- Soften earwax using homemade ear drops. You can use either olive oil, mineral oil or 3 percent hydrogen peroxide. Place three drops of your homemade ear drops into your ears, once a day for three days in a row. The oil softens the earwax, which helps it to drain out of your ears. Use an eyedropper to put the oil into your ears. Work on one ear at a time. Squeeze three drops of oil into one ear, without allowing the eyedropper to enter your ear canal. Lay on your side for five minutes, with the ear that you just placed the drops in facing upward. Repeat the process with your other ear. You can place a cotton ball at the entrance of your ear if you want to catch any oil that drains out. Do not insert anything into your ears other than ear drops. Placing items into your ears can push the earwax deeper into your ear canals, which is a common cause of earwax impaction, according to the Mayo Clinic.
- Purchase over-the-counter medicated ear drops at your local pharmacy or see your doctor for prescription-strength ear drops. If you choose to purchase over-the-counter ear drops, look for brands designed for earwax removal. Follow the ear drop manufacturer's label when using the ear drops.
- If home treatment does not remove your earwax, see a doctor. Your doctor can remove your earwax, using a medical tool called a curette to manually pull out the earwax or by using a suction tool to remove the earwax. Another method that doctors sometimes use to remove earwax is irrigation. During ear irrigation, the doctor introduces water or an ear-cleaning solution into the ear, using either a bulb syringe or a water-pick-like instrument.