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Re: ear wax
MAIsham (maisham@aol.com)
21 Aug 1995 21:28:16 -0400
I'll take a wild but, I hope somewhat educated guess. It seems to me that
the purpose of ear wax is twofold. First, ear wax, I would think, keeps
the tympanic membrane pliable. A rigid ear drum would damp vibrations
resulting in loss of hearing. It would also tend to dry and crack. A
simile that comes to mind is that ear wax conditions the tympanic membrane
as lanolin conditions leather. Second, it seems ear wax would trap
detritus such as dust, dirt, and sloughed epithelial cells, and push it
from the ear canal.
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