Question 1

What are the advantages of the 4th generation one over the 3rd generation one?

Accepted Answer

The company's answer to this question convinced me to purchase this item. However, my 4th gen unit came with damaged lenses that appeared to be plastic. I'm returning it.

Question 2

Can you see middle ear/water in it with this Otoscope?

Accepted Answer

Barracuda,From what I know (I'm not an expert) when the middle ear is filled with fluid, it will appear bloated or mis-shapen. You can do a simple google image search and see lots of photos for a mental image. (thats what I did for self education on what to look for) To answer your question though, yes, you can see with this otoscope. However there are a few things you need to be sure of first. Most children's ears are clogged to some extent or another with ear wax. No matter how hard I try to clean their ears (delicately) with q-tips the ear wax is "always" present. If I check my husbands ear its clear as day I can see straight to the middle ear, with the kids however I always need to do clean up first. My doctor gave me a syringe that has a soft flexible tube attachment where the needle would usually attach. I heat water to a boil for sterilization and then let it sit until it becomes luke warm. Its important that the water is just luke warm because if its hot the inner ear is very sensitive and can get burned even if that water wouldn't burn your outer skin. Its equally important to make sure the water is not cold because that will cause headaches and vomiting. If the water in my bowl cools off too much I'll just add a tad of the boiling water to warm it right back up. I typically will do this in the bath tub since its not an issue of getting everything wet. I pull back just slightly on the earlobe and fill the syringe (its very very large) with the warm water and allow the soft tubing to sit inside the ear and just spray like you would a water gun. It may take 5 trys or 15 trys but the ear was softens and comes flushing out with the water. I then take a ear pick (you can buy them online) and take care of any additional wax that might be stuck to the walls of the ear canal and clean it all up. Once that is all done I have a clean view to the inner ear. The light is strong enough to see discoloration. I'm not a skilled physician so I doubt I could spot a very mild discoloration but nonetheless I can see it if its distinct enough for my eye to detect it. Doctor's offices have the type of otoscope that can blow a small amount of air onto the inner ear while they're looking at it. If the air pushes the inner ear tissue back that means all is well and if the inner ear tissue doesn't move that means there's fluid present. That type of otoscope is very expensive and not something I could afford. Another thing to keep in mind is that most common ear infections are viral (meaning they will clear themselves up) within several days. When you have an ear infection that lasts longer than 5-7 days and continues to get worse rather than better than that is an indication that the infection is bacterial and will require antibiotics. These however are more rare and so for me it was another reason why I felt having an otoscope on hand to monitor was necessary. If my children did indeed develop an ear infection I would not take them to the doctor immediately (not with my children but every child is different and only you know their medical history and risk to make that judgement) because taking antibiotics when the ear infection is viral and is not in need of antibiotics only worsens your childs chances of developing a more aggressive bacteria later on. Doctors 9 times out of 10 will prescribe antibiotics even though its not clear if the infection is viral or bacterial because to be certain they would have to run a sample test and that is rare and only done on severe cases so they go by what the parents want most of the time. Unfortunately if your like most parents you just want you baby better the quickest way possible and if you're uneducated on the details of most ailments then we spring for the "yes" on antibiotics. When we take them the bacteria that lives within us gets smarter and more resistant to that medicine next time. Same way if I took 2 advils every day for months then shortly later I would have to start upping the dose for it to be effective and so on and so on and so on. You might already know all this and if so I dont mean to ramble on. I went through a learning curve after my sons hospital visit and learned things I never thought of looking into before. I hope this has been helpful and good luck with your child's care!

Question 3

Does this come with pediatric specula that would fit a 2 yr old and a 10 month old? If not which ones should I buy?

Accepted Answer

It comes with two sizes, one small and one large.  The small one works fine for young children.  I have a 20 month old, and a 2 month old and it works on both of them.

Question 4

I would like to use reuseable specula, is this possible?

Accepted Answer

We use the same one over and over since we are only checking one set of ears, mine, and they are not infected. We use to see if I have ear wax. Comes with some extra specula's.

ASIN	B00AJDZJCW
Best Sellers Rank	#716 in Industrial & Scientific ( See Top 100 in Industrial & Scientific ) #1 in Otoscopes
Date First Available	February 14, 2011
Item Weight	8.8 ounces
Item model number	BCBI10052
Manufacturer	Doctor Mom Otoscope
Product Dimensions	15 x 15 x 15 inches

4th Generation Doctor Mom LED Pocket Pro Otoscope with Both Adult and Pediatric Disposable Specula Tips, Battery, and Protective Hard Plastic Case

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