BACKGROUND: Ear wax lubricates, cleans and protects the external auditory canal while ear self-cleaning can lead to ear infections, trauma and perforation of the tympanic membrane. An erroneous understanding of these facts can lead to wrong practices with grievous consequences.
OBJECTIVE: To assess the knowledge on ear wax and the effects of ear self-cleaning among health workers in Nigeria.
MATERIALS AND METHODS: A cross-sectional study was done on health workers in a tertiary hospital in Nigeria with administration of structured questionnaire. Knowledge of the participants on the effect of ear self-cleaning were classified as poor, fair or good based on the calculation of their knowledge score.
RESULTS: Out of 150 respondents, 10.7% of them had good knowledge of ear wax and the health effects of self-ear cleaning while 51.3% had poor knowledge. There was strong association between knowledge score and occupation (x=24.113, P=0.007), while there was no association between knowledge score and practice of ear self-cleaning.
CONCLUSION: Most respondents had poor knowledge of the function of ear wax and the damage to the auditory canal associated with ear self-cleaning. There is thus, the need for public enlightenment on the complications of the practice.
