Ear Syringe

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January 12th, 2011 admin Leave a comment Go to comments

Ear Syringe

How do they syringe ears?

I have gone partially deaf in both ears (The joy!) and I believe i need to go doctors to have my ears syringed. How do they do this? It freaked me out when my mother said thats what they need to do. Also how can i keep the wax buildup minimal (Yes i know wax is there to stop dust etc getting in your ears) I mean how could i clean my ears withuot using cotten buds.

Hello
If you gone partially deaf then the doctor has to examine the inside of your ear canal with a instrument called auriscope or autiscope and check for wax build up or any other cause,
It is normal to have small amounts of wax (cerumen). If the wax is completely occluding your ear canal and ear drum (tympanic membrane) cannot be seen this can cause impaired hearing, ear pain, dizziness, vertigo.
If wax is the cause it can be removed in several ways.

Wax softeners for few days can be tried first and are often effective.

Mechanical methods are the next step. It depends on what ear syringing instrument your doctor has.The traditional way is with irrigation with a metal hand held syringe.
I use the above or a 20cc injection syringe with plastic cannula cut to size as nozzle (used in putting drips in veins).
Threre is a bulb, electric oral jet irrigator (with ear irrigator tip) and other instruments to direct jet of lukewarm water into the ear.

The doctor places a towel over your shoulder and you hold a dish under the ear to be syringed to catch the flow of water and wax from the ear. The doctor directs lukewarm water into your ear canal and flushes out the wax (made easier if wax softener has been used).

As wax comes out he continously the doctor checks with the otoscope if any wax is left so not do damage the ear drum with the jet of water if the ear is cleared of wax, and continues to syringe till wax is out.

For stuborn cases an ENT Surgeon can remove the wax under direct vision with a suction or wax hook .

As for mimimising wax build up there is nothing you can do. The wax in your ears is secreted by glands in the skin that lines your ear canals serving the purpose you already know and mention in your question above.

In most people, a small amount of earwax regularly makes its way to the opening of the ear, where it's washed away or falls out as new wax is secreted to replace it. If you secrete an excessive amount of wax (and some do) or if ear wax isn't cleared effectively, it may build up and block your ear canal.

Additionally, ear wax blockages commonly occur when people try to clean their ears on their own by placing cotton swabs in their ears. This often just pushes wax deeper into the ear, rather than removing it.