To overcome the most common problem
faced of cerumen impaction, various methods exist to
remove the debris and give the patient the immediate
relief of hearing restoration. These methods are, Aural
syringing , if the wax is clinically diagnosed to be of wet-
type; suction is also used in these cases; manual removal
using a Jobson’s probe has been proven effective too. In
cases where the wax is visualised to be extremely dry
with scaly lesions , the patient is advised to follow
medication in the form of drops to soften the wax in
order for easy painless removal.
In this study, the hearing efficiency of the patient is
measured before and after the removal of wax and
correlated with each other. As an additional factor, the
ear canal volume is also measured using impedance
audiometry to determine any correlation with the
amount of hearing loss. Patients fulfilling the inclusion
criteria were be subjected to a PTA ( Pure tone
audiometry) test in which the intensity of hearing was
measured in decibels in both ears and plotted in the
audiogram. The PTA threshold was determined at
250Hz, 500Hz, 1kHz, 2kHz, 4kHz and 8kHz by air
conduction. Also bone conduction measurements were
obtained at 500Hz, 1kHz, 2kHz and 4kHz. Following
this, the patient’s ear was cleaned by using various
techniques like suctioning, aural syringing, or using a
Jobson’s probe. Once the ear canal was cleaned and
confirmed by an otoscopic examination, the impedance
audiometry was performed to measure the volume of
the ear canal.After the removal of the wax a repeat PTA
was done and plotted. The pre and post wax removal
PTAs were compared and contrasted for differences in
hearing loss.
The data was analysed using the two-tail factor
and was found to be significant. P value was found to be
; P<0.000000256
Impacted wax caused a significant degree of
conductive hearing loss and improvement in hearing of
patients following wax removal was present.