Excellent videos - thanks for the links. I find this stuff fascinating.
Regarding earwax...I had to have my ears syringed after I managed to lose almost all hearing. I had felt that there was too much wax in there and had tried to clean up myself. In the shower, I put my finger in there and scooped out lots of wax. I was, unknown to me, also pushing it further and further in. Within a week, I was almost stone deaf.
We tried putting in some special ear drops and then showering it using water but with no joy. I had to go to the doctor. By the time I was there, I was so deaf that underground trains entered stations in near silence. Needless to say, I had to be collected from the waiting room as I couldn't hear my name being called.
The doctor pulled out lumps and lumps of wax. The first one was brilliant - there was even a squeaking noise and a rush of cool air and I could suddenly hear again. "I can hear!" I said in excitement before the doc sharply told me to keep still.
I asked for a look at the wax (as you do) and, all in all, the lump from just one ear was the size of my little finger; a mixture of red, brown, yellow and green with flecks of black.
I left the surgery amazed. My ears had adjusted and now everything was painfully loud and remained so for a couple of days.