Study on self-removal of earwax

Last week's Health Report on Radio National included an interview about removing earwax with Richard Coppin, who has just published a study into the safety of using syringing bulbs to clear wax out of ears. The study showed that "for patients who have not already tried bulb syringes, self-irrigation using a bulb syringe significantly reduces subsequent demand for ear irrigation by health professionals. Advocating the initial use of bulb syringes could reduce demand for ear irrigation in family practice clinics." Coppin R et al. Randomized Trial of Bulb Syringes for Earwax: Impact on Health Service Utilization. Annals of Family Medicine 2011, 9 (2) :110-114. Please contact your library if you have trouble obtaining the fulltext of this article.