The Earwax and Ear Ringing Connection

If you live with ringing in your ears, or other sounds in your ears like roaring or buzzing, you are not alone. Ringing in the ears, also called tinnitus, is common. The National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders reports that 10 to 25% of adults experience ringing in the ears.

According to the NIDCD, people experience ringing in the ears in a variety of ways, including phantom sounds in one ear, both ears, or inside the head; sounds perceived as ringing, buzzing, roaring, whistling, humming, clicking, hissing, or squealing (soft or loud, low or high pitch); and sounds that come and go or are present all the time.

There are many different causes of ringing in the ears, and earwax and tinnitus are more connected than most people realize. To learn more about tinnitus broadly, see our what is tinnitus hub.

Can Earwax Really Cause Ringing in Your Ears?

Yes. The National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders reports that earwax buildup can cause ringing in the ears when earwax blocks the ear canal. According to the Cleveland Clinic, this kind of blockage affects 10% of children and 5% of adults. For a broader overview, see our posts on earwax buildup and cerumen impaction.

Fortunately, this type of tinnitus can be treated and often goes away when earwax buildup resolves, either on its own, through non-invasive, gentle home cleansing, or with removal by a qualified healthcare provider.

For people who have tinnitus that is not caused by earwax buildup, excessive earwax can still make ringing in the ears feel louder, because earwax blocks external sounds from reaching the eardrum and makes internal sounds more noticeable.

How Earwax Buildup Leads to Tinnitus

When earwax builds up and blocks the ear canal, it can lead to ringing in the ears because the excess earwax reduces the ability of sound waves to reach the inner ear, where vibrations are translated into perceived sounds. Attempting to compensate, the brain may "turn up" the volume on the sounds that are getting through, creating ringing, buzzing, and other excess perceived sounds.

Earwax buildup can also prevent your eardrum (tympanic membrane) from vibrating as it should in reaction to sound waves, leading to tinnitus and muffled hearing. For a related discussion of impaction-driven hearing changes, see What Is Earwax (Cerumen) Impaction?

Signs That Earwax May Be Causing Your Tinnitus

The clearest sign that earwax is causing your tinnitus is that it appears alongside other earwax buildup symptoms, such as ear fullness, muffled hearing, itching, or pain. Ringing in the ears due to earwax rarely happens in isolation.

According to the Cleveland Clinic, these symptoms can include:

• Pain or earache
• Feelings of ear "fullness" or that ears are "plugged" or "stuffy"
• Muffled or changed hearing
• Change in hearing aid effectiveness
• Ear itchiness
• Dizziness

If you think you are having earwax tinnitus, and do not have a fever, significant ear pain, headache or dizziness, new significant hearing loss, or odor or discharge coming from your ear, you may consider a gentle, non-invasive home earwax cleansing option. For more significant symptoms, or if symptoms do not improve or worsen despite cleansing, talk to your healthcare provider.

Will the Ringing Go Away After Earwax Removal?

If your tinnitus is connected to earwax buildup, gently cleansing your ears should help relieve your symptoms, though ringing may not clear up right away. It can take a few hours or days for tinnitus caused by earwax to go away after cleansing. If symptoms worsen or continue, discuss them with your healthcare provider.

What If Tinnitus Persists After Earwax Removal?

If you have completed gentle home cleansing with a product like the LIPO Earwax Cleansing Solution and your ringing continues, consult with your healthcare provider. He or she may recommend that you talk to a specialist, such as an ear, nose, and throat physician (an ENT or otolaryngologist) or an audiologist.

If appropriate, your healthcare team will look for any modifiable causes of your tinnitus or any potential underlying medical conditions that can be treated or ruled out as causes of or contributors to your ringing in the ears. Your healthcare providers will also likely consider any medications that you are taking, as certain medicines can initiate tinnitus or make it worse, even if they have not in the past.

Medications linked to tinnitus include:

• Aspirin (in high doses)
• Non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs)
• Antibiotics
• Cancer medicines
• Diuretics (water pills)
• Some antidepressants

If you think a medication may be causing your tinnitus, make a list of all the over-the-counter, prescription, and herbal products you are taking and discuss that list with your doctor. Do not stop taking any of your medications without talking to your doctor first.

Managing Tinnitus: Ear Health Beyond Earwax

If earwax buildup is not the cause of your tinnitus, and if appropriate earwax cleansing does not reduce or clear your ear ringing, there are other things you can do. First, talk to your healthcare provider so they can recommend individualized next steps.

While there is not yet a cure for tinnitus, there are tactics that can help make symptoms more manageable. Some hearing aids have a built-in sound generator that produces white or pink noise, or ocean wave sounds. These can help "mask" tinnitus and help you become habituated to the ringing so that it no longer bothers you as much.

Reducing your exposure to loud, ear-irritating sounds can also help. The American Tinnitus Association recommends:

• Safeguarding your ears from loud noises with earplugs or other ear protection devices
• Positioning yourself far away from sound sources in noisy places
• Giving your ears a break by finding a quiet spot to "escape" noise every 15 to 20 minutes
• Reducing the volume and taking frequent silence breaks when using earbuds or earphones

A nutritional supplement can also help manage tinnitus symptoms. LIPO is a nutritional supplement that can support ear health. With consistent use as directed, the nutrients in LIPO have been shown to improve the symptoms of tinnitus in some people. For more on the evidence, see our Does LIPO Work for Tinnitus? post.

Lemon bioflavonoids, like those in LIPO, are thought to help manage tinnitus symptoms by:

• Supporting microcirculation in the inner ear
• Preventing abnormal accumulation of fatty deposits
• Blocking histamine production in the inner ear (a likely cause of inner ear disturbances)

Clinical experience reported in medical journals indicates that patients can experience considerable benefit from lemon bioflavonoids without side effects.^{[1][2][3][4][5][6]}

Key Takeaways About Earwax-Caused Tinnitus

Some ringing in the ears can be related to earwax buildup, and that is actually good news because excess earwax can be resolved. The first step may be at-home self-care with gentle earwax cleansing; for more significant buildup, your healthcare provider can recommend next steps. Also avoid cotton swabs, which can make wax problems worse.

Ringing in the ears can also be made worse by earwax buildup, so appropriate earwax cleansing, while not a cure in these cases, can help lessen tinnitus's disruptive symptoms.

If your tinnitus is not related to earwax buildup, there are still options to manage your symptoms. Experts recommend talking to your healthcare provider to address or rule out underlying medical conditions or medication side effects, protecting yourself from loud noises, using white noise, and nutritional supplements specifically designed for ear ringing management.

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