Oxford Ear Clinic

Approximately 10% of people will experience tinnitus at some point in their lives. Tinnitus represents a noise, which is subjective and cannot be heard by anyone else. Tinnitus can occur spontaneously in the absence of any obvious other symptoms but may also be related to an underlying problem.

In rare cases it can be associated with non-cancerous tumours within the inner ear or brain Your specialist may feel that a scan may be useful to help exclude this and confirm there is nothing of concern underlying this.

Whilst there may be no immediate cure for the tinnitus, there are various strategies and approaches however, which we can adopt to help manage the tinnitus.

Consultation with a specialist can help to exclude any underlying cause for this. It will also provide an opportunity to discuss and provide support in managing this distressing symptom.

Like all senses, we are only aware of it when it is reduced. Early signs of hearing loss include difficulty in understanding conversations in a noisy environment or turning up the volume on the television or telephone. Often the first signs that there are problems is when friends or family point out that you may be missing things. An assessment of the ears is generally a fairly straightforward process.

Priy Silva would take a medical history, examine you and assess your hearing formally. Broadly speaking there are two types of hearing loss. Conduction type hearing loss relates to the mechanical conduction of sound and nerve type hearing loss. Depending on the type of hearing loss, we will tailor your treatment to you.

If you do have hearing loss, it doesn’t immediately mean that a hearing aid is required.

Occasionally there are medical or surgical procedures available that may be able to improve your hearing. This of course will be dependant on what the underlying problem is. Your chosen ENT specialist will be able to provide you with various options, discussing the most appropriate solution for you.

If a hearing aid is felt necessary then you will be referred to a specialist audiologist who will provide you with a range of options for you to try. High street audiology facilities can test your hearing but they may not be able to necessarily provide you with an unbiased medical opinion and provide you with the range of options available to you.

Earwax build up is a normal fact of life, due to the natural shedding of skin from the ear canal. Normally over time the wax works its way out from your ear canal however, for a certain proportion of individuals it can be difficult for the wax to come out.

Therefore this allows the earwax to build up and cause problems with hearing loss or a feeling of discomfort in the ear. These problems may be compounded if you have had previous surgery on your ear.

Previous surgery or medical treatment on the ear may make removal of wax challenging however, an ENT specialist will have the necessary skill and knowledge to know how best to remove the wax without causing injury, damage or discomfort. They will safely remove this for you.

There are numerous ways of removing wax, including the use of syringing, Hopi Wax candles to other less common procedures. Priy Silva uses a specialised high powered microscope to safely remove the wax from the ear canal.

This is similar to the type of microscope which may be used when performing operations of the ear. Experience in doing this safely and as comfortably as possible, with help to make your experience of this as positive as possible.

The feeling of vertigo or dizziness can be debilitating and consequently people may become housebound and fearful of going out of the house. Symptoms like this can result in social isolation.

Understanding dizziness is complex because there are many factors which control balance. Having a healthy balance system involves careful coordination between several different organ systems within your body.

Your ears have special balance canals that allow you to know where your body is in relation to your environment, similarly your major joints including your neck, back, arms and legs have joint sensors that feed back to allow their position to be known. This is known as proprioception.

Your eyes also provide visual signals to aid this. Subsequently all this information is fed back to the central computer in our brain to process this information. Problems with any of these structures can result in balance problems.

The ENT specialist understand how this all works together and is able to help diagnose where the problem may be. Understanding where the problem is then allows the treatment to be targeted accordingly.

Ear discharge from the ear can be very unpleasant for the individual concerned.

It can be indicative of an infection within the external or middle ear. Unfortunately the discharge in the ear is often associated with other symptoms such as hearing loss, discomfort or dizziness and subsequently these can be challenging to manage.

External ear infections cause swelling of the ear canal and may be uncomfortable and cause reduced hearing. Therefore treatment by your specialist involves a combination of regular micro-suction. This is using a microscope and a suction device to clear the ear of debris and infection. Coupled with topical ear drops to treat any infection. A combination of both these modalities will allow us to control the infection and a dry ear to be achieved.

Middle ear infections involve an infection behind the ear drum, in association with a perforation of the ear drum. Due to proximity of critical anatomical structures such as the brain and facial nerve it is important that we treat infections in this area adequately and effectively. Your specialist will be able to provide you with targeted treatment to achieve this.

Treatment may start with topical eardrops and suction of infectious debris from the ear. If this fails to control the infection we may offer surgery. In conclusion, the aim of treatment of a middle ear infection is to obtain a safe dry ear.

Occasionally an infection in the ear, may be a feature of a cholesteatoma. Cholesteatoma represents skin growing in the wrong area. Whilst this isn’t a tumour or cancer, due to it’s locally destructive properties it’s important that this is treated correctly. Treatment is usually surgical.

Pain in the ear can be very distressing for the individual. Earache usually occurs with other ear symptoms and may be a sign of problems within the ear like an infection.

Occasionally there may not be any obvious cause for the pain and instead it may be related to a problem outside the ear. Altogether this may include problems related to the jaw joint, or the throat. The nerve supply to the ear and the nerve supply to the throat are shared.

Understanding this allows the specialist to determine what the pain is being caused by and concurrently how best to treat this.

If you have any concerns or you wish to seek an opinion, please contact us here.