What is your ear doing?
The ear is located behind the eye. It has the function of discerning vibration. It can convert the sound of vibration into a nerve signal and then transmit it to the brain. In the brain, these signals are translated into words, music, and other sounds that we can understand.
What is an otoscopy?
Doctors use small devices (otoscopes) to examine the external auditory canal and tympanic membrane. When the ear canal is narrow or partially inflamed and swollen, it is difficult to see the structure of the tympanic membrane with the naked eye. At this time, the otoscope should be used, which is called otoscopy.
When do you need an otoscopy?
When you have an earache, or if your has some state of hearing blurring;
Inadvertently entering insects, beans, etc in the ear;
Loss of hearing or a feeling of fullness in the ear;
When there is pressure or medical research and so on.
How to use an otoscope?
Check with both hands: The examiner pulls the auricle to the left and straightens the ear canal as much as possible. Gently place the otoscope into the external auditory canal with your right hand so that the front end of the otoscope reaches the cartilage, so be careful not to exceed the joint between the cartilage and the bone. Avoid causing pain. The direction of the otoscope tube axis is the same as the long axis of the external auditory canal, otherwise you will not be able to see the tympanic membrane.
One-handed examination: When examining the left ear, the left thumb and the finger holding the otoscope, first push the auricle back and up with the middle finger, and then place the otoscope in the external auditory canal. When checking the right ear, the left ear and the index finger are still holding the otoscope. The middle finger and the ring finger pull the auricle. After the external auditory canal is straightened, the otoscope is placed.
Our life can’t be separated from water. If the water is into the ear, how can the infection be done?
1.One-leg jump method: Enter the ear of water, face down, and use the gravity of water to flow out from the external auditory canal.
2.Activity external auditory canal method: can continuously press the tragus with the palm of your hand or pull the auricle with your fingers; or repeatedly make mouth movements, active temporomandibular joints, can make the external auditory canal skin move up and down or left and right or change the stability and pressure of water barrier Smooth, allowing water to flow outward from the external auditory canal.
3.External ear canal cleaning method: gently inspect the external auditory canal with a clean cotton swab, and once the water barrier is touched, the water can be sucked out.
How to protect our ears daily?
1.Don’t dig your ears at will, especially if you use dirty hair clips, sticks etc, otherwise it will easily cause lesions such as otitis externa and perforation of the tympanic membrane, causing hearing loss.
2.Try to eat less high-fat foods, so that the blood supply to the inner ear is reduced, and the hearing organs are malnourished, leading to hearing loss.
3.Don’t use headphones for listening to music for a long time. The high-pitched audio sound will cause damage to the hearing organs, resulting in hearing loss.
4.Try to avoid excessive mood swings. Emotional fluctuations can cause blood flow velocity in the ear to slow down and microcirculation disturbances occur, which causes the inner ear to be hypoxic, causing hearing loss.
How many types of ear detection instruments are there?
Ear speculum.
Ear speculum is a commonly used instrument for examining the external auditory canal and tympanic membrane. It is shaped like a funnel and has a different diameter. It is composed according to the diameter of the external auditory canal. When inspecting, the ear speculum with the appropriate diameter should be selected according to the diameter of the external auditory canal. The examiner pulls the auricle in one hand to straighten the external auditory canal, and the other hand gently puts the otoscope into the external auditory canal. Because only a part of the tympanic membrane can be seen through the ear speculum, the ear speculum should not exceed the outer 1/3 of the external auditory canal, so that it can be moved up and down and left and right to observe the tympanic membrane. At the same time, it can avoid the deep compression of the bone causes pain and cough.
Electric otoscope.
The electric otoscope is an otoscope with a light source and a magnifying glass. It is easy to use and has a wide range of clinical applications. A video otoscope is one of the types of electric otoscopes that can take pictures of the tympanic membrane and external auditory canal or record images. Electrical otoscopy can be used to examine subtle lesions that are invisible to the naked eye, especially where there is a lack of frontal reflection source. The method is to turn on the light source, and slowly insert the front end of the electric otoscope into the outer 1/3 of the external auditory canal to observe the tympanic membrane shape. The electric ear oscope does not require other light sources, especially suitable use for bedridden patients and infants.
Eardrum otoscope.
An eardrum otoscope can be used to observe tympanic membrane activity and microscopic perforations on the tympanic membrane. When inspecting, use the mirror to reflect the light and the light of the electric otoscope to observe, put the appropriate size of the otoscope into the external auditory canal, pay attention to make the otoscope and the skin of the external auditory canal, and then repeatedly squeeze and relax the rubber ball. The external auditory canal alternately produces positive and negative pressures, causing relative movement inside and outside the tympanic membrane. When the tympanic effusion or tympanic membrane is perforated, the tympanic membrane activity decreases or disappears, and the tympanic membrane activity increases significantly when the eustachian tube is abnormally open and the tympanic membrane is thin. The eardrum otoscope can also find small perforations, which allow the peep that is not easy to see to flow out from the small perforations by vacuum suction. In addition, you can also use the otoscope to check the mobility of the humeral foot, the presence or absence of the fistula, and the treatment of tympanic membrane massage.
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