# What's your earwax like? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [April 12, 2013, 12:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-earwax-like/655495 "2013-04-12T12:48:35Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 6\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![gigi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a587f6/32.png) [@gigi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gigi)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2013, 4:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-earwax-like/655495/21 "2013-04-13T04:56:20Z")
> [@DCnDC](#): > > A few years back my ears were so full of compacted wax that I was practically deaf. OTC ear drops did nothing. > > I went to an ENT doc and he scraped out (yes, _scraped_; NOT a pleasant experience) a huge amount of thick chunks of yellow/brown wax from both ears. I’m sure I’m wildly exaggerating but it felt and looked like it could have filled a Dixie cup. My hearing immediately came back to normal and I remember everything seemed EXTREMELY LOUD for at least a week afterwards; I guess I had just gotten used to everything sounding like I was wearing muffs all the time. It did make the subway and walking around in the city kind of bizarrely serene, though. Yep – I get mine levaged every year as part of my physical and my hearing is so cool afterward! I hear things I haven’t heard for months – mostly sibiliance. I produce a good ball of wax out of each ear every time. I have to admit I was a little creeped out when my doc referred to it as “Let’s see what kind of potatoes you’re growing in there”. :dubious: ---
**Author:** ![\_Olive](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/_/4af34b/32.png) [@\_Olive](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/_Olive)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2013, 5:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-earwax-like/655495/22 "2013-04-13T05:14:43Z")
I am a q-tip user and have only had to have my ears cleaned once. My late husband had to have his ears cleaned all the time. I went with him once and what was left in the bowl looked like two cigarette butts. ---
**Author:** ![standingwave](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9de0a6/32.png) [@standingwave](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/standingwave)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2013, 3:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-earwax-like/655495/23 "2013-04-13T15:51:37Z")
> [@\_Olive](#): > > I am a q-tip user and have only had to have my ears cleaned once. My late husband had to have his ears cleaned all the time. I went with him once and what was left in the bowl looked like two cigarette butts. Makes one wonder how prehistoric man dealt with this. ---
**Author:** ![Iggy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/iggy/32/3364_2.png) [@Iggy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Iggy)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2013, 6:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-earwax-like/655495/24 "2013-04-13T18:28:22Z")
Waxy or dry, your cerumen type is genetically determined. It is a single gene with two alleles. There appears to be a fairly strong natural selection advantage to those who have the dry ear wax allele - the dry wax folks have about a 1% fitness advantage. And those of us stuck with wet ear wax tend to have stronger body odor. Nice! Based upon distribution of the trait, it appears that the recessive dry allele arose in northeastern China or perhaps Korea about 2000 generations ago. The dry allele is extremely common in northeast Asia, and almost completely absent in Africa - a very strong geographic skew. Dry is rare in Europe but more common in the Americas - which could be an endorsement of the Bering Land bridge migration hypothesis!? ---
**Author:** ![Michael63129](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/3da27b/32.png) [@Michael63129](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Michael63129)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2013, 7:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-earwax-like/655495/25 "2013-04-13T19:05:17Z")
> [@Iggy](#): > > Waxy or dry, your cerumen type is genetically determined. It is a single gene with two alleles. There appears to be a fairly strong natural selection advantage to those who have the dry ear wax allele - the dry wax folks have about a 1% fitness advantage. And those of us stuck with wet ear wax tend to have stronger body odor. Nice! On the other hand, [this article claims](http://abcnews.go.com/blogs/health/2012/11/27/6-ways-your-body-may-clue-you-in-to-possible-health-problems/) (claim from a holistic doctor) that having dry earwax increases your chance of having heart disease. ---
**Author:** ![Peremensoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ce7236/32.png) [@Peremensoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peremensoe)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2013, 7:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-earwax-like/655495/26 "2013-04-13T19:31:40Z")
Earwax type could be an _indicator_ of _likely_ risk factors, because of genes with coincident distribution in certain populations. The earwax doesn’t actually _do_ anything. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-earwax-like/655495.md?page=1)