A foreign body in the ear is an object that does not belong in the ear. It can be any unwanted object intruding from the outside into the ear canal. Sometimes it is even an insect. A foreign body stuck in the ear canal can cause serious problems, such as an infection. If the lodged foreign body cannot be removed immediately, medical help is needed to prevent further damage.
A foreign body in the ear occurs, when an object is put or stuck inside the ear canal accidentally or voluntarily. A foreign body means anything that is not supposed to be in the ear, for example, coins, marbles, pins, buttons, and insects. A foreign body stuck in the ear can happen to people at any age, but it is very common in small children.
Small pieces of food, toys, pins and other tiny parts are some common objects that can be put or stuck inside the ears. This can happen to people at any age, however small children have a higher risk due to their curiosity. Besides foreign bodies that can be put into the ear accidentally or voluntarily by people, sometimes insects may also crawl into the ear and get stuck inside the canal of the ear. If there is any foreign body stuck in the ear, the common symptoms are discomfort, such as pain, and, after hours or days, discharge from the ear canal. Furthermore, hearing difficulty, a feeling of imbalance, nausea and even vomiting can occur. Due to the obstruction of the ear canal there is a high risk for an infection, which will lead to fever, fatigue, local redness and discharge, and worsening of pain. Also bleeding can occur due to injuries caused by the foreign body. Worst case scenario is a loss of hearing resulting from these complications.
The treatment of a foreign body stuck in the ear consists mainly in removing the object as soon as possible. If it is impossible to remove the foreign body from the ear by oneself, then it is strongly recommended to seek prompt medical help, to remove it with proper devices. In severe cases, a small surgery may be necessary to assist in the removal of the foreign body out of the ear canal.
Several years of work in academia, medical practice and finally commercialization make it possible to provide an end-to-end process to help users to “find the appropriate medical help based on their present symptoms”. Below you will find a short explanation, showing you which part of the platform will help you best in finding the appropriate medical support.
Proceed as follows to enter your current symptoms.
Click on the appropriate body part on the picture. Select one/multiple symptoms corresponding to your complaint.
You can also add symptoms by typing your medical complaint in the search box and selecting the best matching suggestion.
Note: Your information will be kept anonymously.
Once you have selected all applicable symptoms, click the “analyze disease pattern”-button.
Accordingly, you will get a list of possible diseases and matching doctor categories who can further help you.
You can inform yourself about the possible diseases by reading the related information. But you can also return to the previous step and add more symptoms or delete already added ones to further narrow down your disease pattern.
Click on the desired doctor category to find a doctor who can help you.
If you are logged in with your profile, you will be displayed the appropriate doctors in your area. Otherwise you can enter an address in the “address” field and you will be displayed a doctor’s list around that specified address.
You will receive further information about the displayed doctors when you press on “details”.
Online bookable doctors in your area will be indicated with the notation “Book appointment” or “Book externally”, additionally they will be displayed on top of the list for your convenience.
Click on “Book appointment” to start the online appointment booking process with the desired doctor.
Please select an available appointment. “Green“ appointments are booked directly. “Red“ appointments need to be confirmed by the doctor.
Enter your general personal and health information.
Enter your present medical symptoms.
Enter your mobile phone number to identify yourself and you can finalize the appointment booking.
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