In the UK, it is estimated that 2.3 million people each year have problems with earwax that are sufficient to warrant intervention. Earwax removal is the most common ear, nose, and throat procedure performed in primary care with approximately 4 million ears irrigated annually in the UK. This summary has been developed for use by community pharmacists under our Guidelines for Pharmacy title and therefore only covers the information relevant to this setting. Areas covered include:

• diagnosis, including differential diagnosis
• management, including how earwax should be removed
• contraindications and cautions
• referral.