My son is 8, autistic with limited verbal communication.

Mixxi

This discussion was created from comments split from: Hi I'm Vicki. I worked as paediatric audiologist with children with complex needs. Ask away!.

Mixxi

Hi Vicki
My son is 8, autistic with limited verbal communication. He has had is hearing tested an apparently has no problems in that area. However I've noticed that his left ear is prone to a heavy build up of ear wax. (His dad has to have his ears syringed regularly due to wax build up)
I had an injury report from school this week saying that he was bleeding from the left ear - but when I looked there was just a very heavy build up of dark wax.
Would the wax build up cause problems for his hearing? Should I look in to ways of keeping the wax down? Or should i leave well alone? (my son's prefered option!)

VickiKirwin

Hi Mixxi
Wax protects the delicate skin of the ear canal and is the ears natural way of cleaning itself - it is sticky and catches dirt and dust. On the whole wax is not a problem for most people and can usually be left alone. The colour and consistency of wax varies greatly between people - from yellow to dark red. Some people make loads of wax and others hardly any. Wax will only cause a hearing problem if it is pushed down inside the ear, blocks the ear canal completely or becomes impacted. If you are regularly seeing the wax this is usually a good sign because it means it is moving out of the ear as it should (the skin in the ear canal grows outwards and brings wax with it). You can then wipe it away with the corner of a flannel or similar. Never try to remove wax yourself as putting anything into the ear (eg cotton bud) which will push the wax deeper, risk injury and cause the ear to produce more.
If you notice a change in hearing, your son appears to be in pain, or you notice any discharge from the ear that isn't waxy then do see your GP but otherwise I would leave well alone.
Vicki