June 18, 2022

A 17-year-old male with no past medical history presents to the ED with a complaint of right ear fullness and hearing loss which has been present for the last month. He reports that he tried to clean out his ear 3 days ago with a cotton-tipped swab but has had worsening of the pain and hearing loss after attempting this. HEENT exam reveals normal external auditory canal and tympanic membrane on the left, but you are unable to visualize the right tympanic membrane due to cerumen impaction. What is the next step in management of this patient?