So, use the olive oil from your pantry for your salad, not as a substitute for an otoscope. If your ear feels completely blocked, you’re dizzy, or you can’t hear a whisper from across the room, skip the kitchen remedy and visit your doctor. A five-minute professional cleaning beats a week of oily pillows every time.
If you’ve ever felt a mysterious muffled sensation in your ear or noticed a bit of orange gunk on your earbud, you’ve likely searched for a quick fix. Among the most popular DIY solutions is a staple from your kitchen cabinet: olive oil. But does drizzling (figuratively, not literally) your favorite cold-pressed extra virgin into your ear canal actually work? olive oil to clean ear wax
Let’s separate the old wives’ tale from the medical advice. The theory behind using olive oil is simple. Ear wax (cerumen) is a mixture of fatty secretions from glands in your ear canal. Olive oil is, well, also a fat. The idea is that a few drops of warm (not hot!) oil will lubricate the ear canal, soften hard, impacted wax, and encourage it to naturally migrate out of the ear over a few days. So, use the olive oil from your pantry