DISEASES OF THE EAR. 



249 



removed. When syringing fails, the best thing is to go to a surgeon. In some cases 

 considerable ingenuity is required to extract the foreign body from the ear. In one 

 instance a small ivory ball had been detached from the top of a pen-holder in the 

 ear of a little boy. Syringing had done no good, and the forceps failed to grasp it 

 and only pushed it in further. At last it was extracted by bringing the point of a 

 small brush, dipped in glue, in contact with its surface, allowing the glue to harden, 

 and then removing brush and ball together. This is a hint that might be of service in 

 difficult cases. It must be remembered that a foreign body may remain in the ear for 

 a very long time without doing any harm. A few hours' delay, or the delay of even a 

 day or two, is a matter of no moment. The only exception to this is the case of peas 

 or seeds, and these sometimes swell considerably under the combined influence of 

 warmth and moisture. Unskilful efforts to extract a foreign body may cause 

 rupture of the membrane of the ear, and may in this way give rise to permanent 

 deafness. The case is recorded of a nurse who, having failed to remove a button 

 from a child's ear, actually tried to push it out the other aide. We need hardly say 

 that not only would such a thing be impossible, but such treatment is highly 

 dangerous. In the case in question inflammation of the membranes of the brain 

 was set up, and the child died. Insects occasionally get into the ear, when all 

 that is necessary is to pour 

 in a little water, when the 

 intruder either crawls out 

 or is drowned. 



Accumulation of Wax 

 in the Ear. This is a very 

 common cause of deafness. 

 The patient usually com- 

 plains of loud noises and a 

 feeling of discomfort, with 

 more or less defect of hear- 

 ing. The wax may usually 

 be removed by syringing. 

 Even in such a simple 

 operation as syringing the 

 ears there is a right and a 

 wrong way of doing it, and 

 if not skilfully performed 

 but little benefit will be 

 experienced. It is almost 

 impossible to do it satis- 

 factorily yourself, and you 

 must try and get some one to do it for you. The external ear should be drawn 

 upwards with the left hand, so as to make the passage almost straight ; and 

 the nozzle of the syringe, which should be small, should be directed against 

 the roof. The syringe should work easily and accurately, so that no air- 

 bubbles are squirted in. A little vessel about the size of a finger-glass should be 



Fig. 4. METHOD OF SYRIJsCUJJG EAR. 



