Earwax, medically known as cerumen, is a substance naturally produced by glands in the ear canal. It serves critical functions: Trapping dust, dirt, bacteria, bugs (really!) and other foreign ...

Cotton swabs “really weren’t made to clean your ears — all they do is just push the wax deeper down into your ear canal and this causes an impaction,” Dr. Tonia L. Farmer, who goes by Dr. Nose Best, ...

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