Cerumen is a 7 letter English word. It's valid Scrabble word worth 11 points. It's valid Words with friends word worth 15 points.
You can make 104 anagrams from letters in cerumen (ceemnru).
1735-45; New Latin, equivalent to Latin cēr(a) wax + (alb)umen albumen
cerumen, se-rū′men, n. the yellow waxy matter secreted in the ear.
It is lined by skin in its whole length, the sweat glands of which are modified to secrete the wax or cerumen.
From this I think that the cause of croup is simply the result of abnormality of the cerumen system.
Syringing with a large and strong syringe disengaged a large mass of cerumen, and hearing was immediately restored.