Health Advice
- Weight Management
- Quit Smoking
- Acne
- Child Health
- Pain
- Oral Care & Hygiene
- Aneurysm, abdominal aortic
- Tummy ache
- Abscess
- Periods, absent
- First aid
- Reflux
- Blackheads
- Acupuncture
- Gallbladder, inflammation
- Leukaemia, acute lymphoblastic
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- Addiction
- Addison's disease
- Adenoids and adenoidectomy
- Frozen shoulder
- Agoraphobia
- Air embolism
- Alcohol misuse
- Alcohol poisoning
- Alexander technique
- Rhinitis, allergic
- Indoor allergy
- Mountain sickness
- Alzheimer's disease
- Lazy eye
- Macular degeneration
- Memory loss
- Amniocentesis
- Amputation
- Motor neurone disease
- Steroid misuse
- Iron deficiency anaemia
- Vitamin B12 or folate deficiency anaemia
- Anaesthesia
- Anal fissure
- Brain aneurysm
- Angelman syndrome
- Anger management
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- Angioedema
- Arteriography
- Stent insertion
- Dog bites
- Fractured ankle
- Ankylosing spondylitis
- Anorexia nervosa
- Smell sense, loss of
- Antacid medicines
- Penicillin
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- Stress
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- Wrist, broken
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- Hearing tests
- Bird flu
- B12 vitamin deficiency
- Skin rashes in babies
- Weaning
- Lumbago (low back pain)
- Septic arthritis
- Halitosis (bad breath)
- Weight loss surgery
- Barium enema
- Bartholin's cyst
- Pressure ulcers
- Bedbugs
- Nocturnal enuresis
- Behçet’s disease
- Facial paralysis
- Tongue pain or soreness
- Prostate enlargement
- Beta-blockers
- Bicarbonate test
- Binge eating
- Biopsy
- Bipolar disorder
- Spider bite
- Eye, black
- Bladder cancer
- Cystitis
- Bladder stones
- Blisters
- Blood donation
- Blood gases test
- Blood groups
- Coughing up blood
- Semen, bloody
- Urine, blood in the
- Vomiting blood
- Septicaemia
- Hypertension
- Low blood pressure
- Blood tests
- Blood transfusion
- Blushing
- Bromhidrosis (body odour)
- Bone cyst
- DXA scan
- Bone marrow donation
- Stem cell transplant
- Borderline personality disorder
- Bottle feeding
- Botulism
- Rectal cancer
- Polyps, bowel
- Leaky gut syndrome
- Orthodontics
- Brain abscess
- Head injury, severe
- Brain tumour, benign (non-cancerous)
- Brain tumour, malignant (cancerous)
- Brain tumours
- Breast abscess
- Breast cancer
- Male breast cancer
- Screening for breast cancer
- Nipple discharge
- Mastitis
- Breast lump
- Breastfeeding
- Shortness of breath
- Osteoporosis
- Fractured collarbone
- Hip fracture
- Leg, broken
- Fractured nose
- Rib injuries
- Toe, broken
- Tooth, broken or knocked out
- Smelly feet (bromodosis)
- Bronchitis
- Teeth grinding
- Thyroid eye disease
- Bulimia
- Burns and scalds
- Heart bypass
- Caesarean section
- Food poisoning
- Cancer
- Thrush
- Thrush, men
- Thrush, oral - adults
- Thrush, oral - babies
- Carbon monoxide poisoning
- Cardiovascular disease
- Cartilage damage
- Nasal congestion
- Rib, cervical
- Smear test
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- Chemotherapy
- Chest infection, adult
- Chest pain
- Herpes zoster virus
- Statins
- Kidney disease, chronic
- Leukaemia, chronic lymphocytic
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- Cirrhosis
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- White coated tongue
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- Herpes simplex virus
- Cold
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- Combined contraceptive pill
- Pneumonia
- CT scan
- Concussion
- Hole in the heart
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- Constipation
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- Corns and calluses
- Coronary heart disease
- Vegetative state
- Topical corticosteroids
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- Cough
- Counselling
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- Undescended testicles
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- Cystic fibrosis
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- Thyroiditis
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- Dehydration
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- Fluoride
- False teeth (dentures)
- Depression
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- Rectal examination
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- Periods, painful
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- Swimmer's ear
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- Endoscopy
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- Epidural
- Epilepsy
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- Ocular cancer
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- Fever, childhood
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- Foot pain
- Frostbite
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- Tendon repair, hand
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- Nits
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- Hearing and vision tests for children
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- Heart transplant
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- Periods, heavy
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- Herbal medicines
- Hernia, femoral
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- Hip pain in adults
- Hip replacement
- HIV and AIDS
- Welts
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- Homeopathy
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- Huntington's disease
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- Sleepiness in the day (severe and unexplained)
- Thyroid, overactive
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- Underactive thyroid
- Irritable bowel syndrome
- Painkillers, ibuprofen
- Shoulder tendon, trapped
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- Inquest
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- knee-pain
- Knee replacement
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- Lymphoma
- Magnesium test
- MRI scan
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- Male contraceptive pill
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- Mastectomy
- Rubeola
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- Meningitis
- Menopause
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- Moles
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- Multiple system atrophy
- Mumps
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- Nose and sinus cancer
- Polyps, nose
- Nasopharyngeal cancer
- Natural family planning
- Nausea and vomiting in pregnancy
- Peripheral neuropathy
- Night sweats
- Nightmares
- Rhinitis, non-allergic
- Type 2 diabetes
- Winter vomiting disease
- Obesity
- OCD (obsessive compulsive disorder)
- Sleep apnoea
- Occupational therapy
- Swollen ankles
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- Periods, irregular
- Organ donation
- Orthopaedics (orthopaedic surgery)
- Osteoarthritis
- Rickets
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- Paracetamol
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- Panic disorder
- Pins and needles
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- Pelvic pain
- Ulcer, peptic
- Ruptured eardrum
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- Periods
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- Personality disorder
- Whooping cough
- Strep throat
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- Physiotherapy
- Pilonidal sinus
- Plastic surgery
- Pleurisy
- Pneumococcal infections
- Poisoning
- Reflux in babies
- Potassium test
- Pre-eclampsia
- Slipped disc
- Urinary PSA test
- Prostate disease
- Prostatitis
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- Puberty
- Radiation
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- Red blood cell count
- Rheumatic fever
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- Root canal treatment
- Roundworm
- Seasonal affective disorder (SAD)
- Salivary stones
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- Scabies
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- Scars
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- Self-harm
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- Sexual health clinics
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- Shingles
- Social anxiety disorder (social phobia)
- Vomiting in children and babies
- Sinus headache
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- Skin rashes in children
- Sleep paralysis
- Sleepwalking
- Urine, smelly
- Snake bites
- Snoring
- Spina bifida
- Spinal muscular atrophy
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- Squint
- Stuttering
- Stomach cancer
- Streptococcal infections
- Stroke
- Stye
- Suicide
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- Swollen glands
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- Tuberculosis (TB)
- Tension-type headaches
- Testicular cancer
- Testicular lumps and swellings
- Thyroid cancer
- Tics
- Tinnitus
- Tongue-tie
- Tonsillitis
- Toothache
- Total iron-binding capacity (TIBC or transferrin) test
- Total protein test
- Tourette's syndrome
- Toxic shock syndrome
- Traction
- Travel vaccines
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- Urinary tract infection, children
- Urinary tract infection
- Vaginitis
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- Varicose eczema
- Varicose veins
- Warts and verrucas
- Vertigo
- Vitamins, minerals and supplements
- Vomiting in adults
- Warfarin
- Weight loss (unexpected and unplanned)
- Whiplash
- Wisdom tooth removal
- X-ray
- Yellow fever
- Bowel cancer screening
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Bringing you the best health advice for your family
NHS Choices - Diagnosing earwax
(10/03/2014)
Tests aren't needed to see if you have earwax.
If you have a history of recurrent earwax problems, you'll probably know when you have another build-up of earwax.
Ear examination
If you have earwax-related problems, your GP or a hearing specialist will examine both ears using an instrument called an auriscope. An auriscope, also known as an otoscope, has a light and a magnifier at one end so that the inside of your ear can be clearly seen.
When examining the inside of your ear, your doctor will be able to see if there's a build-up of earwax and whether it's impacted (firmly lodged in your ear canal). If you have hearing loss, it may be due to impacted earwax.
Back to Earwax
