Relationship Between Cerumen and Bromidrosis

Abstract

There are two distinct types of normal human cerumen. The usual type of cerumen found among Japanese, Chinese, Mongolian, and American Indian populations is brownish-gray, brittle, and dry in nature. It is commonly called “rice-bran cerumen” (nuka-mimi) in Japan because it resembles a particle of rice bran. When accumulated in the external auditory meatus for a long period of time, a thin slice of this cerumen of a fairly large size will often form. The other type of cerumen is brown, sticky and wet. This type is sometimes called “honey cerumen” (ame-mimi) or “cat cerumen” (neko-mimi). The wet type is very prevalent among European and African populations. An intermediate type which can be classified as neither wet nor dry occurs at a low rate of about 0.5% among healthy Japanese (Matsunaga 1962).