Ear wax removal

Wax in the ears is a common minor ailment that can cause annoyance out of proportion to its seriousness.

Wax build up occurs more as we get older, and also if we use earphones, swim or wear ear noise protectors.  Wax build up can reduce your hearing so that whilst you can hear people speak it is often difficult to make out what they are saying – the clarity of speech is lost.

Wax can cause earache, deafness, dizziness and can make normal everyday tasks such as using the phone or watching TV difficult.

Our patients tell us it can take a long time to get ear waxed removed on the NHS – often requiring waiting for an appointment with the GP to check your ears then waiting again for an appointment with the practice nurse to get them syringed.

We will usually be able to offer you an appointment to check your ears and syringe the wax out the same day. When the wax is removed we always check your eardrums to make sure there is no other problem which was being masked by the wax. Occasionally hearing may not get better after syringing because the wax wasn’t the problem. In this case we offer onsite hearing tests to investigate further and can even offer an appointment with a hearing aid specialist in-house.

Tips

If you would like to book in for ear syringing, use ear drops for a couple of days beforehand to soften the wax. This makes the syringing easier and more comfortable. Any wax drops from the chemist are fine although most people simply use ordinary olive oil that you would have at home. A couple of drops in each ear for a couple of days before syringing is fine.

If you need both ears syringing - as is usual – you may feel a little dizzy after the treatment for a few minutes. So if you are driving, we will give you a cup of tea and ask you to wait in our waiting room for 15 minutes before you leave.

How much does it cost?

Please click here for Price List