Case Study: Hearing Aid Battery Found in Patient’s Ear
Recently Samuel Greenwood, an Audiologist at HearFocus was able to use his Tympa Device to support with an acute emergency of the ear.
A patient of Samuel’s came in for his annual hearing aid review. He had noticed his hearing had declined recently, particularly in his right ear and was unable to benefit from his current hearing aids.
Samuel noted that “initially my observation was that the patient’s ear canals were occluded with wax and I had no view of the patient’s ear drum. Consequently, I began removing wax from the ear using my Tympa.”
“After removing a small wax plug from the opening of the patient’s ear, I observed a small foreign object lodged in the patients ear canal. The Tympa system allowed me to adjust the focus, white balance and exposure of the image on screen which allowed me to get a better view of what was inside the ear. I suspected it to be a size 10 hearing aid battery.”
“Understanding the potential risk and trauma a hearing aid battery can cause to a patient’s ear canal, I advised the patient to have this removed immediately via his local A&E department. Using the Tympa system, I was able to capture images and video of the battery within the ear to show the patient and send on to A&E.”
“I have since caught up with this patient and his wife who were extremely grateful that I was able to identify this hearing aid battery and recommend treatment. This patient has since been discharged following an ENT referral and his hearing much better. He informs me that he will be making a conscious effort to only insert his hearing aids into his ears from now!”
“The hearing aid battery in the ear is an ENT emergency and needs to be dealt with quickly. This is why I embarked on the Tympa journey, to make care more accessible and ensure patients receive the appropriate care in a timely manner and in this case it was an acute emergency.”
Dr Krishan Ramdoo, Founder and CEO of TympaHealth
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