Cerumen impaction

Patients should be given advice not to use cotton-tipped applicators to clean their ears ("avoid putting anything smaller than your elbow in your ear, except for a hearing aid").

Patients can apply a few drops of mineral oil, olive oil, or saline solution into their ear(s) nightly, for a few nights prior to the next visit with their physician, to soften the cerumen.

Over-the-counter wax-removal kits, which usually consist of a cerumenolytic agent as well as a small syringe to irrigate the ear canal, can be used.