Sorry, You'll Have To Speak Up! (Ear Syringeing)

Name: karenuk

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Product:	Ear Syringeing
Date:	15/01/02 (4980 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: ear syringeing gave me my hearing back!, quick and painless, free on the NHS

Disadvantages: not pleasant

THE PROBLEMS

Until yesterday morning, I had been deaf in my left ear for a week. This was much more debilitating than I would have expected. I could only hear one thing at once (i.e. the TV, but not someone speaking to me in the room) and as I have four children, this caused many problems (although some relief from the constant bickering between them!!).

I usually have excellent hearing and count on it for so much. I am very security conscious and listen out for anyone being around the house when they shouldn’t be, as well as anyone who may be behind me while walking through the local alleyways. Without my left ear working, I found I became more frightened, as I didn’t feel I would be able to hear people approaching. This affected my confidence a lot.

While waiting for the kids at school, I often couldn’t hear what my friends were saying, so I became quieter, less sociable. I thought they might think I was being rude and ignoring them. Although I told them about my ear, being deaf is not something you can see, it is not an obvious problem.

My balance was also affected. I occasionally felt dizzy or had the sensation of falling backwards. I have had this before when I have been feeling stressed or nervous, as well as during ear infections. I had both this time, as my left ear was affecting everything.

So, overall, you can tell it was affecting my life.

Of course, there is no way I am comparing this to permanent deafness, but I think it is important to explain what was happening, as well as the treatment I received for it.

BACKGROUND

I first went to see my GP on New Year’s Eve as I had an ear infection. I regularly have otitis externa (a form of excema inside the ear) and had been using ear drops before this to ease the itching. This time, I was prescribed antibiotic ear drops to clear the infection.

I had to use the drops morning and night and after a few days, t
he infection was much improved. Then one night, I put the drops in my left ear and it felt just like I had water in it, which wouldn’t shift. It adversely affected my hearing too, but I went to bed and expected it to be fine by the morning. It wasn’t.

After a few days just hoping the deafness would go, I went back to see the GP. She explained that the ear drops improved the infection, so the ear wax began collecting again. One lump of it had hardened and was now blocking my ear, which was causing the deafness.

I was told to use ear drops from the chemist for four days, then come in on Monday morning to see the nurse and have my ear syringed. I bought Earex (£2.36 for 10ml), which are drops made from arachis oil, almond oil and rectified camphor oil. I had to put four drops in my left ear, morning and night.

By Saturday, I was having brief bouts of being able to hear out of that side – literally only seconds, but it was an improvement! I would hear a pop and then a rush of loud noise, then it would go deaf again.

THE SYRINGEING (it’s sometimes spelt without the ‘e’ too)

So on Monday morning, I went to see the nurse for the syringeing. I wasn’t quite sure what to expect, but had asked around and people seemed to agree it was painless, with some disliking the procedure and others enjoying it!

The nurse told me to sit down and looked in my ear. She asked me a few questions such as if I had had the syringeing done before. She explained she would hold the syringe to my ear and a pressurised jet of water would clean it, getting behind the blocked wax and pushing it out that way.

She said it is noisy, but shouldn’t hurt. I was told to let her know if I did feel any pain or wanted her to stop and she would. Then, rather worryingly, she said it was possible, though unlikely, that there was a hole in the inside of the ear – in which case I would feel the water
going down my throat and must signal her to stop!

Well, that made me rather anxious, as you can imagine, but I knew I had to have it done, so let her get on with it.

She put a protective cover over my shoulders and asked me to hold the receptacle under my ear, to catch the water in. I did this, then she turned the machine on and placed it in my ear.

The noise was annoying, loud and unpleasant. It wasn’t painful, but it’s not very nice either. I can’t understand anyone enjoying it! It felt like being underwater (which I don’t like anyway) and although it went on longer than I would have liked, I think it was all done pretty quickly. My ear was dried with a tissue and I was free to go.

I had been expecting a loud pop and my hearing to return with a vengeance, but that didn’t happen. The nurse explained I would regain my hearing as the ear dried – and she was right. I walked home, took the dog out and suddenly heard this REALLY loud lorry going past! It was then that I realised my ear was working normally again.

NEXT DAY

Today, my hearing is fine, but my ear feels slightly sore and a little bit achy. I am pleased I had my ear syringed because I can hear again, but I hope to avoid it in future!

CONCLUSION

I wanted to write this opinion because when I was told I needed my ear syringeing, I immediately wanted to know all about it. There are plenty of pages of medical jargon on the internet, but no real experiences of it from a non-medical point of view.

I hope this will be useful to anyone who has to have this done. It is over quickly, it’s effective and it doesn’t hurt, so don’t be too worried, just think about being able to hear properly again and it will all be worth it.

MEDICAL JARGON

As my opinion is very much from my point of view, I wanted to include a few medical facts about the procedure – hence the medic
al quotes below.


FROM http://icarus.med.utoronto.ca/carr/manual/cerumen. html

2. Syringing
Indications for Ear Syringing
1. Totally occlusive cerumen with:
 Pain
 Reduced hearing
 Tinnitus
2. Otitis externa if ear suctioning apparatus not available
Contraindications to Ear Syringing
 Non-occlusive cerumen
 Previous ear surgery (including ventilation tubes)
 Only hearing ear
 Known tympanic membrane perforation
 Age under 16 years (debatable)
Method
1. If wax appears hard, use a ceruminolytic for a few days prior to syringing
2. Cover patient with waterproof sheet; patient holds basin under ear
3. Warm tap water or saline to about 37oC
4. Clean, smoothly functioning manual syringe
5. Direct water jet towards roof of canal and posteriorly (not directly onto tympanic membrane)
6. Inspect canal after syringing
7. Ideally, dry canal
8. Check for side effects
Complications of Ear Syringing
 Failure of cerumen removal
 Otitis externa
 Perforation of the tympanic membrane
 Trauma to the external auditory canal
 Pain
 Vertigo
 Tinnitus
 Otitis media

FROM http://www.tinnitus.org.uk/Ear%20Syringing%20leafl et.htm

“… ear drops should only be used when there is good reason for removing the wax and only if there is no known tendency to skin problems. Even if the drops are used, they do not always clear the wax. The common alternative is syringing. Water, at body temperature, is injected through the nozzle of a syringe into the ear canal. Under the gentle force of the syringe, it runs into the deepest part of the canal where it forms eddies which dislodge the wax. The wax is carried out of the canal by the continuous flow of water for as long as the syringing c
ontinues. If the wax seems hard, it is best to soften it by the use of drops for one or two days prior to the syringing.
In competent hands and with a relaxed subject, the procedure is usually painless and effective. Considering the vast numbers who have their ears syringed each year (perhaps a million in the UK) the numbers of serious complications are small.”

Summary: