Ear syringing on the NHS

[Spidey66]

Also posted in health.
Went swimming a few days ago, and now my ear is blocked. Its painful, im deaf, and it's ringing. I've been putting olive oil drops in it and if anything its worsening.

I've had this before, and whats always sorted it has been syringing.

I went to a minor injuries/walk in yesterday because the pain was getting worse to be told the NHS no longer do syringing. The NICE guidelines now recommend micro suction for blocked ears but this is only done privately. Instead the NHS will refer to audiologists for hearing aids.

Hearing aid referrals for blocked ears? Come again? I'm only deaf for want of a brief intervention!

This is ridiculous!

Should ear syringing or an alternative be available on the NHS? Yabu = no go and pay for it. Yanbu= ear syringing or an alternative should be available on the NHS

I have the wonderful combo of narrow ear canals, and the more problematic form of ear wax - my hearing ends up utterly fucked a couple of times a year and the wax can be such a problem it causes a lot of pain.

Olive oil, otex etc soften it a bit - but never really do get the issue resolved - the only thing that does is going at it with the olive oil for the recommended couple of weeks and then getting them syringed out by the nurse at the GP - and the nurses at the GP bloody love doing it (they're all closet sporners!) for the fact it's something that they do where they can see an instant quality of life improvement in their patients - and they love me because the sheer amount of it they get out is insane!

Now it's not an option - last year I resorted to DIY, risks I really didn't want to have to take, but I had an exam where I needed to be able to hear clearly and I was completely jammed in one ear (I'm a student speech and language therapist - I need to be able to bloody hear!)

@Louloulou123

I work in a walk in centre and get people coming in with blocked ears constantly. In my area GPs did still do it but it was stopped during COVID as it’s a high risk procedure for spreading any potential virus (the water sprays everywhere). I think the only option now is to pay privately. Can I just ask if the walk in centre you went to actually checked your ears though? If you’ve just been swimming you have a high risk of the symptoms being from an ear infection, not ear wax.

She did look, said both ears were blocked but not infected.

We want it all. The NHS is expected to offer everything to everyone, no wonder it's struggling. We complain about everything and that's the focus. No one seems to come up with any decent ideas though. We want all the expensive treatments and we are outraged that not everything is offered free at the point of contact. We are outraged that there aren't enough staff to see us but no one cares or questions why.

@eeyore228

We want it all. The NHS is expected to offer everything to everyone, no wonder it's struggling. We complain about everything and that's the focus. No one seems to come up with any decent ideas though. We want all the expensive treatments and we are outraged that not everything is offered free at the point of contact. We are outraged that there aren't enough staff to see us but no one cares or questions why.

Trouble is that a lot of the cheap/simple things that are no longer available lead to far more complicated/costly treatment later if they're not dealt with.

The whole ethos of GP/primary care over the past couple of decades has been prevention, i.e. GPs paid "per patient" rather than "per treatment" to encourage them to do more preventative work.

So why don't they do "preventative" work on things like ear wax, ingrown toe nails, etc? Things that end up costing the NHS a lot more when they turn into infections etc due to prescriptions, more GP appointments and ultimately more complex treatments, minor surgery etc?

I work at a GP practice & we do both ear syringing & microsuction! Had no idea the NHS wasn’t supposed to provide it any more 🙈

I am going for privatw icrosuction and a hearing test this week for the first time I've always had them syringed. I guess the NHS isn't a bottomless pit I wonder if the audiologist will check your ears and do it for you ?

God sake! Microsuction.

I think this is a good demostation of how free health care made us lazy. Blocked ears with wax should have the following steps :

1. Olive oil Ear drops for at least a week
2. Home use of one of those big ear bulbs after a weeks worth of drops
3. THEN seek outside intervention.

Most ear wax will clear itself and doesn’t require intervention. Wanting a gp to clear it within “a few days” of swimming because you don’t want to wait to see if it’ll clear itself or go through hassle of olive oil drops etc for a week is not reasonable.

Someone who has this issue repeatedly should be doing olive oil drops at least twice a week anyway to keep them clear.

That is why springing at the GPS was stopped - must have been a good couple of decades ago

I had mine syringed by the practice nurse last year.

I had micro suction on the NHS. It was via an ENT though.

This is worrying. More and more services seems to be no longer available on the NHS. I've just paid close to a grand for a root canal, and crown privately, having been advised by my NHS dentists that it was unlikely I could get treatment to save the tooth on the NHS. I can afford it, but it's not right that I can get a better standard of healthcare than someone who can't. I'd much prefer a penny on income tax, and everyone getting the same.

I get one ear blocked, repeatedly, I have a narrow ear canal.
I used to get it syringed every year by a fabulous GP, then moved and had it done a few times in current practice before they stopped offering it.
I paid for microsuction and it didn't work properly, still had wax in the innermost part so still had muffled hearing.
I don't mind paying (well I wouldn't if it had worked, I was waiting for that feeling of relief that never came) but a lot of people don't have the money for it.
Being able to hear properly when there is a simple solution should not be restricted to those who can afford it.

had micro suction on the NHS. It was via an ENT though.

This is probably why the op was referred ENT will do it.

The NHS is expected to offer everything to everyone, no wonder it's struggling.

The NHS is expected to provide essential healthcare, that's far from everything to everyone.

Did you have a sore throat etc first?
As i caught a sinus infection that caused an ear infection when swimming in an outdoor pool.

Being able to see or hear is pretty fundamental.

@Guacamole001

Hopi ear candles done priva tely is an option.

Ear candles do bugger all - just watch a video on YouTube - they simply melt and people think they've extracted wax that is actually just the coating of the 'candle'

Don't waste your money

My DH gets excess wax fairly often, and they do treat it here at the doctors (Scotland). Since the last one, I check his ears every couple of weeks with a headtorch and a metal thing (a spot squeezing gadget) with a fine loop at one end, and hoik out what I can see. It seems to work well, stops it building up. Oh the romance.

@theDudesmummy does the bulb just suck it out ?

Try bicarbonate of soda ear drops from a pharmacy to soften the wax. Only thing that helped me.

@MadisonMontgomery

I work at a GP practice & we do both ear syringing & microsuction! Had no idea the NHS wasn’t supposed to provide it any more 🙈

Semantics, but it's not that they're not supposed to provide it, it's that the GP practice doesn't get extra funding for doing it. Most GP surgeries are private businesses, so are driven by profit, not the benefit of their patients. Sounds like your practice has a more caring attitude and isn't driven quite so much by the money.

@Mrsjayy you fill the bulb with warm water and swish the wax out. Usually need a few goes. Because the bulb is small it does not create such high pressure that it would harm the eardrum (which can happen if you use a big syringe).

Mine is older than this one, I bought it many years ago (on holiday in the Caribbean, as it happens!), but it looks just like this:

www.amazon.co.uk/Hand-Bulb-Ear-Syringes-85/dp/B000LX4L4M?tag=mumsnetforu03-21

I think syringing hasn’t happened for a decade or two, but many people are referring to ear irrigation, that GP surgeries did do till recently. People still call this stringing.
Just adds to the confusion when we’re talking about it being dangerous etc.

Syringing! People still call it syringing.

@Guacamole001

Hopi ear candles done priva tely is an option.

I tried this once. It only made the problem worse. Would never do it again.