cerumen management

[Michael W. Ridenhour]

Sallie, I do cerumen management, for the reasons you mention and also as a
service to patients who don't want to pay a physician $85. I charge
$25 for the service, and always tell folks that I can usually get
out easily removed cerumen, but to understand that I will not hesitate
to insist upon a medical referral if anything unusual occurs or is
found during the procedure. No one to date has refused to allow me
to remove cerumen from their ears. Of course, I do not attempt removal
on people with bleeding disorders (you have to ask), children and
skittish people. I use nothing but a cerumen spoon, a halogen hunting
headlight, facial tissues and nerve.

Good luck, and don't try to think it to death, just DO IT!

Michael Ridenhour

sfrye at FRYE.COM (Sallie Frye) wrote:
>
> I am sure this must have been covered in some of the workshops for 
> audiologists, but some people I have talked to seem to think that a 
> problem arises when the patient's ear bleeds as a normal result of 
> cleaning out the wax.  If the audiologist is cleaning the ear, is he/she
> afraid of being sued?  If a doctor is doing it, the doctor has a built in 
> credibility that the audiologist may not have. 
> 
> Since it is so important to have a clean ear to fit a CIC aid, what are 
> audiologists doing about this problem?  If they don't work for an ENT, do 
> they have a back-up person to send the patient to if the patient gets 
> worried?  
> 
> 
> 
> Since the CIC is predicted to be more and more important, the cerumen 
> problem has to addressed.  (I know it is also important for other types 
> of aids too, but the CIC seems to present a special problem.)  
> 
> Sallie Frye sfrye at lobe.frye.com