A Foreign Object is Not Always So Funny.

This bead was an expensive one. There were 2 attempts to remove it before I tried. Well, when I tried, the 4-year-old was LESS than happy to cooperate and the ear canal was slightly swollen.

I had to bring her to the O.R. so that she could be put under anesthesia. After this was done, the bead was able to be removed.

While foreign objects in the ears are funny in most cases, they are not so funny in others. In addition to the appropriate angst that parents face as their child is wheeled to the Operating Room, there are significant costs associated with general anesthesia in a facility. Additionally, the parents had to miss work to bring their child to the surgery center that day.

I assume that this kiddo will avoid putting things in his nose or ear for the rest of his life.

A few days after I removed the bead, a young girl came in because she also had an object in one of her ears. This time, it was something I haven’t seen before– a piece of the filling from a bean bag. Again, it was too difficult and the young girl was too uncomfortable to remove it in the office, so we had to bring her to the operating room and remove the material while she was asleep. (The filling material had expanded, (or the ear canal was swollen) such that it couldn’t be removed safely while she was awake. The foreign material came out just fine, the ear looked good and everyone was happy. The end.