Earwax can be a good indicator of how stressed a person is

How stressed are you? Your earwax may have the answer.

A new method of collecting and analysing earwax to see levels of the stress hormone cortisol may be an easy and inexpensive way for people with depression and anxiety to track their mental health.

Cortisol is an important hormone that spikes when a person is stressed and drops when they relax. In the short term, cortisol is responsible for the “fight or escape” reaction, so it is important for subsistence. But cortisol usually rises in people with depression or anxiety, and persistently high levels of cortisol have a negative impact on the immune system, blood pressure and other body functions.

Other disorders are because of cortisol disorders, including Cushing’s disease (caused by excessive cortisol production) and Addison’s disease (caused by insufficient cortisol production). Cushing's disease has abnormal fat accumulation, a weak immune system and is prone to fractures. People with Addison's have dangerously low blood pressure.

Tracking cortisol levels

Cortisol can be measured in a variety of ways, from saliva to blood and even hair. But saliva and blood samples show only short-term levels, while cortisol fluctuates significantly throughout the day. Even drawing blood with a needle increases stress, causing cortisol levels to rise. Hair samples can provide a snapshot of cortisol over several months, but they are expensive to analyse -- and not everyone has hair.

Andres Herane-Vives, a lecturer at London University, and his colleagues have turned the researching target to the ears. Earwax is stable and resistant to bacterial infections, so it can be easily sent to a laboratory for analysis. It also keeps records of cortisol levels for weeks.

But the previous method of collecting earwax was to insert a syringe into the ear canal and then flush water out of the earwax, causing the person to experience some pain and stress. So Herane-Vives and his colleagues developed a swab that works like a cotton swab. A ring of protection around the handle prevents it from going too deep into the eardrum, and at the other end is a sponge for collecting earwax.