Cures for Cerumen Impaction

​Cerumen impaction removal may not be considered an emergent procedure in the emergency department, but this omnipresent natural phenomenon will bring patients, from infants to the elderly, to your department at all hours of the day and night because loss of hearing is a foreign and uncomfortable sensation.Cerumen impaction can cause complete hearing loss, pain, dizziness, chronic cough, and even infection. Patients who attempt to remove cerumen at home can end up with otitis externa or otitis media and even tympanic membrane trauma. The cerumen can block visualization of the tympanic membrane so TM rupture or ear infections could be missed. We are going to help you sort through the approaches and tools you need to treat this ailment quickly.Cerumen impaction in a 55-year-old man with chronic cerumen impactions and otitis media and externa cause by sinus cancer. Photos by M. Roberts.Cerumen impaction is present in approximately 10 percent of children, five percent of healthy adults, and about 57 percent of older patients in nursing homes, as well as up to 36 percent of patients with intellectual disabilities. (J Am Acad Audiol. 1997;8[6]:391; https://bit.ly/336Ov0p.) Higher-risk populations will have chronic issues and visit your department frequently. Anyone, however, is at risk of complications of cerumen impaction, and those with hearing aids, who swim, or who use ear plugs are at higher risk.At times, a foreign body may even be the cause of impaction because cer...
Source: The Procedural Pause - Category: Emergency Medicine Tags: Blog Posts Source Type: blogs