Full Answer
What does it mean when your eardrum is red?
How does an ear exam work?
What is the pain of an ear exam?
How to see the inside of your ear?
What are the symptoms of ear infection?
How to straighten ear canal?
Why do doctors examine your ears?
See 4 more
About this website
Ear Exams: When and Why Do I Need One? - WebMD
Kids often get hearing exams in school, but when do you need an ear exam as an adult? Learn when and why you might need to get your ears checked.
Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health
Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health
Why are ENTs called ENTs?
They're sometimes called ENTs because they treat conditions of the ear (E), nose (N), and throat (T). If You Need a Hearing Test. If you haven’t had a hearing test since you were in school, your doctor may suggest one as part of your ear exam.
What to do if you have hearing loss?
If you have hearing loss or other problems with your hearing, they might also recommend medication, hearing aids, or surgery.
What kind of doctor do you see for hearing tests?
Your doctor may do the test themselves or recommend that you see a specialist called an audiologist. There are many different kinds of hearing tests. Chances are, your doctor or specialist will perform several of them. Most will involve you responding to a series of tones or words. Hearing tests are painless.
How to know if you have a swollen ear?
Have pain in or around your ear, especially severe or sharp pain, or discomfort that lasts more than a day or two. Notice pus, discharge, or blood coming out of your ear. Worry that something’s stuck in your ear. Have trouble hearing.
Can an otoscope be put in your ear?
This straightens your ear canal and lets your doctor put the otoscope in your ear without irritating it. Most of the time, ear exams are painless. If you have a severe ear infection or injury to your ear, you may have some discomfort. Your doctor will try to make you comfortable.
How to check for carotid narrowing?
By listening to the sides of the neck with a stethoscope, your doctor can screen for carotid narrowing by detecting a carotid bruit, an abnormal swooshing sound in the carotid artery.
What does it mean when your heart beats?
By listening carefully to your heartbeat, a doctor can know right away if you have a heart murmur, which is another word for an unusual wooshing or swishing sound in your heart. Most murmurs are normal, but some can indicate problems such as a fever, anemia, high blood pressure, or an overactive thyroid. Murmurs can also indicate a variety of problems with heart valves. The stethoscope can let the doctor know immediately if the heart is not beating normally.
What is the device that doctors use to peer into your ears?
Doctors use a device called an otoscope (or auriscope) to peer into your ears. If your hearing is troubled or you have an ear ache, this handy device can literally shed light on the problem. Remember—ear canals are dark places! That's why doctors cast light on them and magnify them in this way.
What is the job of a stethoscope?
A stethoscope magnifies sounds like your heart beat. Making sure your heart is in good working order is perhaps the primary job of a stethoscope.
Why does my doctor thump my back?
That tapping action has a name: “percussion.” And just like a drum, your lungs have air that carries sound. That sound can let your doctor know if there is liquid inside your lungs, which can happen if you are sick. Fluid in your lungs can signify emphysema, heart failure, or cancer.
Why is the abdomen important?
Your abdomen is important to your health. It's where your liver, stomach, intestines and other vital organs live. So your doctor will prod a bit, testing to make sure everything is healthy. This is to make sure nothing is too tender, too big, or too firm.
What does it mean when you look at your mouth?
Your throat and the back of your mouth can suggest how healthy your teeth are too. Your tonsils could be inflamed, which happens when you have acute tonsillitis. Abscesses may be spotted as well. Dental problems like periodontal disease or cracked, broken or missing teeth can be addressed. Whitish coatings of oral surfaces or the presence of other lesions may indicate signs of infection or other underlying health problems.
How do you know if you have an infection in your ear?
Signs of Infection. Hearing loss is one sign of infection, but it’s not the only one. You might also experience pain in your ear or fluid draining from your ear. It’s important to see a doctor if: Your pain is severe. You have fluid, pus, or blood coming out of your ear. Your symptoms last for more than a day.
What is hearing screening?
A hearing screening is different from a more comprehensive hearing test. It’s usually a quick test to check to see if you need more screenings. You either pass or fail.
How many people have hearing loss?
About 30% of people over age 65 have some type of hearing loss, but younger people can experience it too. About 14% of people between 45 and 64 have it, as do about 8 million people between ages 18 and 44. If you’re concerned about your hearing, call your doctor and ask for a screening.
What is the condition called when you have a cholesteatoma?
A buildup of earwax. Inflammation in your external auditory canal, known as swimmer’s ear. An injury to your ear or head. A disease called otosclerosis , which affects the tiny bones in your ear. A condition called cholesteatoma, which can develop if you have an ongoing ear infection.
Can an audiologist test your hearing?
Your doctor can do it during your annual physical exam. A baseline test will show you where your hearing is at that point. That way, when you’re older, an audiologist can better understand how much it has changed and give you the right treatment.
What causes a child's ear to bulge?
the flu and throat infections can block something called the eustachian tube which is a tube that connects the ear to the mouth/throat so that the inside of the ear would have the same air pressure as the outside world. if it gets blocked, fluid builds up in the ear and can cause it to bulge and in mild causes cause distorted hearing and severe cases rupture the eardrum. Its actually incredibly common, almost 100% of children will have had it atleast once before they turn 5.
What is a scope in a microscope?
The scope is a magnifying glass married with a high power light - it's inserted pretty deep as the ear has 2 main bends, and we need to see around them to the ear drum (Tympanic Membrane)
Can an infection in the ear cause brain damage?
An infection in your ear can infect parts of your brain with long lasting damage.
Can someone with an ear infection have a retracted TM?
Someone with an ear infection might have a retracted TM - This beauty for example
How to check for fluid in lungs?
Take a deep breath. We use our stethoscope to listen to your lungs in different places on your chest and back, checking for things like infection or fluid in the lungs, or wheezing, which is caused by an abnormal tightness the tubes that bring air into the lungs (called bronchi). Your lungs are divided into different sections, called lobes, and it is important to listen to each lobe to get the full picture.
What is the device that looks into your ears?
We use a device called an otoscope to look into your ears, checking for signs of infection of the outer ear canal or of the inner portion of the ear. It’s also a convenient time to remind you not to put Q-tips into your ears—it just pushes the wax in further! Say ahhhh! Your mouth tells a story, too.
What does it mean when your legs are swollen?
We check your legs and feet to look for swelling. People with heart or liver disease may have fluid back-up in their legs, but it can also be a sign of infection or blood clots.
Why does my tongue tell a story?
Like the back of your throat—it looks one way when you’re healthy, another way if you have a bacterial infection such as strep throat, and yet another when there’s a viral infection like hand, foot and mouth disease. Your tongue gives clues as to how well hydrated you are. And because oral cancer can develop anywhere in the mouth, we also check your mouth and tongue for any abnormal growths.
How to check your reflexes?
We check your reflexes by tapping on your knee with a reflex hammer. When we tap your knee, we are causing a stretch of your tendon and the muscle attached to it, which causes a reflexive contraction of your quadriceps muscle that makes your leg kick out.
What to check for when diabetic?
We also check the pulses in your feet and look for any skin problems. If you have diabetes, it’s especially important to make sure your feet are in good shape—no cuts, ulcers or rashes. We may also check for nerve damage by testing how well you can feel your feet being touched.
What does it mean when you see red in your eyes?
It may sound cliché but your eyes really can be a window to what’s going on inside you. We check your eyes for color; redness can be a sign of eye infection, while yellowing may signal liver problems. We shine a light into your eye to test the eye’s reflexes.
The Annual Exam
This is when your doctor finds out what’s going with you -- they talk with you about preventing diseases and any new things you’re feeling, and help you manage health issues you know you have. They tap, rub, poke, and prod you. They come at you with strange-looking instruments. What’s your doctor trying to learn when they do some of those things?
Push on Your Belly
Your doctor looks at your abdomen -- the shape, the skin, the way it moves when you breathe -- to make sure everything is OK. They may also listen with a stethoscope to hear if your bowel is making different sounds because of an illness. And they’ll push on your belly.
Stick That Thing in Your Ear
It’s called an otoscope, and your doctor uses it to get a better view, especially if you have trouble hearing or your ear hurts. After all, it’s tight quarters in there. And dark, too. With it, your doctor can see an irritated eardrum, a swollen ear canal, fluid that’s a sign of infection, extra wax that may be causing trouble, and other problems.
Look in Your Mouth
This can tell your doctor quite a bit about your health. For example, a white spot or growth on your tongue can be a sign of a condition that might become cancer -- more common in people who use tobacco. They’ll also look at the back of your throat and your tonsils, and get an idea of the condition of your teeth -- and your breath.
Shine a Light in Your Eye
Your doctor does it to see if your pupils -- the dark center of each eye that control how much light gets in -- get smaller (constrict) when light is on them. They should stay round, and both eyes should react to the light in about the same way. If any of these things are off, it may be a sign of problem.
Listen to Your Chest
He listens to make sure your heart has a regular rhythm -- no skipped beat or murmur, a “whooshing” sound. They’ll also listen to your lungs to see if your breathing is clear. And if you have asthma, they’ll make sure they don’t hear wheezing. And why that stethoscope is always freezing is anyone's guess.
Take Your Blood Pressure
When the doctor or nurse wraps a cuff around your arm and tightens it, it’s to measure the force on your veins and arteries as your heart pumps blood.
What does it mean when your eardrum is red?
If your doctor identifies any of the following in your ear canal or behind your eardrum, you most likely have an ear infection: redness. swelling. amber liquid. pus. If the light doesn’t reflect off of your eardrum, it’s another indication that fluid may have collected behind the eardrum due to an infection.
How does an ear exam work?
How is an ear examination performed? Your doctor may dim the lights in the exam room to make it easier to see your ear canal and eardrum with an otoscope. An otoscope is a handheld light with a removable plastic tip shaped like a cone that allows the doctor to look inside your ear. Your doctor will gently pull in the following directions ...
What is the pain of an ear exam?
chronic ear infections. a punctured eardrum. An ear exam may be slightly uncomfortable or painful if you have an ear infection. Your doctor will stop the exam and remove the otoscope if the pain worsens.
How to see the inside of your ear?
They’ll carefully rotate the otoscope in different directions to see the inside of your ear and your eardrum. Your doctor may use a pneumatic otoscope, which has a plastic bulb on the end, to blow a small puff of air against your eardrum. Normally, this air will cause your eardrum to move. Your doctor will see little or no movement ...
What are the symptoms of ear infection?
Your doctor will perform an ear examination, or otoscopy, if you have: 1 an earache 2 an ear infection 3 hearing loss 4 ringing in your ears 5 any other ear-related symptoms
How to straighten ear canal?
Your doctor will gently pull in the following directions to straighten your ear canal: up. down. forward. back. Then, they’ll place the tip of the otoscope into your ear and shine a light into your ear canal and down to your eardrum. They’ll carefully rotate the otoscope in different directions to see the inside of your ear and your eardrum.
Why do doctors examine your ears?
Your doctor can examine your ear to diagnose an ear infection or to see if treatments for an ear condition are working. Ear infections are common, especially in children.
