Do Earplugs Cause Earwax Buildup? An Audiologist Explains

If you have been to a big sporting clays tournament in the last few years, there is a good chance you walked right past Ed Prechel.

Ed runs Make-A-Break. He sets the targets and calls the shootoffs, which means he spends twelve-hour days standing at roughly the level of a shooter's kneecap, more or less parallel to the muzzle. Two guns going off in front of him, over and over, from early morning until the lights come on. He has been doing this professionally for thirty-three years, and for most of them, he was wearing foam earplugs.

Ed joined me on a recent episode of The Dead Pair Podcast, and he told a story I hear some version of all the time.

At some point, the plugs started to hurt. Not the noise. The plugs. He described immediate pressure against his eardrum every time he put them in. So he went to an audiologist, and it turned out he had wax so hard and so far down the canal that it had to be flushed out with warm water. He said it was, and I am quoting him here, "absolutely gross." He also said he could hear noticeably better afterward, and the pain was gone.

Ed's problem was not the noise exposure. It was earwax buildup caused by years of wearing earplugs — and it is one of the most common and least discussed problems I see in the shooting sports.

Do earplugs cause earwax buildup?

Yes, and the reason is worth understanding.

Cerumen, or earwax, is not a hygiene failure. It is protective. It is antimicrobial, it keeps the canal from drying out, and under normal conditions it migrates outward on its own without any help from you.

But your ear canal is built to notice foreign objects. When something is in there, your body produces more wax. That is the reflex working exactly as designed.

Now think about what you actually do in this sport. You put something in your ears and leave it there for hours at a time, in the heat, several days a week during season, year after year. Then you do it again the next weekend.

Earplugs also physically block the canal's natural outward migration. So you have more wax being produced and less of it leaving on its own. Over years, that combination is how impaction happens.

Why shooters are more prone to impacted earwax

Shooters are not unlucky. They are predisposed. When I am at a shoot taking earmold impressions, the percentage of people whose ears I have to clean out before I can safely do anything is remarkably high. It is not a small minority. And the wear pattern that causes it is the same thing protecting their hearing, which is the frustrating part.

Hunters, competitive shooters, range officers, instructors, and anyone in an occupational noise environment share the same exposure profile: long wear time, repeated daily, over a career.

This is not an argument against wearing hearing protection. Noise-induced hearing loss is permanent and a single unsuppressed gunshot can exceed 140 dB. This is an argument for knowing what comes with protection so you can stay ahead of it.

Symptoms of earwax buildup from earplugs

Impacted cerumen tends to announce itself gradually. Watch for:

• Pressure or pain when inserting earplugs, as Ed described
• A feeling of fullness or blockage, often on one side
• Muffled or reduced hearing
• Itching in the ear canal
• Ringing or tinnitus that comes and goes
• Custom earplugs that suddenly do not seat the way they used to

That last one is worth flagging. If a custom plug that fit perfectly for years starts feeling shallow or uncomfortable, wax is a more likely explanation than a change in your anatomy.

Why cotton swabs make earwax worse

Please do not use cotton swabs. I know they feel productive. You pull one out, there is something on it, and it seems like progress.

What is actually happening is that you are removing a little from the outer canal and pushing considerably more past the second bend, where it compacts and where you can no longer reach it. That is how you end up in Ed's situation, needing a clinician and a water jet.

How to remove earwax safely at home

For most people, the maintenance is genuinely this simple. In the shower, let warm water run into and out of your ears. That is enough for the majority of ears, most of the time.

If it is not enough for you, over-the-counter cerumenolytic drops are inexpensive and work well. Put them in, give each ear a few minutes to really soak, and then rinse with warm water at your next shower. The key ingredient I look for on the box is carbamide peroxide at 6.5%.

If that routine is not clearing it, stop there and let someone look. Impacted cerumen is straightforward to remove in a clinic and genuinely difficult to remove at home. Do not escalate to sharper tools.

When to see an audiologist

Some things are worth a visit regardless of what your maintenance routine looks like:

• New ringing that was not there before
• A sudden change in hearing
• Fullness or pressure on one side
• Pain, drainage, or dizziness

Those symptoms overlap with conditions that are medically treatable, and some of them are time-sensitive. Wax is the most common explanation, but it is not the only one.

If you are not sure where to go, that is exactly what we are here for. OtoPro works with a network of more than 450 credentialed clinics across the US and Canada. Find a provider near you or contact us and we will make the referral for you.

Ask who is looking in your ears

Before anyone puts anything into your ears — an otoscope, a curette, or earmold impression material — ask them what training they have and whether they hold a state license to perform the service.

It is a reasonable question. It is not rude, and anyone doing this properly will be glad you asked. I would be.

Proper training covers otoscopy, the health of the tympanic membrane, recognizing what is normal and what needs a referral, and knowing when not to proceed. A short vendor tutorial is not the same thing, and the difference tends to show up at exactly the wrong moment. Taking an earmold impression in an ear with impacted cerumen can push wax against the eardrum and cause real harm.

Frequently asked questions

Can earplugs push earwax deeper into your ear?

Yes. Inserting any earplug can compress wax that is already in the canal and move it inward, past the point where it would normally migrate out on its own. This is one reason a professional should look in your ears before taking earmold impressions for custom hearing protection.

Do custom earplugs cause less earwax buildup than foam?

Not necessarily less wax production, but custom plugs seat at a consistent, controlled depth rather than being compressed and pushed in by hand, which reduces how far wax gets driven down the canal. They are also easier to clean and do not shed material into the ear.

How often should shooters have their ears checked?

For most people who wear hearing protection regularly during season, once a year is reasonable, ideally paired with a baseline hearing test so changes can be tracked over time. If you produce wax heavily or wear protection daily for work, every six months is more appropriate.

Is earwax removal covered by insurance?

Cerumen removal is often covered when performed by a physician or audiologist and billed as a medical service, though coverage varies by plan. Ask the clinic when you schedule.

Can earwax buildup cause tinnitus?

It can. Impacted cerumen can produce a temporary ringing or fullness that resolves once the wax is removed. Tinnitus that persists after removal is a different issue and worth investigating further. We covered it in depth in our guide to tinnitus for hunters and shooters.

One more thing

You might be wondering whether there is really a whole podcast episode about earwax. There is not.

The episode was about an email the show received from a long-time OtoPro client who questioned our professional service fee. He raised it directly with the host, the host sent it straight to me, and the client and I ended up on the phone for about an hour. It was a fair question and a genuinely good conversation, and it is the reason I am still working on how we explain what we do.

Ed's story came up along the way, which is how this article happened.

Listen to the full episode here. We get into his question and pull back the curtain on how this business actually works.

If you are ready to move out of foam, our custom filtered earplugs are a usually a good place to start. They are fit through a licensed provider near you, and we handle everything from the referral through the warranty.

Grace Sturdivant, Au.D., CCC-A, is the founder of OtoPro Technologies, a concierge hearing protection brokerage serving hunters, competitive shooters, law enforcement, and industry. She earned her Doctor of Audiology at Vanderbilt University and previously served as Vice Chief of Audiology at the University of Mississippi Medical Center.