Assessment of function of ear.

♣ History :-

1.Demographic Data :– In which to take information related to his accommodation/residence

2.Personal History :– Asking the patient for history or whether there is any difficulty in hearing. A sound like tinnitus is heard in the ears or not.

If there is any kind of ear pain, drainage, loss of balance, giddiness and dizziness, difficulty in hearing, take a history.

History should be taken about the way to clean the ear and whether he is a swimmer or not

3. Past health history:-

Asking the patient if any type of infection has occurred eg

Meningitis,

acute otitis media (acute otitis media),

Upper respiratory tract infection (acute respiratory tract infection),

acute or chronic sinus infection,

Ask the patient about history of any such infections.

Ask whether the patient has received M.M.R or hib (Haemophilus Influenza-B) vaccination or not.

Ask whether the patient is taking any kind of medicine. Ask whether the patient is taking any kind of medicine because this medicine damages the vestibulocochlear nerve. like

Aspirin, salicylate (these are ototoxic drugs that cause hearing loss and tinnitus)

chemotherapy drugs-cisplatin (Platinol) and carboplatin (Paraplatin) and taxanes such as paclitaxel (Taxol) and docetaxel (Taxotere). Tinnitus is often the first sign of damage caused by chemotherapy.

quinine group drugs

Streptomycin- Vestibular damage due to streptomycin is common with prolonged use and in patients with impaired renal function.

4.family 👪 history:=(family history)

Asking if any of the patient’s family members have hearing loss or ear problems.

5. Psychosocial history:= Psycho-social history

Ask the patient about his occupation. Inquiring whether the occupation has any type of noisy premises. Asking whether the patient has a habit of putting any kind of earbud, pin, pencil in the ear or not. Especially people working in industries. Also people living in noisy places like railways, airports and big industries.

♣ Ear Examination :-

Usually the ear canal is the same color as our skin. And there are few hairs in it

Inspect the shape, size, color of the ear in the ear examination

Yellowish brown ear wax called cerumen is commonly found in the ear.

Eardrum is of light gray or shiny white color

Inspect the auricle for any redness, scales, or skin lesions.

inspect the external auditory canal with otoscope for any discharge, redness, impacted cerumen, purulent drainage, foreign body.

Palpate the auricle and lower mastoid processes to see if there is any pain and swelling

Hearing problem, Pain, Discharge, Lump, Any foreign material.etc. To see if there is any other problem of outer.Middle or Inner Ear

♣ Ear Diagnostic tests or List the Ear Diagnostic Test or Write Short notes on Ear Diagnostic test :-

otoscopic examination

In Otoscopy examination, ear examination is done using otoscope.

Otoscopic examination is part of normal physical examination.

In otoscopic examination visual examination of auditory canal and tympanic membrane is done using otoscope.

This instrument is a hand-held instrument with a small light and a cone shaped attachment called an ear speculum.

In this, the patient is asked to sit i.e. sit and his head is slightly towards the shoulder so that the ear can be examined properly.

By which any infection, redness or foreign object and ear wax build up in the ear can be known or not.

Any physician or nurse performs an otoscopic examination as part of a complete physical examination.

The tympanic membrane is looked for signs of rupture or puncture and hearing loss.

Examination of the ear is done if there is any suspected infection, if the patient complains of pain or if there is hearing loss.

♦ whispered speech test

In this whispered speech test, any health professional asks the patient to cover one of his ears with the fingers of one hand, and any health professional stands a foot or two behind him and says a series of words. He has to repeat these words. If he doesn’t hear them, the health professional says the words out loud until he can hear them. is coming.

♦ weber and rinne test

◘ Bone conduction hearing test : =

Rinne Test- Rinne test

In this test, a vibrating Tunic fork is placed behind the ear on the mastoid process. If the patient does not feel the vibration for a long time, the Tunic fork is placed in front of the ear. If the patient is not able to hear the ringing sound, A patient can be said to have conductive hearing loss in the ear.

weber Test-Weber

Further, the Tunic fork is placed on the forehead. Then the patient is asked whether the sound is heard in the middle part of the forehead or if the sound is loud in both ears.

If the patient has conductive hearing loss, the sound will be louder in the affected ear.

If the patient has non-sensorineural hearing loss, he will hear less sound in that ear.

This test is done to determine what type of loss the audiologist has.

In conductive hearing loss (caused by problem in the outer or middle ear),

In sensorineural hearing loss (caused by problem in the cochlea, the sensory organ of hearing)

Or neural (caused by a problem in the auditory nerve or auditory pathway of the brain).

♦ Pure tone audiometry:-

Pure tone audiometry is a test for hearing ability.

Pure tone audiometry uses machines called audio meters to play a series of tones through headphones.

Tones vary in pitch (frequency: measured in hertz and intensity measured in decibels).

The health professional will control and reduce the volume of the tone until the patient can hear it.

The tone will then become louder until the patient can no longer hear it. Whenever that sound is heard, it can be signaled by raising your hand or pressing a button, even if the sound you hear is very faint.

The health professional will then repeat this test several times, each time testing each ear separately, and then the headphones will be removed and a special vibrating device will be placed on the bone behind the patient’s ear again each time you hear a tone. The patient will reply.

♦ Tympanogram/Tympenometry

In this test, a small probe is placed inside the ear. and air pressure is applied. This test is done by the audiologist to check the working condition of the eardrum and middle ear structure. Ear canal volume shows whether there is perforation of the ear drum or not. Middle ear pressure shows whether the fluid is in the middle ear space or not. Its measurement shows that the ear drum and the three bones of the middle ear are working well. It is done to see whether or not.

♦ Auditory brainstem response testing (ABR).

ABR testing detects sensorineural hearing loss (sensorineural hearing loss). In this test, electrodes are placed on the head and over the ear lobes. Clicking sounds are then sent through ear phones. These electrodes monitor the brain’s response to clicking sounds and Records its response on a graph. This test is called (BAER:=BRAINSTEM AUDITORY EVOKED RESPONSE) AND ( ABEP := AUDITORY BRAINSTEM EVOKED POTENTIAL ).

♦ Electronystagmography (Electro Nystagmography):=

An electronystagmography (ENG) test measures your eye movements and the health of your cranial nerves. It involves placing small metal discs (electrodes) around your eyes, which measure nerve function. ENG test to check for balance disorders or other inner ear problems.

Electron astigmography is the measurement and graphic record of changes in electrical potential produced by spontaneous, positional, eye movements.

It is a study used for medical evaluation of patients with dizziness or imbalance.

This test is used to determine whether the vestibular system monitors head position and movements to stabilize the retina.

This information is integrated with visual and spinal connections in the brain stem to produce vestibulocochlear reflexes.

♦ caloric test

This test, used to assess the function of the vestibular system, uses cold or warm water to irrigate the ear canals, and the client is observed for nystagmus (i.e., frequent abnormal movements of the eyeballs). When nystagmus is occurs in the opposite direction to irrigation and is a normal response. If nystagmus does not occur, it is damage to the brain stem and requires further evaluation.

♦ Middle ear endoscopy

This involves examination of the middle ear using an endoscope to look for any acute or chronic middle ear infections or for any abnormalities.