Retained Hearing Aid Tip

A 57-year-old male presents to urgent care with an ear complaint. This image is obtained. What is your diagnosis? The patient has a hearing aid tip in his external ear canal. Foreign bodies in the ear canal are a common presentation to the clinic. Besides hearing aid tips, it is common to see insects (ants, flies, ticks), beads, earrings, and popcorn kernels. The Wispr digital otoscope is very helpful in identifying the object and planning for its removal. In this case, the hearing aid tip was uneventfully removed with forceps. WiscMed thanks Dr. Brittany Glenn of Cali Quick Urgent Care for this interesting case.