Dr Nirmal Patel, Ear Surgeon, gave a talk at the National GP Conference in Sydney on the Blocked Ear and Cholesteatoma. The meeting was attended by over 6000 delegates.
Nirmal’s talk focused on the common symptom of a blocked ear and how this may represent potentially serious conditions such as cholesteatoma and acoustic tumours. A PDF summary of the talk is here:
Blocked_Ear_Cholesteatoma_Nirmal_Patel_Sydney
Recent improvements in hearing implant technology have relaxed the indicators for hearing implant candidacy. Most cochlear implant recipients are now adults whose hearing aids are not working well for them.
When your patient’s hearing aids are only allowing them to hear 70% of words in their better hearing ear and 40% of words in their worse hearing ear, then patients could be considered candidates for cochlear implants.
Our Norwest ENT Group ear surgeon, Dr Nirmal Patel is now the surgical director at the Northside Cochlear Implant Clinic, which is a specialist adult cochlear implant clinic servicing Northern Sydney, Northern Beaches, Northwest Sydney and greater NSW.
For patients that have appropriate private health insurance, once the Northside Cochlear Implant Clinic team are engaged for the implant service; the implant, surgery and one year of aftercare are completely covered by Medicare and health funds.
Sometimes, if your patient’s hearing aids are not working well and they are looking for an upgrade, it may be far more inexpensive for them to consider cochlear implantation than a new set of hearing aids!
For more information on the Northside Cochlear Implant Clinic, in Sydney and its cochlear implant services please visit: