Ear Syringing

Ear syringing uses water to rinse out the ear canal and remove excess ear wax or debris. The technique works best for wax that is soft and easy to remove. The water helps soften the wax further and allows it to flow out of the ear canal.

As water is added to the ear canal, it can often lead to a secondary infection in the ear, even ears with no additional issues with the ear. Also, this technique cannot be used on patients with a suspected perforated ear membrane, including those patients who have grommets, as the water could penetrate areas it is not supposed to.

Ear syringing can be unsuccessful in removing all excess ear wax if the wax is not soft enough before the procedure.

Simple Extraction Instruments

Extraction of ear wax using manual extraction instruments can be very useful to wax that is on the outer regions of the ear canal. Wax still needs to be softened before being removed but can be extracted at a harder consistency than other techniques.

Even with the ear canal constantly viewed during the procedure, this technique should generally only be used to remove debris or wax from the outer regions of the ear canal.

Patients are more likely to suffer with abrasions to the ear canal wall during this procedure.

Microsuction

During microsuction, a suction device gently removes wax from the ear canal. The procedure can be used against most ear wax but very dry wax will still need to be softened beforehand.

The ear canal needs to be constantly viewed during the procedure. The technique can be used with patients suffering suspected or confirmed perforated ear drums.

Hard wax can cause abrasions to the ear canal on removal if not softened enough before the procedure.

Looking in your ear

Before any of these techniques are used, the healthcare professional should inspect the inside of your ear canal.

Using a binocular microscope or endoscope with its own light source is the preferred method for viewing the ear canal. Head worn binocular microscopes can be used during some procedures.

Some clinicians will still use a simple head torch or head mirror to view your ear canal. This is a very limiting technique and should only be used for the outer regions of the ear canal.

So why choose our microsuction?

During our microsuction appointments, we will constantly view your ear canal using digital HD otoscopy. The TympaHealth device allows us to perform the procedure from within the ear canal.

The device allows the suction device to be set directly onto the wax and reduces the risk of abrasions to the ear canal.

By using otoscopy, the device allows us to target the troublesome ear wax or debris directly.

The whole experience can be captured using the devices camera, giving you a picture of before and after or a video of your entire ear drum and canal.