The feeling of fullness of the ear has many causes. Often the cause lies in the outer ear, for instance ear wax or inflammation of the outer ear.
However, the cause can also lie in the middle or inner ear.
Ear wax is removed by different methods, while inflammation of the outer ear requires treatment, among others by aspiration of the ear contents, inserting medication into the ear with the help of a swab etc.
If during the examination no contents are found in the outer ear, but the patient has complaints, a complete examination of the entire ENT region is needed, including examination of the nose and the nasal part of the throat (nasopharynx, epipharynx) where the opening of the hearing tube is located.
For this examination a flexible fiberendoscope may be needed, which enables comfortable, painless examination of the posterior parts of the nose and ear tubes through the nose, after which the findings are photo-documented.
Further, the examination may include tympanometry (which can detect changes in the middle ear pressure, fluid in the middle ear etc.), reflexometry and hearing measurement.
It is extremely important not to neglect this problem, even if there are no contents in the outer ear, to avoid overlooking of acute hearing loss, which requires quick and active treatment.