Prices
All appointments start with an assessment of the ear canal at £20. If earwax removal is deemed appropriate then this £20 is put towards the cost of the procedure priced below.
Home Visits
TR14, TR15 and TR16 Postcodes:
£60
Most other areas
£75
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(A drive of more than 45 minutes is quoted)
Please oil your ears with lukewarm olive oil three times a day for three days before your appointment; this is not essential but it will make it easier and more comfortable for you.
For additional clients at the same address their price is:
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One ear:
£35
Both ears:
£45
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Cost of Living Relief.
If the cost of the procedure is just out of reach, then please get in touch for an affordability discount. I want to help if I can.
Safe, effective and friendly earwax removal service that comes to you. Why travel when you can have your ears unblocked in the convenience and comfort of your own home by a certified, insured and DBS checked professional using both microsuction and warm water irrigation.
Removal of earwax is no longer on the list of services that Clinical Commissioning Groups will pay for.
This means that GP surgeries are no longer funded to provide the service.
Why compromise on one of your five senses?
If you suffer from tinnitus, dizziness, itchy ears, earache or hearing loss then it could be earwax blocking your ear canal or compacted against the ear drum.
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Our service includes digital otoscopy (the use of an ear camera) so that together we can determine whether wax removal is necessary. If wax removal is not needed then only the consultation fee of £20 is charged.
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If wax removal is necessary, then when completed you will also be able to see what a good job has been done. Should medical issues be identified then digital otoscopy photographs will be taken and emailed to you along with a detailed referral letter for you to forward to your GP, thus hopefully reducing your waiting time for further treatment, if required.
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If your eardrum is still occluded with wax after one session a free follow up will be arranged.
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ABOUT US
Covering much of Cornwall I aim to see you at your home within 2-3 days to clear your blocked ears utilising both microsuction and warm water irrigation.
Professional, comfortable and affordable Home Earwax Removal Cornwall is a mobile ear unblocking service owned and operated by Philip Griffin of Redruth, Cornwall. Philip received his training from the prestigious UK Microsuction Ltd and has full liability and indemnity insurance to £2 million, is DBS checked and is a member of The British Society of Hearing Aid Audiologists.
WHAT IS MICROSUCTION?
Ear microsuction is a procedure used to remove excess earwax and other debris from the ear canal using a special medical suction device. The suction device is gentle and controlled allowing the removal of earwax without risking damage to the delicate lining of the ear canal or the eardrum itself. It also allows people with a suspected perforated eardrum or ear grommet to have their ears cleaned (whereas irrigation in these circumstances could cause an ear infection).
WHAT IS 'EAR IRRIGATION'?
Sometimes the blockage in the ear is too near the ear drum to safely proceed with microsuction, in which case we can proceed using irrigation instead. It is not the same as syringing, which can impact the earwax further and even damage the ear drum itself, but instead is a gentle pulse of warm water directed down the sides of the ear canal.
EARWAX
Earwax, also know as cerumen, is a waxy substance produced by glands in the ear canal. Earwax is beneficial as it helps to protect the ear canal by trapping dirt, dust and even insects before they can reach the eardrum. Earwax also has antibacterial and anti-fungal properties that help protect against ear infections.
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However, sometimes you can have too much of a good thing and the earwax builds up and blocks the ear canal causing symptoms such as earache, ear fullness or pressure, ringing in the ears (tinnitus) and hearing loss which can lead to a sense of isolation and depression in some people.
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There are four main reasons why earwax can build up and block the ear canal:
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1) Overproduction: Some people naturally produce more earwax than others and this excess production leads to a buildup.
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2) Impacted earwax: This occurs when the earwax becomes hard and impacted in the ear canal preventing it from coming out naturally.
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3) Use of earplugs or hearing aids: These devices can push the earwax further into the ear canal leading to a buildup of impacted earwax.
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4) Cleaning the ear canal: Using cotton swabs or other objects to clean the ear canal can actually push the earwax deeper into the canal leading to a buildup and impacted earwax.
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EARWAX COLOUR CHART
YELLOW: This is fresh and healthy earwax.
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ORANGE: Still perfectly healthy just slightly older and has picked up dust and other particles. Can be sticky or flaky.
BROWN This is old earwax that has served you well. Very thick and sticky and could block the ear if impacted by cotton buds or hearing aids.
BLACK: Ancient and impacted earwax that should be professionally removed. Can cause tinnitus and hearing loss.
Signs of ear damage or infection
RED: This could be blood. Wax with streaks of blood indicate a scratch, insect bite or even a ruptured ear drum if wet and runny.
GREEN: Indication of an ear infection, especially if it has a foul smell. Might include runny yellow pus.
Why ears block up in the first place.
I'm often asked; "Why, oh why, did my ears block up with wax in the first place?"
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Well to understand that we first need to know how the ear removes wax naturally and that is by a clever conveyor belt process called 'Epithelial Migration'. If I were to get a permanent marker and put a dot on the ear canal right next to your eardrum, that dot would slowly migrate out of your inch long ear canal in about 4 months. The migration happens at the same speed that your fingernails grow and works perfectly well for most people most of the time.
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So what goes wrong?
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Well, some people are prone to blockages due to genetics such as having a narrow ear canal or an over production of earwax and the conveyor belt just can't keep up. Or a hairy ear can cause wax to pile up instead of fall out and sometimes it's the result of an ear infection or skin condition that upsets the process.
Stress or fear can also increase your earwax production. This is because the glands in the ear that secrete earwax are called the ceruminous glands which are basically modified apocrine sweat glands. So just as stress or fear can make you sweat more it can also increase your earwax production.
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Two big culprits are cotton buds and ear phones. Cotton buds can upset things in a few different ways. Little hairs can come off the bud and mix with the earwax turning it into a solid plug, or you could push the wax deeper into the canal probably compacting it in the process. But the third reason, which is just as likely with a finger or car keys or anything else, is you scratched the skin away from a portion of the ear canal thus taking a section of the conveyor belt away with an abrasion. To make matters worse, as the skin heals it is a bit itchy so you end up scratching around more and more! This incomplete conveyor belt means your earwax can no longer continue its journey out of your ear canal.
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Ear phones, ear buds and hearing aids all act much like a hairy ear would in blocking the wax from completing its journey out of the ear canal and can even push it back in. But they also make your ear feel itchy as you pop them in and out so before you know it you're scratching inside the ear canal and upsetting the conveyor belt.
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So the old saying; "Don't stick anything bigger in your ear than your elbow" turns out to be remarkably good advice.
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TINNITUS. PERMANENT & UNTREATABLE OR COULD
supplements & diet mitigate or even eradicate it?
I'm often asked on my ear cleaning rounds if there is anything that can be done about tinnitus (constant ringing in the ears). It is always asked in a resigned tone as the expected answer is a “no” but in fact there is something you can try which is to boost your taurine levels. Taurine is an amino acid that has a few important roles in your body, including supporting immune health and nervous system function.
Taurine helps activate GABA receptors in the brain. GABA is an inhibitory neurotransmitter which means it makes neurons less likely to fire. This is good because chronic tinnitus isn’t actually in the ear at all, you just think it is, it is actually occurring in the brain and what GABA is doing is inhibiting the ringing or hissing noises in the auditory pathway by stopping the neurons carrying this unwanted noise information to the bit of your brain that makes you 'hear' it. Imagine cellotaping your letter box shut to stop getting junk mail. GABA is the cellotape.
This has been proven in an experiment done on rats. A group of rats were, I'm afraid, deliberately exposed to a loud noise to induce tinnitus. These rats were trained in a task that is sensitive to tinnitus so the researchers were sure that the loud noise had indeed done its terrible task. However, they then put taurine in their water supply and, low and behold, their tinnitus disappeared!
You can supplement with taurine or get it naturally from your diet.
Food sources include:
Seaweed (1300mg per 100g)
Scallops (827mg per 100g)
Turkey (306mg per 100g)
Chicken liver (110mg per 100g)
Beef (43mg per 100g)
A large egg (40g)
I believe a low inflammation diet can also help greatly to reduce tinnitus because while watching several YouTube videos on the Carnivore Diet (a diet consisting only of animal products) and the Ketogenic Diet (a very low carbohydrate diet) it kept coming up in the videos and the in the comments below that the diet had mitigated or even eradicated their tinnitus. By the way, two of the most anti-inflammatory foods are easily available to us and delicious; beef and cabbage.
There are different types of tinnitus so this won’t help everyone I’m afraid but it will hopefully help many of you. If your tinnitus has come on relatively recently and is accompanied by a feeling of fullness in the ear and hearing loss then it’s most likely just compacted earwax which I can come to your home and remove for you.
(This post is for educational purposes only. You must speak to your doctor if you have any medical concerns).
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