Hearing health and earwax removal

This module covers the causes and assessment of hearing loss in adults. lt also looks at impacted earwax and its removal.

It will help pharmacists understand the scale of underprovision of NHS hearing health services and explain how to conduct an initial assessment of hearing impairment and also how to remove impacted earwax. 

After completing the module pharmacists will be able to prepare to set up a hearing health service. 

The module draws on material from the new (10th) edition of ‘Symptoms in the pharmacy: a guide to the management of common conditions and disease prevention’, published in March 2025.

Key facts

• Age-related hearing loss is irreversible and affects around 9 million people in the UK. A typical pharmacy will have 600 affected patients
• Irreversible hearing loss affects an estimated 42 per cent of people over 50 years of age in this country, increasing to 71 per cent in those over 70 years of age
• Impacted earwax (cerumen) is the most common cause of reversible hearing loss. An estimated 2.3 million people each year need earwax removal by a professional (around 150 patients per pharmacy)
• Demand for hearing assessment and earwax removal now greatly exceeds service capacity in the NHS.

Contributing authors: Professor Alison Blenkinsopp and Dr Martin Duerden.