How to Use the Otoscope

The otoscope is a diagnostic medical instrument used to examine the inside of the ear and eardrum. It consists of a light source and magnifying lens connected to a handle. Clinicians commonly use the otoscope in screening for illnesses of the ear. Diseases that can be diagnosed using the otoscope include outer- and middle-ear infections, also known as otitis externa and otitis media, respectively.

Instructions

• 1

  Explain the procedure to your patient. Examine your patient's ear canals to determine what kind of speculum to use before attaching it to your otoscope. Use a narrower speculum for children, who have narrower ear canals than adults.

• 2

  Hold the otoscope with the same side hand of the ear you are checking. For example, use the right hand for the right ear for easier manipulation of the head. If you use your opposite hand (left hand to right ear) your hand will be on the patient's forehead and cause discomfort.

• 3

  Use the otoscope to look into the healthier ear first to prevent a possible spread of infection to an uninfected ear. Use the otoscope's light to examine the pinna (outer part of the ear) for abnormalities or surgical wounds.

• 4

  Guide the otoscope onto the outside canal, then toward the tympanic membrane for examination. You should look for things such as an inflamed skin canal with debris for otitis externa.

• 5

  Move the otoscope and check the malleus (hammer-shaped bone in the middle ear), then the pars tensa (drumlike structure of tympanic membrane). Start by using the otoscope to examine the lower quadrant, then look 360 degrees by going forward, downward and then backward.