Just to add my two cents, it is possible (though not certain) that microsuction is responsible for the moderate hearing loss and consequent tinnitus in my left ear. My story is this: in 2013, at the age 43, I had been afflicted with successive episodes of muffled hearing in my left ear due to wax build up. I went to a walk-in clinic and the doctor did a simple irrigation procedure that removed the wax. She recommended that in future I pour a small quantity of mineral oil into the affected ear and to let it settle a while and then to gently rinse it with lukewarm water using a plastic syringe. A few months after this visit I once again was troubled with muffled hearing in the same ear. Following her instructions, I purchased the items she recommended and applied them as instructed. Unfortunately, and very stupidly on my part, instead of gently irrigating the ear once with the warm water, I did it several times, thereby pushing wax far back inside the canal. The result was a maddening and constant series of loud and atonal noises, evidently caused by the wax pressing up against the ear drum. After unsuccessful attempts by myself and family doctor to remove the wax with further irrigation, I was recommended to a local ENT. After a wait of several weeks (during which I thought I would go mad) the day of the appointment arrived. The ENT examined the affected ear and explained, as I mentioned above, that fragments of the wax had been pushed far up into the canal and was brushing against the drum, hence the atonal noises. After some ineffectual attempts to remove the wax with an instrument, he insisted that the only means he could do so was with microsuction, a procedure I had never heard of before. He did not caution before hand that there were any risks involved, of that I am certain. I gave myself entirely into his hands. The procedure was extremely uncomfortable and rather painful; indeed, I felt as if he were sucking my brains out through my ear! It was discomfort that I recollect as most distressing, not the noise involved in the procedure. After some minutes, I noticed a cessation in the atonal noises, for which I was extremely grateful. He shook my hand and announced the procedure a success. On leaving the office, however, I now noticed a new sensation, quite different and less obtrusive than the atonal sounds mentioned above. It was a contant high-pitch whstle accompanied by a dull roar. Thinking it might go away in an hour or two, I went home. Well, here I am four years later and it has never stopped! Some days, it is quite debilitating, others it is simply tolerable. I subsequently became the patient of another ENT and discovered that I have moderate hearing loss in the left ear, which accounts for the tinnitus. But I can never be certain whether or not the hearing loss (and consequent tinnitus) was due to my own clumsy attempts at irrigation, or was caused by the microsuction. I strongly suspect it was the latter, due to the extreme discomfort involved. Curiously, my present ENT prefers to remove ear wax entirely by hand and performs neither irrigation nor microsuction (though he is rather vague when asked the reason why).
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