Earwax: the oily, sticky substance your ears produce. It might not be glamorous, but it’s familiar to everyone—and, believe it or not, it’s important to our overall well being. But where does earwax come from? In this article, we’ll discover ceruminous glands and their functions, the role earwax plays in our health, what can happen when too much earwax builds up in our ears and options for treating these impactions.

Inside our ear canals, we have special earwax glands, called our ceruminous glands. These modified sweat glands are responsible for producing earwax, or cerumen. While it might seem unpleasant or even unnecessary, earwax plays an essential role in protecting our ears and keeping our bodies healthy.

Earwax is a sticky, yellowish substance secreted by the ceruminous glands in your ear canal. Your body naturally makes earwax to coat the lining of your ear canal and protect and lubricate the area. Earwax plays a crucial role in keeping your ears healthy. Sometimes called “nature’s flypaper,” earwax traps dust, bacteria and foreign objects, preventing them from entering your ear where they could damage the delicate skin within. Without earwax, our ears would be more vulnerable to germs and debris that could get inside and cause damage.

The easiest way to think about your ceruminous glands’ location is to consider where your earwax comes from. Earwax is produced in the outer ear, and the lining of the external auditory canal is where most of your ceruminous glands are located. In fact, the average human ear has between 1,000 and 2,000 ceruminous glands!

There are a couple of main functions of ceruminous glands:

• Producing earwax: The ceruminous glands produce earwax, which helps maintain your ear hygiene;
• Helping maintain ear health: By keeping the ear canal moisturized, ceruminous glands prevent dryness and irritation.

Earwax benefits your ears and is vital to your ear hygiene in several key ways. As mentioned previously, earwax traps any foreign objects (like bacteria, dust, small insects or other debris) from entering your ears and damaging your ear canals. Earwax also helps protect your inner ear from water, which can irritate the delicate skin of the ear canal.