We use medical grade single use disposable instruments to gently remove any cerumen in the ear canal. We also provide before and after pictures as well as live video recording of the procedure. As a result patients can see the procedure being performed to ensure a good patient experience.
Our practitioners are all trained by our lead ENT audiologists who also run a national training school for Audiologists wanting to be trained for providing micro-suction services. Therefore our patients can be rest assured they will be getting the highest level of expertise and care when booking appointments.
We run 2 clinics a day for ear wax removal in Worcestershire and Bromsgrove aso if you find this may not suit you could book in to any of our other clinics running on the same day.
please call us on 0121 369 0780 or alternatively email us to book at ewsbookings@gmail.com
Ear wax is a waxy substance made by modified sweat glands in the ear canal. It is usually a combination of dead skin (Keratin) cholesterols, alocohols and lipids. Generally speaking, there are two types of ear wax. The stringy dry type of wax generally produced in Asian populations and the wet sticky type of wax which is more commonly found in populations from European and African descent. In practise however we find lots of different variants ranging from wax which is often dry , crumbly, or even having a fudge like consistency.
When we use cotton buds we often end up pushing the wax further back down the ear which then stops the natural migration of wax out of the ear. We sometimes end up removing the skin in the ear canal which again means there is no skin left to transport the wax out fo the ear which thus causes the accumulation of wax in the ear. Some patients have very narrow ear canals and often you find the first third of the canal may be so narrow that it does not allow for wax to naturally migrate out of the ear. We also find patients who have had middle ear operations tend to suffer as they have larger ear cavities which often means more wax accumulation as the wax simply cannot move out of the ear canal due to its larger size.
We also provide water irrigation for the ears. For some patients microsuction is not always stable especially when dealing with particularly soft wax as a consequence of over use of drops. In such cases we use the irrigation method which involves the controlled pressure of water at body temperature in the ear in order to remove stubborn deposits of wax which deposit themselves on th eardrum. Your clinician will determine which would be the better procedure on the day of the appointment
Ear wax removal drops usually peroxide based including name brands like Otex and Sodium bicarbonate drops are great for breaking down hard abrasive wax in the ear ready for ear wax removal. In some instances they can break down wax sufficiently to the extent were by earwax removal may not be required as the wax has sufficiently dissolved, however we find that this in most cases depends on the size of the cavity. We usually deal with a lot of cases were by the wax has turned in to a semi liquid which slides down the ear canal and settles on the drum completely sealing the canal. and causing complete deafness, our advise is to use drops for 2-3 days before coming in for an earwax removal
We always advice a qualified Audiologist or a practitioner nurse with experience in ear nose and throat. Any other practitioner with a background not in Audiology simply wont have the experience to deal with complex difficult cases and you usually want a audiologist with 100’s of ear wax removal procedures under their belt. We say this because unfortunately due to the unregulated nature of the training you could potentially be having a invasive procedure undertaken by a non audiologist with no previous experience in audiological medicine.
As part of best practise and to ensure you reach the highest standard of professional care all of our audiologists are required to be registered with the Health & Care Professions Council.