English summary: IS EARWAX IMPACTION PREVENTABLE?

A considerable amount of health care time and resources are used for treating earwax impaction, a very common problem. Studies on prevention of this ailment are lacking. Since function of ear canal skin may be important in maintaining normal cerumen transport we performed a prospective randomized controlled study on the use of a moisturizer for the prevention of impacted earwax in a susceptible population.

Thirty-nine patients were randomized to either regular follow-up or preventive treatment with weekly application of Ceridal Lipolotion into the ear canal. During one-year follow-up, impacted earwax recurred in only 23% of the treated patients compared to 61% of the controls (p<0.05). The result was similar when numbers of recurred ears instead of patients were compared (19% vs 52%), (p<0.05).

This study suggests that local prophylaxis with a skin moisturizer is useful in preventing or postponing earwax impaction.