Ear irrigation on Medical card?

daviddunne1992

Hi,

I apologise if I'm posting in the wrong place but I couldn't find anywhere else I thought a healthcare question could go.

I think I may need ear irrrigation done to remove a build up of wax which is really frustrating me.
My question is how much will I have to give a GP to have this done?

Thanks

Pumpkinseeds

If you have a medical card it won't cost you anything. They basically just flush the wax out with water, the doctor may give you something to put in the ears to soften the wax a few days before he/she cleans them. If you don't have a medical card it would cost the same as a standard consultation fee.

daviddunne1992

Pumpkinseeds wrote: »

If you have a medical card it won't cost you anything. They basically just flush the wax out with water, the doctor may give you something to put in the ears to soften the wax a few days before he/she cleans them. If you don't have a medical card it would cost the same as a standard consultation fee.

cheers, are you sure about that though? I'm just not sure whether to bring money or not

Pumpkinseeds

To the best of my knowledge. If you have a medical card then you won't have to pay, if not then they'll charge you the standard consultation fee. My husband doesn't have a medical card and had to have his ears cleaned out a few months back. It took a while to do it but he was just charged the same fee he'd pay for any gp visit.

Gael23

Im certain you won't have to pay. You will just have to pay the €2.50 prescription fee assuming you get drops to soften the wax.

locum-motion

ryanf1 wrote: »

Im certain you won't have to pay. You will just have to pay the €2.50 prescription fee assuming you get drops to soften the wax.

Nope. Earwax softening drops are not covered by the medical card. They have to be bought and paid for.

Pumpkinseeds

locum-motion wrote: »

Nope. Earwax softening drops are not covered by the medical card. They have to be bought and paid for.

But the irrigation will be covered by the medical card and the ear drops aren't expensive.

Gael23

Pumpkinseeds wrote: »

But the irrigation will be covered by the medical card and the ear drops aren't expensive.

No they can't be more than a few euro. When this happened me a couple of years ago I had to use those before getting the wax removed because apparently you cant syringe hardened wax

daviddunne1992

Pumpkinseeds wrote: »

But the irrigation will be covered by the medical card and the ear drops aren't expensive.

just wanted to say thanks.. it turns out you were right.
I have to pick up the ear drops tomoro as I missed the chemist but my doctor assured me I wont have to pay to have them cleaned on Monday.
My brother however was quoted €55 by another doctor even with his medical card..
I'm wondering is that illegal?

sam34

Folks, I have deleted 6 or 7 posts that were just petty squabbling and point scoring. Play nicely, please.

Yakuza

My brother in law is a doctor, when I had one ear blocked a few years ago he told me to use a few drops of olive oil in it for a few days before getting it flushed, worked a charm (I didn't need to buy ear drops).

Arthur Beesley

ryanf1 wrote: »

Im certain you won't have to pay. You will just have to pay the €2.50 prescription fee assuming you get drops to soften the wax.

Available without prescription.