Ear Wax Why does my GP surgery no longer syringe

Slinky

kingfisherblue wrote: »

My son has major problems with ear wax and sees ENT at the hospital because of this. In between appointments, I have to put olive oil in his ears and pop a bit of cotton wool over the top. This helps the wax to soften and when I remove the cotton wool, wax and debris come out on it. I do this overnight. Alternatively, I could put the oil and cotton wool in during the day and remove the cotton wool overnight. Some wax and debris will then work it's way out during the night - so an old towel on the pillow is advised.

Please be careful doing this. I had problems with my ear at the start of last year. Trip to the doctor, prescribed drops. These made me deaf, walk-in clinic said to use olive oil, but not much seemed to happen. Walked into the doctor's on a Saturday morning and a nurse with not much booked in, syringed it for me. Still no movement. In the end my doctor had me in for a procedure, I forget what it was called, a micro somethingorother, where he tried shifting more wax. Back to the drops for a while, still getting the problem, doctor had another go, eventually he spotted something white in my ear canal and pulled it out - it was cotton wool which had been covered in wax and therefore not visible before! There was some infection behind it which is what had been giving me pain. The drops eventually cleared this up once the ear canal was clear.

I think it had been in there for possibly several years, as I used to get ear ache when I went out on windy days. Since he removed the obstruction, I've had no further problem with the wind. Wierd thing is though, there's no difference in my hearing from when the ear was blocked.

ceewash

BrassicWoman wrote: »

If it's £75 for syringing, I'd go an extra £5 and get them hoovered by an audiologist. No mess, less cringey, instant results.

Me too. I got fed up of waiting for appointments and 2 weeks of drops. This was making life diffiuclt when I needed to answer the phone for work. I now go to a private clinic which does micro suction. Can get an appointment same week and no need for drops. Costs £60.

lessonlearned

I think the simple truth is that both GP surgeries and NHS hospitals are quietly offloading a lot of the smaller, non urgent procedures which they used to do as a matter of routine.

Ear syringing or irrigation is just one of many such procedures.

We are going to have to start paying for our non urgent health care needs, whether we like it or not.

teddysmum

lessonlearned wrote: »

I think the simple truth is that both GP surgeries and NHS hospitals are quietly offloading a lot of the smaller, non urgent procedures which they used to do as a matter of routine.

Ear syringing or irrigation is just one of many such procedures.

We are going to have to start paying for our non urgent health care needs, whether we like it or not.

Unfortunately , the definition of minor seems to vary between providers. Some are delaying cataract operations until the person is almost blind, while others will pay for breast enhancement, because someone feels unhappy about not being a 40GG.

lessonlearned

I agree. There's no consistency.

[Deleted User]

I have a similiar problem, build up of ear wax long term that causes deafness (I assume the wax swellls up) if I get any water in my ears when bathing, swimming or showering. I have been to my surgery, they were willing to remove the wax build up over my ear drum but said I had to use drops (oil) first as attempts to remove the plug if it was dry could damage the ear drum. That put me off, the drops have limited success, so how could they ever get to the bottom of the wax plug over the ear drum? Damage was always a possibility.

So now I put cotton wool in my ears when bathing, put my head on the side to remove all water after a bath and massage the whole lobe. This does help remove some new wax as well, but not the persistent plug. But I am not getting the complete deafness I used to get for a couple of days after a bath. The oil drops seem to be about as effective as warm bath water lol., which is not very.

This problem is nothing to do with cleanliness. I've always had problems with sinusitis, ear ache etc. The pipework in my head just doesn't seem to work terribly well so things that should clear naturally don't.

I find actually massaging the whole lobe helps 'mix' the oil/ water with the wax and help it come out when you turn your ear downwards. I learned this by 'doing' no one told me what to do either.

I have to be honest, with the difficulties getting an appointment and the level of knowledge some of the GP's at my surgery, I rarely go to a surgery in an optimistic mood and 'expect' help. Sometimes I do get it, and its a pleasant surprise, but not often. Unless I know I have something there is a clear treatment for (like a long standing chest infection with wheezing) I can't stand the stress of being let down by the service anymore and just hope whatever the problem is goes away. Our NHS is so seriously broken. Wasn't like this even 20 years ago. The consequence is that there are a couple of long standing health problems I get no help with at all, that I should be able to.

mr_rush

Ear syringing is not part of the GMS contract that GPs have to provide (in ENgland) and therefore they do not need to offer it.

Some GPs may get additional funding for this and therefore it may be offered.

Huge crisis in general practice with significant lack of funding and staff, closures of practices now becoming the norm in many areas.

Evidence for it is also lacking generally.

Pop_Up_Pirate

TE1979 wrote: »

Regular ear candling will stop wax build up.

Rubbish.
Ear Candling does not work

glaciermints

NHS services in England are broken down into different areas. A team of 'buyers' (it might be 'payers' - I can't remember the term!) decide what the money for that area will be spent on. That's why some areas will offer a medicine or treatment whilst five minutes down the road (in another area) another centre will not.

It's so that money isn't wasted, for example, on heart pills in an area with no heart conditions.

I know this doesn't solve your problem but I hope it answers one of your questions! I hope all goes well with your ears!

Dean'sDilemma

It seems that whether GP practices will syringe your ears is another case of a "Post Code Lottery". One point about the ears I have learnt is you should never use cotton buds, as they would appear to do far more damage than good.