One or both ears
If no wax is present
This appointment is carried out by our Advanced Clinical Audiologist Laura Evans. If no wax is found, we will perform a hearing health check instead.
Please note that the procedure is for age 18+ only.
Please note: We recommend using medical grade olive oil drops or spray from the pharmacy for three days prior to your appointment.
At your appointment, having checked your earwax removal history, our audiologist will use a video otoscope (a device equipped with a camera), to check the health of your ears and find out specifically where the wax has built up.
Based on the anatomy of your ear and the position and density of the wax, one of three methods of wax removal will be used:
This painless and safe procedure involves using a gentle suction device (almost like a tiny medical vacuum cleaner) to carefully remove the wax whilst viewing the ear under high power magnification. This allows all wax and skin debris to be thoroughly removed.
Please note – this procedure is not suitable for patients with symptoms of an active ear infection, troublesome dizziness, mastoid cavity or a history of certain ear surgeries. It may not be suitable for those with ear drum perforation. Our team will advise you further when you book an appointment. If booking an appointment online, there is a prompt advising suitability options.
In this procedure, warm water is gently introduced into your ear through a hand held nozzle to gradually dislodge, break down and wash out the earwax (not to be confused with syringing which uses a high pressure water jet).
Please note – this procedure is not suitable if you have or have had ear discharge or mucus, holes in your eardrum, ear infections or previous ear surgery. Our team will advise you further when booking.
In this procedure, the audiologist uses specialist tools to safely ease the wax out of the ears whilst viewing the ear under magnification. In some cases, irrigation and instrumentation methods are both used to gain the best results.
Earwax removal is a relatively quick and painless process and generally takes around 60 minutes. Timings depend on whether you are having one or both ears done. If there is a more complex build up of wax for example, the wax removal procedure make take longer.
On completion of the procedure, we’ll give you information about how to take care of your ears and you will be invited for a check up in 12 months.
The common feelings experienced with earwax build up include a blocked or pressured sensation, buzzing or ringing in the ears or a dull, pressurised ache which can sometimes be accompanied by dizziness. At an earwax removal appointment, our audiologist will fully check your ears and advise on whether wax removal is required. If no wax is found, the charge is £30 instead of the £55 fee.
Our earwax removal procedures are very gentle and should not cause any discomfort. There is a level of sucking noise if microsuction is used but very few patients say it is too noisy to bear. The audiologist will stop treatment if at any point you feel uncomfortable. Things may feel strange in your ear but there shouldn’t be any pain.
We say to allow about an hour to include the full check of your earwax profile and the wax removal procedure. One ear will take less time than both ears but advising it may take an hour is especially helpful if you are using a local pay car park.
We absolutely don’t recommend this! Ears are delicate and you should never stick any object in your ear to try and remove wax build up as it could cause a lot of damage. As many ear, nose and throat surgeons say, never put anything smaller than your elbow in your ear! The only exceptions are prescribed ear drops or medical grade Over the Counter (OTC) olive oil which can be used to help soften earwax before earwax removal by a qualified professional.
You should ONLY ever use medical grade olive oil provided by a pharmacy or recognised pharmaceutical company to help gently loosen earwax. Olive oil used for culinary purposes is absolutely not suitable.
Yes, but unfortunately we can’t help at Cathedral Hearing. We offer earwax removal to adults over 18 only. However, we are happy to recommend a local audiology specialist who can assist with earwax removal for children. Please contact the clinic for further details.
When booking online for a earwax removal appointment, if you can’t find a suitable time or date coming up, please always telephone us. Our audiologist can sometimes offer appointments outside of what is showing on the online booking system, for example on a Saturday or weekday evening. Please contact us for further details.
Lichfield
Cathedral Hearing
6a Sandford Street
Lichfield
WS13 6QA
Email
hello@cathedralhearing.co.uk
Phone
01543 319641
