Curriculum · ENT, Ophthalmology, and Dermatology
Impacted cerumen
What it is
Cerumen is a mixture of sebum, dust, squamous epithelium and debris. When it impacts the ear canal it is one of the causes of conductive hearing loss, and those causes come in two groups. One group is at the external canal: cerumen, otomycosis, keratosis and osteoma. The other group: otitis media effusion, acute suppurative otitis media, a perforated drum, chronic suppurative otitis media, otosclerosis, and glomus tumors, which are benign.
Causes and risk
The causes are narrowing of the ear canal or a narrow and hairy canal, a change in cerumen texture with failure of epithelial migration, overproduction, cotton-tipped applicators such as cotton buds, in-the-ear hearing aids, and obstruction of the canal by osteomata.
How it presents
It may be asymptomatic. When it does speak it gives hearing loss of the conductive kind, tinnitus, earache and a feeling of fullness, and it may also give reflex cough, dizziness and itchiness.