Hello, my mum has advanced Alzheimer’s and often rubs her ears vigorously so they seem to be causing her discomfort.
The doctor advised my dad via the phone they couldn’t treat ear wax on the NHS and to use olive oil (didn’t even examine her ears) so he went to a private practitioner (who does suction) a few weeks ago.
Unfortunately he couldn’t treat her because she won’t stay still. He said she has100% wax blockage in one ear and 50% in the other and my dad should stop using olive oil as it isn’t helping and could lead to ear infection.
Returning to the NHS doctors, he had to fill in a form and despite explaining the situation he now has to wait until the end of this month for another phone consultation and is not confident this is going to lead to a timely resolution!
Does anyone have any advice about how ear wax can be removed from a dementia patient who will not sit still and who could do this? E.g. will he end up being referred to ENT, will they need to sedate her? How will this react with her medication? Dad is worried about the effect of sedation / anaesthetics on a dementia patient.
Thank you
The doctor advised my dad via the phone they couldn’t treat ear wax on the NHS and to use olive oil (didn’t even examine her ears) so he went to a private practitioner (who does suction) a few weeks ago.
Unfortunately he couldn’t treat her because she won’t stay still. He said she has100% wax blockage in one ear and 50% in the other and my dad should stop using olive oil as it isn’t helping and could lead to ear infection.
Returning to the NHS doctors, he had to fill in a form and despite explaining the situation he now has to wait until the end of this month for another phone consultation and is not confident this is going to lead to a timely resolution!
Does anyone have any advice about how ear wax can be removed from a dementia patient who will not sit still and who could do this? E.g. will he end up being referred to ENT, will they need to sedate her? How will this react with her medication? Dad is worried about the effect of sedation / anaesthetics on a dementia patient.
Thank you