This page was last updated: April 7, 2012
Collapsed Ear Canal
OTOLARYNGOLOGY HOUSTON
Bechara Y. Ghorayeb, MD
Otolaryngology - Head & Neck Surgery
Memorial Hermann Professional Building
1140 Business Center Drive, Suite 560
Houston, Texas 77043
For appointments, call: 713 464 2614
Picture of collapsed external auditory meatus in an elderly patient.
Collapse of the external auditory canal is very common in the elderly (up to 41% in a study by Ronald Show et al.).
The collapse usually involves the outer portion of the canal, right at the anterior edge of the conchal cartilage. It is is a major cause of cerumen impaction and makes it extremely difficult to remove the cerumen from the wider medial portion of the canal. At times, the use of a nasal speculum facilitates the visualization of the eardrum and the introduction of a cerumen curette or the nozzle of an ear syringe. Finally, it is sometimes impossible to introduce a hearing aid into a collapsed ear canal.
