Objects Or Insects In Ear (cont.)
When should I call the doctor for an object in the ear?
The vast majority of foreign bodies in the ear are not true medical
emergencies. Call your primary doctor if something is in the patient's ear but
the
symptoms are minor. This can usually wait until the morning when your doctor's
office opens if it occurs at night.
If the patient has inflammation (swelling), fever, discharge, bleeding or increasing pain see a
doctor urgently.
Certain foreign bodies are potentially more harmful than others. Organic
material (bugs, plants or food) should be removed promptly due to the
possibility of swelling of the material and rapid onset of infection. Insects
should be removed quickly as they cause distressing symptoms and can sting or
bite causing further damage. Button-type batteries from household gadgets are
particularly dangerous and need to be removed as soon as possible as they may leak
chemicals which can burn and severely damage the ear canal even within an hour.
Insects in the ear can be very irritating and cause the patient great
discomfort. A few drops of mineral oil may be placed in the ear canal prior to
going to the doctor to kill the insect and stop the buzzing or scraping
sensation on the eardrum.
How is an object in the ear diagnosed?
Objects in the ear usually can be seen by a qualified medical professional by
directly looking in the ear with an instrument called an otoscope. This is a
magnifying light with a plastic cone tip, which is slid into the canal to look at the
structures inside. In cases involving children, it is important to realize that
there may be more than one foreign body and other orifices (other ear, mouth,
nose and rectum) may also need to be examined. Once the object is seen, there
are many ways of retrieving it.
How is an object in the ear treated?
If the object is very small you can try to gently shake it out. Pulling the
back of the ear (the pinna) gently toward the back of the head straightens out
the ear canal and the foreign body may roll or slide out with a gentle shake of
the ear.
If the foreign body is deeper in the ear than you can see, it should be
removed by a qualified medical professional. Do not stick anything into the ear
to remove objects yourself. You may push it in further and could cause damage or
rupture of the eardrum or scratch the skin of the ear canal.
At the doctor's office or in the emergency room the foreign body can be
removed using several techniques.
- Modified tweezers or forceps can be used to reach in and grab the object
with the help of an otoscope so important structures are not damaged.
- Gentle suction can be used to suck out the object.
- Irrigation of the canal with warm water and a small catheter can flush
certain materials out of the canal and clean out debris.
- Some doctors have devised ingenious and novel ways to remove objects from
ear canals (paper clips, magnets, etc.)
Small children do not tolerate painful or scary interventions and may need to
be sedated medically to have objects removed from their ears.
Insects in the ear canal are often killed with either
lidocaine (an
anesthetic) or mineral oil. They are then flushed out with gentle warm water
irrigation.
After the foreign body is removed the doctor may put the patient on
antibiotic drops for five days to a week to prevent infection from trauma to the
ear canal.
Next: What are some other types of ear emergencies? »
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