Ear Picks, Curettes, Q-Tips vs Ear Wiz

 

Don’t tell me that you have never been told by your family doctor, or a good friend that sticking anything larger than your elbow into your ear is a big NO NO!  Sarcasm aside, they do have a point, sticking objects into your ear canal is putting your hearing at risk for sure - This includes Q-tips, Ear Picks & Curettes.

Q-Tips will just push the wax deeper into the ear canal, at some point the wax will start to put pressure on the ear drum and this is painful, see your local ENT surgeon or Audiologist immediately.

Ear Picks should only be used by healthcare professionals who can clearly see into your ear and how far the pick is probing, never try to do this yourself or with a friend.

Curettes are similar to ear picks but have a scooped end, for digging out ear wax but still pose the same dangers as Ear Picks.

To my astonishment none of the products I have mentioned above seen have a safety stop to prevent over insertion; it would be a simple addition and prevent many injuries across the world.

Commonly the picks & curettes available are made from metal, so you also  need to be very careful about scratching the walls of the ear canal, these walls are lined with tiny hairs that are important for bacterial defence, probing and scratching the walls can damage not only the hairs but the skin that holds them in place, increasing the risk of infection and the further stimulation of more Cerumen.

Metal Ear picks should be avoided, instead opting for the softer plastic type with a softer tip.

Let’s take a look at the EarWiz, a simple tool that incorporates a safety stop, easy grip handle and has a soft tipped scoop on a curved arm that allows you to remove wax from the ear canal in a simple twist & scoop action.

At only £4.49 I believe this product is a far safer, more effective ear wax removal device than any other similar product currently available & is great for those who use hearing aids, earplugs or earphones on a regular basis as this product can help to keep the ear canal free from compressed wax aiding the natural flow of Cerumen and helping to prevent the need for syringing.

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.