What should you know about a Keeler pocket otoscope?

A pocket design makes the instrument convenient to carry between rooms or consultations. With a suitable speculum, the clinician can inspect the ear canal and eardrum for wax, redness, discharge, a foreign object, or signs of pressure and fluid. Compact size does not make the examination suitable for unsupervised home use: the ear is delicate, and a blocked or painful canal may require a different approach.

Describe when symptoms began, whether hearing changed, and whether there has been fever, discharge, swimming, or an object in the ear. Keep the ear clear of cotton buds and household remedies unless a clinician has advised them. During a consultation, remain still and say immediately if the speculum hurts. Children may be examined through a child health consultation, while adults may attend a GP consultation.

Get prompt medical advice for worsening pain, new discharge or bleeding, sudden hearing loss, persistent dizziness, or a foreign object that cannot be removed easily. Seek urgent help if there is swelling behind the ear, facial weakness, severe headache with fever, or confusion. Do not insert tools into the canal to investigate these symptoms.

Ask whether the eardrum was visible, what may explain the symptoms, whether hearing needs testing, and how to protect the ear while it heals.