Is it earwax, or is it their hearing going?

Almost everyone who gets in touch has already decided the problem is age. They have watched a parent turn the television up for a year, and somewhere along the way it stopped being a nuisance and became a fact about them.

Sometimes that is right. Often it is not.

What tends to point at wax

• It came on over weeks rather than years. Hearing that fades over a decade is a different thing from hearing that went odd since Easter.
• One ear is worse than the other. Age-related hearing loss is usually fairly even. A single blocked ear is not.
• There is a full or stuffed feeling, or a sense of pressure, or their own voice sounds strange to them.
• It got worse after a shower, a swim, or a holiday. Water swells wax that was already there.
• They wear hearing aids and the aids have started whistling.

What tends to point at something else

• Both ears, evenly, getting gradually worse over years.
• Trouble following one voice in a busy room while one-to-one is fine.
• High voices and consonants going first — grandchildren become hard work, the television is fine.

Why it is worth ruling out first

Because it is the quick one to check. Everything else — audiology, aids, referrals — is slower, and none of it works properly through a blocked ear anyway. Ruling wax out first means the rest is not wasted effort.

If you are not sure which of the two lists fits, that is a fine reason to book me. Looking is the only way to know, and if there is nothing there to remove I will tell you so.

If hearing changed suddenly, in one ear, over hours or a day or two — that is not a wait-and-see. Ring your GP or 111 the same day.