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This page contains information about Ears, how they work, and what goes wrong with them.
Click on Treatments if you are interested in getting advice about a problem with your ears...

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This page is dedicated to everything about the Examination of Ears!

If you are in pain and just looking for information about treatments, click Treatments!

How Ears are examined:

An Otoscope or auriscope is a medical device which is used to look into the ears . Health care providers use otoscopes to screen for illness during regular check-ups and also to investigate when a symptom involves the ears. With an otoscope, it is possible to visualize the outer ear and middle ear.

Otoscopes consist of a handle and a head. The head contains an electric light source and a low power magnifying lens. The front end of the otoscope has an attachment for disposable plastic ear speculums . The examiner first straightens the ear canal by pulling on the pinna and then inserts the ear speculum side of the otoscope into the external ear. The examiner can then look through a lens on the rear of the instrument and see inside the ear canal. Many models have a detachable sliding rear window which allows the examiner to insert instruments through the otoscope into the ear canal, such as for removing earwax (cerumen). Most models also have an insertion point for a bulb capable of pushing air through the speculum. This puff of air allows an examiner to test the mobility of the tympanic membrane.

Many otoscopes used in doctors offices are wall-mounted, while others are portable. Wall-mounted otoscopes are attached by a flexible power cord to a base, which serves to hold the otoscope when it's not in use and also serves as a source of electric power, being plugged into an electric outlet . Portable models are powered by batteries in the handle; these batteries are usually rechargeable and can be recharged from a base unit. Otoscopes are often sold with ophthalmoscopes as a diagnostic set.

Diseases which may be diagnosed by an otoscope include otitis media and otitis externa , infection of the middle and outer parts of the ear, respectively.

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Homepage

Physiology

Examination

Problems?

Tinnitus

Sinusitis

Catarrh

Infections

Wax

Treatment

 

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