Hearing Aid danger

Particular thanks to auntiflo for the info and photo. Most helpful

Madgran Yes, the dome bit was what got lodged in my ear canal, (THank you Auntieflo). Polomint I have only ever worn NHS hearing aids.

I suppose part of the reason is that this was attached to an old pair of aids, not recent ones. So, thinking about it more clearly now I suppose it is one of the reasons why we are not suppose to keep old such aids, the plastic of the tube degrades.

I felt particularly silly as this had obviously been in my ear when I replaced that old pair with my current one at about 4 pm, but did not realise it until when I was getting ready for bed and took out my aid for the night.

Reminds me when my adult son got the material part of his ear buds stuck in his ear. 111 said he had to go to a&e immediatly as the foreign object had to be removed within 4 hrs. This happened during covid. I drove him to hospital & then had to wait in the car until he was done.5 hrs later it was removed. It’s amazing what you see run around a hospital car park in the early hours.

Allira

^My daughter pointed out she had managed to bring up four children without ever having to take them to hospital with anything up noses or ears, but her Mother manages to do this!!!^
That built made me laugh Franbern
It reminded me of when my nephew was a toddler, in his pushchair, shopping in town with my SisIL and he announced he'd stuffed a jelly tot up each nostril (don't ask me why!). She had to take him to A&E where the sweets were removed promptly. He did grow up to be very sensible. 😀

I'm glad you were seen promptly and it ended well.

LOL at this one. I would love to have been there when he made the announcement.

I should have added that the private hearing aids are also Bluetooth.

crazygrandma I would say rather, that the NHS Bluetooth hearing aids are very similar to the expensive private ones. But they are not better, probably equally as good though.

It used to happen to me quite frequently, so I made sure I had a pair of suitable tweezers in every bag. It hasn't happened with my new NHS aids, which being bluetooth are also much better than the expensive private ones!

About eight years ago the microphone on my hearing aid became detached. This was in the days when I had aids which ran on batteries. Initially I saw my GP, but although trained in ear, nose and throat she couldn't help, due to not having the correct equipment to remove the microphone. My GP rang the Ear, Nose and Throat dept. at our main hospital and I was seen promptly, object removed expertly.
In no way did I feel let down by Primary care.

I have now become adept at removing detached domes from my husband's ear since he once got one stuck 6 hours before a flight. Pull the pinna up and backwards to expose the ear canal, and use very thin tweezers.

Yes a timely warning.
Just goes to show however that primary care services are failing us.

I'm just so pleased your OK. Home and doing well. When you have hearing problems people just don't understand it all.. Once we all know what can happen to your aids.. People will be on their guards... Glad you got seen to as well...

Yes, my GP practice wouldn't look at me - they told me to attend A & E. What fun...

Franbern, apologies for writing your name wrongly. (Bloomin' predictive text again!)

This should be a simple procedure that is easily dealt with at GP surgery, but because of difficulties accessing GPs now it invariably involves attendance at A&E.

Lisaangel10. I think it may be what is known as The Dome, as that is the bit that sits in the ear.
I will attach a photo.
If I am wrong, maybe Franbern will come back and let us know.

Franzen, you have my sincere sympathy. Exactly the same thing happened to me not once but twice during the pandemic. (Same ear, each time!) On both occasions I had to attend at A&E for removal; which took the nurse about 30 seconds, using long "medical" tweezers. (I didn't feel this and my ear wasn't damaged in any way.) When I saw the NHS audiologist, he determined that I've a "tortuous ear canal" . (Yes, this is a real thing; like having an over-twisty bend on a road!) So now I have the sort of hearing aids which "sit" on the external part of the ear. No ideal, but still NHS.

Same topic, but different thought - I got my first hearing aid about a year ago, and the audiologist told me that the little extra string-like piece of plastic that curls around the ear, was unnecessary, so some time afterwards I cut it off. Not long after that, my hearing aid was 'lost'! I think it must have fallen out of my ear. So now I leave the curly piece of plastic alone.

However, last Sunday had a bad experience, when the little bit at the end of the tube broke off in my ear and got lodged in my ear canal

When you say the little bit at the end of the the tube can you clarify what little bit you mean please

Care homes have to be very careful with hearing aid batteries. People with dementia put anything in their mouths, including tiny batteries which can be fatal.

They must be very tiny hearing aids. The one I have is small but not tiny. Mind you it is a NHS one

Franbern thank you. I’ve recently started wearing hearing aids, so need to watch out for this one. I’m very accident prone !

Gosh....I have been wearing hearing aids for 20 years, and this has not happened yet luckily. Same with Mum, must be 50 years for her

Will bear it in mind for the future though. Thanks for the warning.

It is very common. I lost the end off my hearing aid and did not know where it was! One potion was that it was in my ear! I happened to be in A&E a few days later and asked them to take a look - it wasn't there, but they said it happens all the time!

My daughter pointed out she had managed to bring up four children without ever having to take them to hospital with anything up noses or ears, but her Mother manages to do this!!!
That built made me laugh Franbern
It reminded me of when my nephew was a toddler, in his pushchair, shopping in town with my SisIL and he announced he'd stuffed a jelly tot up each nostril (don't ask me why!). She had to take him to A&E where the sweets were removed promptly. He did grow up to be very sensible. 😀

I'm glad you were seen promptly and it ended well.

If you are sure that you haven't pierced your eardrum - then my old standby might be useful .
I've floated out enough beads with slightly warmed never hot olive oil (opening a new bottle to ensure it being clean ) to make a necklace .
My old GP taught me that trick .
But maybe it's old fashioned and not recommended these days .
And a visit to A and E is recommended .