Ear Care Service
Our Pharmacists, supported by expertly trained and accredited staff can help address your ear and hearing concerns. This service includes a thorough assessment of your ear history, coupled with a comprehensive examination and inspection of both ears. We can provide micro-suction to effectively remove wax and debris from the ears. Our prescribing pharmacists can diagnose and treat infections and inflammation. The service is reinforced by remote specialist audiology support. We aim to handle ear-related issues without the need to consult a GP or an ENT specialist.
You can access this service at our Auchterarder (141 High Street), Banchory, Blairgowrie, Broughty Ferry (McPhersons), Crosshouse and Milnathort Pharmacies.
Ear Examination
Our pharmacists conduct a thorough examination of your ears to understand the root cause of the symptoms you’re experiencing.
Using a specially designed otoscope, we capture high-resolution images of your ear canal and tympanic membrane (eardrum) which we can pass on to audiologists for their opinion if necessary.
If there is a notable presence of wax or foreign bodies in the ear, you will receive appropriate advice. This may include the removal via our micro-suction service.
Since this examination is provided by prescribing pharmacists, they can use their prescribing skills to assess, diagnose, and manage various ear conditions. They can prescribe appropriate medications, such as antibiotics for ear infections or anti-inflammatory drugs for inflammation. They are specially trained to recognise when a referral to another healthcare professional, such as an Ear, Nose, and Throat (ENT) specialist is necessary.
Hearing Assessment
We can offer hearing assessments where appropriate. We can carry out a hearing assessment on its own or as an add-on to our ear wax removal service. However, we do find that in many cases, the initial problem could’ve simply been down to the presence of wax itself, and a hearing check becomes unnecessary.
A hearing check involves placing headphones over both ears. We will play a range of different sounds at varying loudness and pitch through the headphones. The test aims to establish the quietest sounds you can hear and identify any potential hearing weakness.
After the test, you’ll get your results almost immediately. If your results show that you might have hearing loss, we recommend that you get a full NHS free hearing test.
Ear Wax Removal
The natural production of earwax aims to cleanse the ear canal and safeguard the tympanic membrane (eardrum) from debris. It usually passes out of the ears harmlessly, but sometimes too much can build up and block the ears.
Some people regularly get blocked ears because they naturally produce a lot of earwax. Earwax can also block your ear if you frequently insert objects into your ear canal, such as cotton buds, ear plugs or hearing aids.
A build-up of earwax can often be treated using eardrops (available via NHS Pharmacy First Scotland Service), but that doesn’t always work, and that’s where our removal service can help.
Removal offers rapid relief from associated symptoms of pain discomfort, and hearing impairment.
We use the micro-suction technique, the gold standard for earwax removal. It’s quicker and safer than other methods of removal. It is easy to get a clear view of the ear canal and eardrum. A suction device is then used to remove wax. It takes very little time to complete a micro-suction procedure.
How much will the service cost?
The initial ear examination conducted by our pharmacists is provided at no cost, allowing us to identify the cause of your symptoms.
For our Ear Wax Removal service, the fee is £50 for both ears or £35 for a single ear.
If we do not uncover any wax, and it is deemed suitable to proceed with a hearing check, the cost for this service is £5.
