With the wonderful world of the internet and social media, on a daily basis we are shown products we MUST have. But when it comes to blocked ears, internet ‘solutions’ can often make the problem worse and can become a costly mistake.
There are many home remedies and DIY kits on the market to remove ear wax which are not proven to actually work and can be a waste your money as you become more desperate to hear. Below are some of the products you should be wary of.
Cotton buds and ‘turkey twizzler’ spiral end ear cleaners can push wax deeper into your ear, maybe up against your eardrum and impact wax against the canal wall, which will make your hearing worse.
You can also get self syringing kits that force questionable clean water into and onto your delicate eardrum possibly introducing infection or damaging your eardrum.
There are even smart endoscopic camera gadgets complete with probe so that you can watch while you fiddle in your ear not really knowing what it is you’re doing or looking at. Similarly, there are little vacuum cleaners and ‘hopi’ candles that draw the wax out of your ear but you are more likely to burn yourself although you might feel good for the lie-down!
Some kits even come with equipment that even specialists would not normally use including picks, forceps, scoops and shovels! All these, to an untrained person can have the potential to cause real harm.
The thing to remember is everyone’s ears are different. Some have short canals, some long and narrow. Some have curvy canals while some have evidence of past or present conditions such as eczema. By not ‘seeing’ what you are doing or knowing what you are looking at you can easily cause yourself trauma, infections, pain, deafness or even perforate your eardrum which would be very painful.
This is why Microsuction is the only NICE approved procedure to remove built up ear wax. By using a bright light, microscope and two eyes it allows the trained practitioner to see into your ears in great detail and with great clarity and depth perception, removing wax delicately and painlessly. The trained practitioner can easily see and assess the health of the ear identifying any abnormalities, infections or perforations and can plan with the patient how best to treat and care for their ears.
At Just Ears we take safety very seriously and only use microscopes at all our clinics. For more information or to book an appointment click here.