal is potentially dangerous and can cause injuries to the ear canal or ear drum.
Ear canals are not straight tubes, and you could easily poke in the wrong place if you don't know what you're doing.
KVK did not respond to our request for comment.
We informed Amazon of our findings, and it told us: 'Safety is a top priority at Amazon and we want customers to shop with confidence on our stores. We require all products offered in our store to comply with applicable laws and regulations and we monitor for product safety concerns.
'We have proactive measures in place to prevent non-compliant products from being listed and when appropriate, we remove a product, reach out to sellers, manufacturers, and government agencies for additional information, or take other actions. If customers have concerns about an item they’ve purchased, we encourage them to contact our Customer Service directly so we can investigate and take appropriate action. The products flagged have been removed while we investigate.'
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High street ear wax removal products
Products that you'll commonly find in major high street chains aren't necessarily your best bet either.
We asked Professor Munro to assess a range of options and found that some are advised against by the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE), while others are expensive and unlikely to be very effective.
Otosan ear cones, £8.99 for one pair (from Holland and Barrett)
Ear cones such as these are intended to soften and draw wax out of your ear, using a flame, but though this product has Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Authority (MHRA) approval, it's not recommended as an ear wax treatment by the NHS or NICE.
This is because ear candles generally aren't considered effective, and could potentially cause harm due to lighting a flame near to the face, or by delaying more effective treatment options.
When our expert lit the cone, it very soon had a flame about 10 to 13cm in height – much higher than the photograph on the packaging.
There was a protective silver disc around the base of the candle – one of four safety features – but there was a lack of guidance in the instructions on areas such as the need for assistance when using, how long it would burn for (seven minutes for our expert) and the risk hissing and frying during use.
Our expert also noted that there was no noticeable effect on the amount of ear wax, based on before and after examinations.
Otosan did not respond to our request for comment.
Audiclean Ear Cleansing Wash, £10.99 for 115ml (from Boots)
This is one of many ear irrigation systems on sale, designed to 'flush out' your ear using sterile water.
The small quantities of saline suggested are unlikely to be sufficient to flush out ear wax; therefore, the main purpose of Audiclean seems to be to ‘loosen and dissolve’ the ear wax.
Although flushing ear wax out with water irrigation is accepted practice, this is usually done after a week of pre-treatment with ear wax softeners. A single irrigation could use up to 500ml, which is more than the entire bottle of Audiclean.
It's an expensive option, too. If you used it daily for one week as instructed you would empty the contents, and you'd need two bottles if you had wax in both ears.
There is little evidence to suggest it's worth the money, and using it could prevent or delay you getting effective treatment.
Audiclean did not respond to our request for comment.
Otex Express Combi Pack, £10.25 for 10ml (from Boots)
There are many ear drop products that soften wax in the ear, and some like this include bulb syringes that allow you to squirt water into the ear for irrigation after using the softening treatment.
Historically, people were warned not to irrigate their own ear due to concerns that the high water pressure could damage the ear. However, studies show that rubber bulb irrigation, which uses lower pressure, could be worth trying - and could be successful in around half of cases.
Pre-treatment eardrops use a variety of active ingredients. Some are water based; others are oil-based or contain sodium bicarbonate or hydrogen peroxide.
This Otex one is hydrogen peroxide-based.
Professor Munro considered the instructions to be clear and comprehensive, with appropriate safety warnings, though he was concerned that the spout/neck of the syringe could potentially reach the ear drum and cause damage if used incorrectly, due to its length.
He noted that there is little evidence that one type of ear drop is generally better than any other, and there is only weak evidence that pre-treatment drops on their own are enough to cause ear wax to soften and be expelled from the ear – and only in a small proportion of people.
If it's used correctly (avoiding high pressure or inserting too deeply into the ear canal), Professor Munro thought that this Otex combi pack had the potential to be effective in some cases.
However, he cautioned that many people with impacted ear wax are still likely to need professional ear wax removal treatment even after using drops.
Otex said it had no further comment beyond our findings.
What professional ear wax removal options are there?
Professional ear wax removal usually involves either electronic ear irrigation, which flushes wax out at low pressure, or microsuction, though these methods may not be suitable for everyone.
Before having treatment, you'll probably be advised to use ear drops for a few days to soften the wax.
Private companies, including larger national chains such as Bupa, Specsavers and Scrivens, and independents, offer this service, typically costing between £55 and £90.
Be aware that some will still charge the full price even if they don’t find any wax, whereas others charge a lower consultation fee of around £30.
Find out more in our full ear wax removal guide including what the larger clinics charge and the services they offer.
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