Wilmington journal. [volume] (Wilmington, N.C.) 1844-1895, 1869-10-22
A FREQUENT Cause of Deafness.


A few days since young lady consult
ed me in regard to an apprehended deaf
ness. She stated that for upward of
year she had noticed an increasing deaf
ness in the right ear At first she thought
little of it, believing that it was tempo
rary disability, but as she experienced
more and more difficulty in hearing, she
began gradually to realize the dreadful
possibility of approaching deafness. For
months she concealed her condition, but
at length it became apparent to her
friends, who, to her great modification,
addressed her accordingly. On careful ex
animation, I found large amount of wax
in the external ear, and as I could discover
no other cause, and as it was neither hered
itary nor the result of recent or former
disease, [ attributed her deafness to an i'm
FACTION of wax against the ear drum (tym-
panum). AS I anticipated, she quickly
and sharply retorted, rejecting my opinion
as an imputation upon her cleanliness, /
assured her that it was rather an eviden ce
of her special care of her person, for in
my experience this form of deafness more
often occurred in those who took great
pains to keep their ears clean. Ithappens
in this wise: The ear-wax (cerumen)
| is secreted constantly along the
whole extent of the external ear tube, but
only in sufficient quantity to slightly lu
| bricate the passage. In the natural and
healthy state of the parts, this wax grad
ually hardens, disintegrates, and falls
from the ear tube nnnoticed. Whenever
the ear tube is irritated, the wax is secret
ed in large quantities, and escapes from
the passage in masses. Many persons
clean their ears daily. generally by using
a wet cloth twisted, or upon a stick, hair
pin, or something similar. This frequent
stimulation leads to an excessive secretion
| of wax, which is not allowed to dry and
disintegrate, owing to the constant agita-
ton. but is crowded to the back part OF
the Tube and plastered over the drum by
the screwing of the cloth While the ex-
ternal part of the tube is thus kept clean,
the internal part becomes clogged with a
collection of wax, and finally the drum is
SO covered that it ceases to vibrate with its
usual rapidtiy. Iudistinctness of hearing is
| the first evidence that the drum is begin
ming to be interfered with by the wax,
! and as the layers of fresh wax increase, the
vibrations diminish in intensity, and the
dulness of hearing increases.
The treatment proved that the cause of
her deafness had been correctly stated. A
few drops of almond oil were pnt in the
| ear at bedtime to soften the wax, and the
! next morning the ear tube was thoroughly
washed out with soap and water by means
of syringe. Large quantities of wax
escaped, with hardened masses, followed
by that remarkable acuteness Of hearing
that for time makes all loud sounds in
these cases painful
Cases of this kind are very numerous. ]
have known judge leave the bench on ac-
count of growing deafness, due to accumu-
lations of wax around mass of cotton in
troduced long time previously into the
ear. The ear should never be cleaned OK
cept with soap and water, carefully intro
duced by syringe. By this means the
ear is not irritated, the wax is thoroughly
removed, even from the surface of the
drum, and no harm can resnlt.-Note BOoh
of az Eminent Physician az Hearth and
! Home.