Has anyone had thier ears syringed at Specsavers or Boots?

Pollycat

roddydogs said:

Not syringing, microsuction.

Not all GP practices remove earwax

Some can:

• flush the wax out with water (ear irrigation)
• suck the wax out (microsuction)

These treatments are usually painless. You might have to pay to have them done privately.

Same answer.

Earwax build-up - NHS (www.nhs.uk)

You are still lucky.

I had my ears checked at Specsavers and had no earwax (so no charge).

I now use Earol on a monthly basis to keep my ears that way.

thriftytracey

My husband suffers from a build up of ear wax.  Because he is a diabetic he cannot have it done at the GP practice and has to attend hospital.  It is now becoming more and more difficult to get an appointment where we live.

Could he get it done at Boots or Specsavers?  I've looked at both websites and there is no mention of diabetes.

Brie

thriftytracey said:

My husband suffers from a build up of ear wax.  Because he is a diabetic he cannot have it done at the GP practice and has to attend hospital.  It is now becoming more and more difficult to get an appointment where we live.

Could he get it done at Boots or Specsavers?  I've looked at both websites and there is no mention of diabetes.

OH hasn't been able to access anything special for his diabetes at either Boots or Specsavers - although that was the eye checks, not ears.  But I suspect they either offer a diabetes service or don't.  Eye checks have always been needed to be done at a specialist place.  I've had the same kind of checks done on my eyes (non diabetic reasons) and had a much wider range of places to get this done. (but not Specsavers)

Pollycat

thriftytracey said:

My husband suffers from a build up of ear wax.  Because he is a diabetic he cannot have it done at the GP practice and has to attend hospital.  It is now becoming more and more difficult to get an appointment where we live.

Could he get it done at Boots or Specsavers?  I've looked at both websites and there is no mention of diabetes.

I think you'd need to ring them and ask.

deannagone

I also use Earol type solutions to soften and remove ear wax on at least a monthly basis, plenty of similar products you can use.  Had my ears syringed once after years of problems, was aware it was a lot of pressure to subject my inner ear workings to so resolved to prevent it ever being needed again. Any easy way to prevent wax build up is to put your head to the side, massage the ear entrance with a little pressure with a towel after a bath every couple of weeks, quite a lot of wax comes out that way and no chemicals at all.  

To be honest I do this with a lot of preventable/things that you can deal with at home if at all possible now its so difficult to access a GP.  My GP surgery used to have at least 6 regular GPs, now it has two agency GPs (been the same for a couple of years), and has its own facebook page as being the worst in Kent lol.  Even when really ill, it takes days to even get a telephone consult.

I use antihistamines instead of asthma drugs (as my asthma seems to be allergy related anyway) - asthma is no worse.  But wouldn't recommend this for everyone, it works for me but won't for everyone. 

So I just treat what I can and hope I don't get anything serious.  As far as I am concerned there's not really an NHS in my area anymore. I think a lot of people are in the same situation. Scary.

Skiddaw1

Our GP practise no longer offers the service either. Mr S had a badly blocked ear recently and only local option (Specsavers) would have cost us £58. He decided to initially try one of the DIY kits (bought from Boots but most chemists stock them) and it worked a treat (and only cost £10). I'd give it a go in the first instance if I were you.

getmore4less

I use a kit, soften with drops, olive oil is ok but I find the supplied works quicker.

Overnight one ear sleep on opposite side.

Fill sink with warm water and use the baster to flush out start slow and aim at the side of the ear canal till the lump pops out.

Ear wax is hydroscopic and expands when wet.

Jessica2727

My husband went to Specsavers and woke the next morning with a throbbing ear and they'd been unsuccessful in clearing the wax.  I wouldn't recommend our local one but others may differ.  He got an appointment at the hospital and they cleared it.  

northwalesd

I woke up one morning, mid-August, couldn't hear a thing out of my left ear. As it happened, I had a GP appointment (unrelated ailment) that morning. As my hearing was severely reduced I told the GP that she'd have to speak up. She offered to check out my ears and said she literally couldn't see anything of the left inner ear as it was so full.

Anyway, ended up going to Specsavers for microsuction. Took two visits. The audiologist couldn't have been nicer, very patient and explained everything in great detail when told I'd never had it done before.