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Pre-treatment drops or spray for managing earwax

 

Pre-treatment drops or spray for managing earwax (IRAS 316799)

 

The Audiology-led wax removal pathway is offered in multiple GP practices across North Wales. Patients are currently advised to use olive oil drops or spray to soften earwax prior to attending their wax removal appointment with an Audiology practitioner. Previous research has shown that using olive oil to soften earwax before its removal leads to improved success in removing the earwax. However we don’t currently know whether there is any difference in the success of wax removal whether the olive oil is delivered by using a spray or drop solution.

This large scale study aims to compare the effectiveness of olive oil drops with olive oil spray in order to inform future practice and national guidance. The research will look at the following:

  • success of wax removal,
  • the symptoms reported by patients as a result of problematic earwax,
  • the improvement in the above symptoms following removing the earwax.

This study is sponsored by Betsi Cadwaladr University Health Board.  This research project  will also be used to support an educational qualification.

How will we use information about you? 

We will need to use routinely collected information about you for this research project. This information will include your age and information about your symptoms of ear wax, use of olive oil softener and your symptoms after ear wax removal.  It will not be possible for the researchers to identify you from the data collected.

What are your choices about how your information is used?

  • You can choose to opt out of your data being used for research purposes by telling the audiology practitioner at the time of your GP visit.
  • We need to manage your records in specific ways for the research to be reliable. This means that we won’t be able to let you see or change the data we hold about you. 

Where can you find out more about how your information is used?

You can find out more about how we use your information and general use of data for research purposes