A Review of the Acu-Life Ear Wax Removal Syringe from a respected Audiologist.

A fantastic review of the Acu-life Ear Wax Removal Syringe from a professional perspective.

Paul Nand BA (Hons) MSHAA RHAD

The Acu-Life Ear Syringe is used by professionals as well as home users. The Hearing Lab Ltd has been training audiologists, GPs, and nurses in aural Micro Suction ear wax removal since 2013. In fact, the majority of audiologists in the UK have been trained by The Hearing Lab. Micro Suction has long been considered the safest, most gentle and effective procedure for removing wax. However, when the wax is considered too deep to be removed 100% safely by micro suction, everyone we’ve trained, has at some point used the Acu-Life syringe to finish the job, risk free.

As an audiologist, I have seen some horrible accidents that have been caused by home and professional syringing and I was extremely sceptical when a colleague suggested the Acu-Life syringe. After studying the design of the tri-flow tip and using my knowledge of the ear’s anatomy, I knew that this was a great new product. So simple, I wish I’d thought of it myself! After testing it on myself and other audiologists who all concurred with my findings, I introduced it into our training program. We include one in every trainee's standard equipment  pack as we feel that it's such an essential piece of kit.

In my personal opinion, there are only two products that I would advocate for home use ear wax removal for adults. The Acu-Life Ear Syringe and olive oil ear drops. If these don’t work then you need to see a professional and preferably one who is an experienced micro suction practitioner.

Author: Paul Nand, Director, The Hearing Lab Lab. Earworks Limited is our training company and you can find out more at thehearinglabstore.co.uk.

Steel Ear Irrigators - Looking Back

LOOKING BACK

Do you remember these? The first time I undertook ear irrigation was in 1981, talk about overkill – these monsters are around 10 inches long and 2 inches thick and were used by  the NHS for many years. I visited my doctor on many occasions with ear wax blockages and he always referred me to the duty nurse after a week of olive oil.  The nurse would fill up one of these with water, throw on an apron and blast your affected ear until the wax blockage popped out.

Due to the high pressure some unfortunate patients suffered ruptured ear drums during the process, costing the NHS an average of £40,000 per person. ...ouch!

The steel syringe is archaic technology, the tip itself does not allow for efficient backflow, so water pressure can build up in the ear and that was partly the reason for some of the liability claims.  The jet of water from the tip was direct, again putting pressure on the ear drum. 

New devices include tips that are angled, that squirt against the ear canal wall rather than straight down the ear canal. These new tips are included on the AculifeEar Wax Removal Syringe.

As you can imagine, to save costs the NHS stopped using them and now use a more sensitive product called the Propulse NG Ear Irrigator costing around £174.00 the last time I looked.

The Steel Irrigation syringe can still be found in vet’s  practices and some third world countries

Unfortunately the Steel Ear irrigation syringe is still available on retail stores such as Amazon and Ebay,  it clearly should not be sold as an Ear Syringe to unsuspecting customers.

So to all those retailers who sell these products online, is your insurance company aware of this?  Is your current liability insurance adequate?

 If not you could find yourself in hot water.

All About Cerumen

The body naturally produces Cerumen (Ear Wax) by lining the ear canal to protect against infection.

The ear canal is lined with hairs that naturally move the wax out of the ear canal into the outer ear.

However on occasion, or unless you are genetically prone to lots of wax like me you have to use other measures to ensure you are not left deaf for long periods of the year. The worst thing you can do is insert Q-tips, this not only pushes wax further into the ear canal but stimulates the hairs in the ear to produce more Cerumen.

In mild cases using a olive oil in the ear can soften the wax, tilt you head, use 5 drops of olive oil and then plug the ear with some cotton wool or swimmers earplugs and leave for a few minutes.Once the wax has melted use a syringe, either a bulb syringe or the Aculife Ear Wax Removal syringe that I find most effective to wash out the ear. .Do this daily for around 4 days and that should solve most ear wax problems.

There are kit’s on the market that use Carbamide Peroxide instead of Olive Oil, I have heard lots of stories about this particular chemical causing havoc with existing perforated eardrums, so you if you are suspicious that you may have a perforated ear drum do not attempt to syringe or use any liquids, immediately consult a doctor or ENT surgeon in your area.

We stock a number of useful products on  www.earsyringe.co.uk that are all used to prevent and cure ear wax blockages. This website is devoted to all those people out there who suffer with ear wax blockages like me, so please leave your feedback and ideas on the blog.

Introduction, launch and welcome to www.earsyringe.co.uk

Hi and welcome to the new blog for www.earsyringe.co.uk

I have started this blog to give advice and collect feedback on the issue of ear syringing in the UK.

Historically ear syringing was always completed by a nurse, a few weeks after seeing a doctor - using a large metal syringe that created an enormous amount of pressure that removed the ear wax plugs from the ear canal.  I experienced this on many occasions and found it be uncomfortable, I was also uncomfortable with the time this took up using both a nurse and doctor for something I feel could be done from home with the right tools and a degree of competence.

Some years ago the NHS stopped syringing ears using the metal syringe due to liability claims, I understand the syringe was responsible for a number of burst ear drums that resulted in claims against the NHS.

Unfortunately I still see these syringes online both on Amazon and Ebay being sold as Ear Syringes by sellers who I am sure are not aware of the liability claims suffered by the NHS and really should take note now before it is too late.  The Metal Syringes were damaging ear drums in the hands of trained professionals, I dread to consider the damage they may do in other, less experienced hands.

It was when the NHS (temporarily) refrained from syringing blocked ears that I could not find anyone to assist my own blocked ears that I looked for a solution myself, something I could do at home, conveniently and without undue stress and that is when I came across the Acu-Life Ear Wax Removal Syringe.

This device has been selling in the USA for many years where there is no such thing as the  NHS, I decided to take a pop on a box full as ordering 1 from the USA did not make any sense due to the low price and high carriage fees.

On receipt I noticed the tip was the magic with this device, manufactured by a company in the USA called BIONIX with a registered patent.  The tip is flared to prevent over insertion and has 3 exit portals that allows wax and debris to flow out during the syringing without building up pressure.  There are also 3 jets at the tip that squirt water against the walls of the ear canal rather than straight down it - these features provided both a SAFER and more EFFECTIVE way to remove ear wax blockages and keep ears clean.

My first bit of advice would be to soften the wax with medical grade olive oil for a 2-3 days, in most circumstances you may not even have to use the ear wax removal syringe as olive oil helps the ear to drain wax naturally.

However in some circumstances it will become necessary to syringe the affected ear, if you cannot wait for a doctors appointment try the Acu-Life Ear Wax Removal Syringe you may be surprised with the outcome.