Earwax Buildup by the Numbers: 2026 Data Report

How common is earwax buildup, really? The answer depends on which number you look at.

One newer analysis of nationally representative U.S. data found some degree of cerumen impaction in 18.6% of people ages 12 and older.1 Another widely cited source estimates that cerumen (earwax) impaction occurs in up to 6% of the general population.2 

That is the difference between roughly 1 in 17 people and nearly 1 in 5.

Both figures are real. They are just measuring earwax buildup in different ways.

Here is what the latest data actually tells us about who gets earwax buildup, how often it sends people to a clinician, and what happens when wax completely blocks the ear canal.

 Earwax Buildup Statistics at a Glance

 The big takeaway is that earwax buildup is not unusual. Depending on the population and how researchers define and measure impaction, it ranges from a relatively common clinical complaint to something an otoscope detects in nearly one in five Americans ages 12 and older.

 So Is the Real Number 6 or 18.6%? 

This is where earwax statistics get a little sticky.

The frequently cited 6% figure comes from clinical literature describing cerumen impaction as a common ear complaint. StatPearls reports that it occurs in up to 6% of the general population, 10% of children, and more than 30% of elderly and cognitively impaired patients.2

The 18.6% figure comes from a different approach. In a 2024 study published in Laryngoscope Investigative Otolaryngology, researchers analyzed data from 14,230 people ages 12 and older who underwent both otoscopy and audiometry as part of the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES).1 They found that 18.6% had some degree of cerumen impaction.

Put simply:

• Up to 6% reflects the commonly cited clinical prevalence estimate.

• 18.6% reflects what researchers actually observed when examining ears in a large national sample.

• The two numbers should not be treated as interchangeable.

Someone can have visible earwax impaction without necessarily experiencing enough symptoms to seek medical care. That distinction helps explain why looking into thousands of ears can produce a much higher prevalence figure than estimates based on clinically significant impaction.

Who Gets Earwax Buildup the Most? 

 Age is one of the clearest dividing lines in the data. Tolan and colleagues found that cerumen impaction became increasingly common with age, reaching 32.4% among adults ages 70 and older.

The 2024 NHANES analysis also found that impaction was associated with male sex, with an odds ratio of 1.77, as well as lower levels of educational attainment.1

Why Do Hearing Aid Users and Earplug Users Get More Earwax Buildup?

Normally, earwax gradually migrates outward through the ear canal. Anything regularly placed inside that canal can interfere with that natural process. That includes hearing aids and earplugs, which is why routine use is recognized as a risk factor for cerumen impaction.

It does not mean everyone who wears a hearing aid will develop impacted wax. It does mean people who regularly use in-ear devices are one of the groups clinicians watch more closely for buildup.

Earwax Accounts for Millions of U.S. Medical Visits

Earwax may seem like a minor problem until you look at its footprint on the healthcare system.

In the United States, cerumen buildup is associated with approximately:

• 12 million patient visits every year2

• 8 million cerumen removal procedures every year2

Those figures help put the scale into perspective. Professional cerumen removal is not some unusual last resort, it is performed millions of times each year.

Cerumen impaction is also described as the most common ear complaint presented to clinicians in the United States.2 For something most people rarely talk about, earwax keeps a surprisingly busy schedule.

Does Earwax Buildup Affect Hearing?

It can, but the 2024 national data shows why the degree of blockage matters. Researchers evaluated hearing using pure-tone audiometry and compared the results with what they saw during otoscopic examination.1

Complete cerumen impaction was associated with an increase in speech-frequency pure-tone average of:1

• 4.1 decibels in the right ear

• 1.9 decibels in the left ear

In other words, complete blockage was associated with a small but measurable elevation in hearing thresholds. Partial impaction was different. Researchers did not find a statistically significant effect on pure-tone average from partial impaction. They also found no significant association between cerumen impaction and tinnitus.

That distinction matters. "Earwax buildup affects hearing" is too broad a conclusion from these data. The study specifically found an association between complete impaction and hearing thresholds, while partial impaction did not show the same significant relationship.

What Do We Know About Treating Earwax Buildup?

 There are several approaches to cerumen removal, including earwax dissolving drops, ear irrigation, and professional manual removal.

The evidence does not establish one type of ear drop as universally best for everyone.

A 2018 Cochrane review examined 10 studies involving 623 participants. Researchers concluded that there was limited evidence available to determine whether one type of ear drop was more effective than another.3

The review found:

• Using earwax dissolving drops may be more effective than using no treatment.

• There was no evidence that oil-based drops were more effective than saline or water.

• The available evidence was too limited to confidently identify one ear-drop preparation as superior overall.

• Note: This review did not evaluate the glycolic acid and sodium bicarbonate formulation

What Formulation-Specific Research Shows

The eosera® EAR WAX MD® is a patented dual-action formula of sodium bicarbonate and glycolic acid that dissolves excess earwax to make at-home ear cleaning easier, without the bubbling or crackling associated with peroxide-based formulas.

That specific formulation has been evaluated separately in both laboratory and clinical research.

• In a peer-reviewed in vitro comparison involving 86 human cerumen samples, the glycolic acid and bicarbonate formulation produced substantial cerumen disintegration at 5, 10, 15, and 30 minutes. Under the laboratory test conditions, it produced 91% disintegration at five minutes compared with 0% for the carbamide peroxide product, with statistically significant differences at each measured time point (p < 0.0001).4

• A separate open-label clinical study evaluated adults with moderate to severe cerumen impaction.5 After one application:

• 83% of ears, 25 of 30, showed improvement.

• 53%, 16 of 30, were completely clear, allowing full visibility of the eardrum.

• After up to two applications, total dissolution reached 80%, 24 of 30, in the intent-to-treat population and 86%, 24 of 28, among participants who followed the ear irrigation instructions as directed.

What Earwax Statistics Cannot Tell Us

Even a national dataset has limits.

The 18.6% prevalence figure comes from otoscopic examinations. It tells us how frequently researchers saw impaction, not how many of those people were bothered by it, knew they had it, or would ever seek treatment.

A few important gaps remain:

• Self-treatment is difficult to capture. Someone who manages recurrent wax at home may never appear in medical-visit statistics.

• Visible wax is not the same as symptomatic wax. Otoscopy can identify impaction in someone who has not reported a problem.

• Population matters. Prevalence changes substantially with age and other risk factors, so a single percentage cannot describe everyone equally.

• Definitions matter. Partial and complete impaction are not interchangeable, particularly when discussing potential effects on hearing.

This is also why the 6% and 18.6% figures can coexist. The answer to "How common is earwax buildup?" changes depending on exactly what you count.

The Takeaway

If you deal with earwax buildup, you are in very ordinary company.

A large national analysis found some degree of cerumen impaction in 18.6% of Americans ages 12 and older, rising to 32.4% among adults ages 70 and older. Other clinical literature estimates impaction in up to 6% of the general population.

And every year in the United States, earwax contributes to approximately 12 million patient visits and 8 million cerumen removal procedures.

Earwax buildup is common, manageable, and considerably less weird once you realize just how many other ears are doing the exact same thing.

FAQ

How common is earwax buildup? 

It depends on how it is measured. Clinical literature estimates cerumen impaction in up to 6% of the general population, while a 2024 analysis of national otoscopy data found some degree of impaction in 18.6% of people ages 12 and older.1,2 The difference reflects, in part, what each source counts as impaction.

Who gets earwax buildup the most? 

Prevalence increases substantially with age. The 2024 NHANES analysis found cerumen impaction in 32.4% of adults ages 70 and older.1 Children, elderly and cognitively impaired patients, people who routinely use hearing aids or earplugs, and people with certain ear-canal abnormalities are also recognized as groups with higher rates or risk.2

How many people get earwax removed each year?

Approximately 8 million cerumen removal procedures are performed annually in the United States. Earwax is associated with roughly 12 million U.S. patient visits each year, illustrating just how routine professional management of cerumen buildup is.2

Do hearing aid users experience more earwax buildup?

Regular hearing aid use is recognized as a risk factor for cerumen impaction because an object sitting in the ear canal can interfere with the natural outward movement of wax. That does not mean every hearing aid user will develop impacted wax, but routine device use can make buildup more likely.

What can you do if you are experiencing earwax?

One solution is earwax dissolving drops. The eosera® EAR WAX MD® is a patented dual-action formula of sodium bicarbonate and glycolic acid (U.S. Patent No. 10,596,106), clinically proven to dissolve earwax.5 It is labeled for ages 2 and up. It is developed and manufactured in Fort Worth, Texas, by a founder-led, WBENC-certified woman-owned business. If interested in learning more about eosera® EAR WAX MD®, visit here.

References

1. Tolan, M. M., et al. (2024). Cerumen impaction: Prevalence and associated factors in the United States population. Laryngoscope Investigative Otolaryngology, 9(2), e1228. https://doi.org/10.1002/lio2.1228

2. Sevy, J. O., Hohman, M. H., & Singh, A. Cerumen impaction removal. In StatPearls. StatPearls Publishing. PMID: 28846265.

3. Aaron, K., Cooper, T. E., Warner, L., & Burton, M. J. (2018). Ear drops for the removal of ear wax. Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews, 2018(7), CD012171. https://doi.org/10.1002/14651858.CD012171.pub2

4. Knebl, J., Harty, B., Anderson, C. E., Dean, W. D., & Griffin, J. (2025). In vitro comparison of three earwax removal formulations for the disintegration of earwax. F1000Research, 5, 2784. https://doi.org/10.12688/f1000research.10279.2

5. Fullington, D., Song, J., Gilles, A., Guo, X., Hua, W., Anderson, C. E., & Griffin, J. (2017). Evaluation of the safety and efficacy of a novel product for the removal of impacted human cerumen. BMC Ear, Nose and Throat Disorders, 17, 5. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12901-017-0038-8