Ear wax build up has many causes and effects. "The [ear wax self cleaning] process isn't always smooth. Having too much earwax, or wax that is too dry or too sticky, can create a buildup. Much of that is genetically determined. "When it comes to earwax, choose your parents well," says Richard Rosenfeld, chair of otolaryngology at SUNY Downstate Medical Center in Brooklyn.

Wearing ear-bud headphones, hearing aids or ear plugs for long periods can also interfere with orderly extrusion.

When excess earwax hardens or gets pushed back down the canal, it can become impacted, which afflicts approximately 10% of children, 5% of healthy adults and up to 57% of older patients in nursing homes, according to the American Academy of Otolaryngology—Head and Neck Surgery.

Symptoms of earwax buildup include a feeling of fullness, itching, vertigo, pain, tinnitus (a persistent ringing in the ears) or coughing—due to a nerve pathway that connects the ear with the diaphragm, explains Dr. Rosenfeld, who co-authored the American Academy of Otolaryngology's 2008 guidelines for treating earwax.

Excess earwax is also the most common cause of partial hearing loss—and the most treatable." (article by wsg)