How to waste an afternoon

[chickenfeet]

Some time ago I saw my doctor about a case of ear pain which turned out to be just wax build up. He said that if it recurred I should just drop in and see the nurse at the clinic. As the problem has recurred I did just that this afternoon. I was not entirely surprised that the nurse would not do anything without a doctor's order as. in my experience with the Ontario Health Care "System" the right hand rarely knows what the left hand is doing. I was surprised that in the circumstances I was still waiting two hours later. By that time i was pretty livid as we are talking about a process that takes two minutes.

Now I've worked in and around healthcare in this province long enough to know that it is run for the exclusive benefit of physicians and administrators and this was a prime example so I politely asked the receptionist to convey to nurse and doctor that I was not pleased as was of the opinion that two rabid chipmunks could run the place more efficiently. Then i left as I actually did have other things I needed to do.

People talk about how great the Canadian health care "system" is. It does provide good care but at an administrative level it is an absolutely sick joke.

Comments

[glitterboy1.livejournal.com]

Bah! That's just *so* annoying.

Can you work on the wax yourself with olive oil? Put 3/4 of a teaspoon in your ear morning and evening, and keep your head tilted over for five minutes. Give it 3-4 days, and it should have a real effect.

[oursin.livejournal.com]

My doctor recommended sodium bicarbonate eardrops, rather than oil. I'm not sure anything makes too much difference if the wax buildup has reached the stage at which it needs syringing.

[glitterboy1.livejournal.com]

I think it depends on how hard the wax is: it may not always be possible to do anything unless it's first been softened by something like the oil.

But this is just based on my own experience; I'm no expert!

[lil-tater.livejournal.com]

I would strongly recommend against using olive oil, unless you like smelling like a salad and having um...not necessarily sterile fluids in your ear.

(This from a person who works with ears for a living)

Use mineral oil (if an oil is absolutely the only thing that you have available) or better yet, go to a store and get Debrox or Murine ear drops.

Basically, what these do is soften the wax up, and they come with a bulb syringe as well. Put the rec # of drops in the ear, lay on the opposite side for a few mins, and use a cottonball to keep it from oozing out. After about 5 days, use the bulb syringe to squirt water in there, and hopefully it will flush it out.

Good luck. And I despise waiting in Dr offices, too. Especially when it IS something the nurse can do in all of 2 minutes.