Q: Where does ear wax come from?
Q: Where does ear wax come from?
A: Whether they stick their finger, a Q-tip or some other foreign object in to get it out, most people can’t stand ear wax.
Those who don’t clean it out frequently can even find balls of yellow wax and skin cells sitting on their lobes, but many don’t know where the sticky substance comes from.
Ear wax comes from the cerumen glands in the canals of the ears, according to the Investigator Science and Technology Centre, an Australian science advocacy center.
Even though ear wax isn’t really a wax, its main purpose is to protect your ear canal and ear drum from the Q-tips and other foreign objects shoved in them. It’s really sticky and is good at trapping anything that flies, crawls or is blown into the ear. Over time, the skin in the ear canal moves very slowly out of the ear, carrying with it any wax and anything foreign sticking to the wax.
– By Christine Tognetti,
Staff Writer
