In This Article
Do not try to get it out yourself
If you think something is stuck in your ear, the safest immediate step is to leave the ear alone. Do not put a cotton bud, tweezers, pin, finger, water, earwax drops, oil or a household device into the ear. The object may not be what you think it is, it may be further into the canal than it appears, and the condition of the eardrum is not known.
This is a general first-aid and next-route guide. It does not tell you how to remove a foreign body at home.
Choose the right route first
| If this applies | What to do |
|---|---|
| You know or suspect a button, coin or hearing-aid battery is in the ear. | Use an urgent hospital/A&E route without delay. Do not wait for a routine appointment or try to remove it. [1] [2] |
| The object is sharp, penetrating, chemical, unknown, or you are unsure what is in the ear. | Do not add liquids or instruments. Seek urgent NHS medical advice rather than using a routine booking route. |
| There is bleeding, fluid or discharge, swelling, a sudden or worsening hearing change, dizziness, significant pain, or the person is unwell. | Use NHS 111 or the appropriate urgent-care route. These are not routine clinic-booking features. [3] |
| A child has an object firmly lodged in the ear. | Leave it where it is and use the NHS child route described in our child safety guide. [4] |
| You have a known, non-emergency concern in the external ear canal and none of the warning features above are present. | Read the foreign-object decision page and call first to discuss whether an assessment may be appropriate. |
What counts as “something stuck”?
People use this phrase for many situations: a cotton-tip fragment, earbud or hearing-aid piece, a bead, paper, food material, an earplug fragment, an insect, or simply a feeling that something is moving or blocked. The phrase does not identify the cause.
If there is only a blocked or full feeling and no object is known, do not assume that it is a foreign body. The blocked-ear symptom guide can help explain when earwax, hearing change or another cause may need an assessment. It is not a reason to put drops or tools into the ear.
Why not to probe or flush the ear
An object in the ear canal can be difficult to assess without the right equipment, particularly if it is impacted further in the canal. [5] Repeated attempts can also make the situation more complicated by causing discomfort, swelling or bleeding.
The site does not publish exceptions for a particular object, such as an insect, food material or a visible item. That is deliberate. Object type, position, ear history, symptoms and the condition of the ear all affect what may be appropriate, and those details cannot be safely confirmed from a general webpage.
A clear safety rule: if the first thought is to put something into the ear to remove something else, stop and use the relevant NHS or professional route instead.
If you have already tried to remove it
Do not make repeated attempts. If there is pain, bleeding, discharge, a hearing change, dizziness, swelling, a battery concern or uncertainty about the object, seek NHS advice. If none of those urgent features apply and the object is known to be in the external ear canal, contact the clinic first rather than booking directly.
Earwax Removal Devon’s foreign-object service is assessment-first and case by case. The clinic does not promise a method, a removal procedure or a result before the object and the ear have been assessed. [6]
When a clinic conversation may be appropriate
For a known or suspected object without the urgent features above, calling the clinic can help establish whether assessment may be appropriate. The person should be able to describe what is thought to be in the ear, whether there have been previous attempts and whether there are symptoms. This is not self-triage and it does not guarantee that removal will be within scope.
For a child, the route may be different from routine earwax care. Read Why Children Put Things in Their Ears and What to Do About It for the child-specific safety pathway.
Related guidance
Use the foreign-object decision page for the clinic’s current assessment boundary. Use NHS 111 when medical advice is needed. If no object is known, see the blocked-ear symptom guide instead of treating the sensation as a foreign-body booking.
Sources
[1] NHS: What to do if your child has an accident
[2] Great Ormond Street Hospital: Button batteries – using them safely
[3] NHS: Earache
[4] Earwax Removal Devon: Why Children Put Things in Their Ears and What to Do About It
[5] NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde: Ear foreign body referral guidance
[6] Earwax Removal Devon: Foreign Object Removal from the Ear
