MY EARACHE VANISHED IN MINUTES

For years, eleven-year-old Lee Jorbin suffered with chronic, painful earache. Recently, she began using a new Israeli device, EarDoc, which releases air and fluids trapped inside the ear, rapidly curing inflammation. Dr Aviv Hirschbin, a radiologist and specialist in dividing medicine, and businessman Amir Porat developed the device.


All her life, eleven-year-old Lee Jorbin suffered from earache. “In summer”, remembers her mother Danit, “it was because she went swimming. In winter, colds and viruses brought it on. It was a kind of ritual. Every few weeks an earache erupted and Lee would stop normal activities, including school, and lie at home in pain, waiting for the storm to blow over”. Long-term antibiotic treatment, ear rinses and other treatments failed to stop the inflammation.

A new Israeli device called EarDoc has improved the quality of Lee’s life. “EarDoc has completely changed my child’s life”, says her mother, “she uses it at when the first symptoms of earache appear, and in minutes she has relief. The device is lightweight and easy to use, so she can take it to school. If she has earache, she sits down and uses it, and after a few minutes, the pain has gone. It’s unbelievable”.

EarDoc is the brainchild of Dr Aviv Hirschbin, a radiologist and expert in diving medicine, who together with businessman Amir Porat invented the device. “Two things inspired me to invent it”, recalls Dr Hirschbin, “the first was my distress at seeing my son Itai suffering repeated earaches, and the second was my close observation of divers and the fact that 70% of them suffer from inflammation of the ear – either momentary, temporary, or chronic pain.

“As a father, I was frustrated when I tried to help Itai. I would hold him and try to soothe him. But nothing helped. He just screamed with this horrible earache. No medicine offered immediate relief, so for the first 24 hours, my child, like divers and people who experience unequal air pressure when flying, had no treatment to help him. This sparked my search for a non-invasive, non-drug solution to would provide instant relief”.

Dr Hirschbein applied his medical knowledge and began studying ear inflammation. “Inflammation” he explained, is due to blockage between the middle ear and the mouth. The external ear canal ends at the eardrum, behind which lie the ear bones whose job is to transmit the eardrum vibration to the inner ear. The middle ear cavity drains into the oral cavity through a narrow channel called the Eustachian tube. The purpose of the canal is to equalize pressure between the two sides of the eardrum and to drain fluid and mucous secretions, into the cavity.

“A body cavity that cannot drain itself is a source of infection. It is the same with the ear canal: blockage leads to inflammation causing severe pain and discomfort, mainly in children, which impairs hearing and affects the quality of life. Inflammation and edema of the mucus membrane of the middle ear are the main reason for blockage of the Eustachian tube and the build up of fluids and air in the middle ear cavity. Pressure in the middle ear cavity increasingly forces the eardrum outwards, often causing strong pain, dizziness and lack of stability”.

The popular treatment is surgery to insert grommets, which involves making small holes in the eardrum. However, this places the patient at risk of infection and only works in 2%-5% of cases. A further option is medication, though as mentioned before, this does not provide instant relief and will not solve the problem in the long-term.



“The device we invented”, explains Dr Hirschbin “creates special vibrations, which conform especially to the structure of the middle ear. Pulses are transmitted by the bone and base of the inner ear, causing the obstructed canal to vibrate, opening it immediately. Accumulated air and fluids causing the inflammation can be released through the tube to relieve pressure on the eardrum.

The patient places the device next to the outer ear. The device is constructed so that part of it presses against the ear bone. The vibration released when EarDoc is switched on forces the fluids out and drains them”.

EarDoc has been tested on 2,000 children and adults in Israel and the United States, and according to its inventors, most report instant relief.

Dr Dahlia Borner, a pediatrician in the Israeli health service, reports that a certain percentage of children develop recurring agonizing ear infections “The pus cannot be drained”, she explains, “and leads to tearing of the eardrum. Pediatricians are helpless since antibiotic treatment is not always effective and other treatments do not provide immediate and long-term relief”.

Having tried EARDOC with her patients, she reports that “it provides instant relief. I welcome the invention and recommend using it. The vibrations open the canal and let the fluids out immediately”.

The device is used when sitting or lying since the vibrations can cause loss of balance and dizziness when standing. It is applied for 2-4 minutes several times daily, as required, and to ensure the canal stays open. It can also be used when flying.

Note that EarDoc is not suitable for children under two.

“EarDoc’s action means that in some cases, patients no longer require medication”, explains Dr Hirschbin, “In other cases, it can help medication to be absorbed by reducing the edema”.