Head, Ear and Eye Assessment - Essay Example

"Head, Ear and Eye Assessment" is an excellent example of a paper on symptoms.
The patient is a 46-year-old woman. She complains of progressive ear pain with a purulent discharge, alongside itchiness or ear fullness. She as well complains of mild headaches and hotness inside the year.

Objective data

The patient appears her stated age. She is alert, conscious, and answers all questions correctly. Her skin is white with an even tone and no visible lesion. She has a pale, gloomy face that looks distressed. Her height is five feet, six inches. She weighs one hundred and sixty-two pounds. She has an asymmetric cranium that is suitably correlated to her body size. The Head scalp has no lesions or lumps, and hair is evenly distributed. The temporal area moves smoothly, with no limitations or tenderness. Her facial features are symmetrical. The eyebrow is complete and proportioned to each other; the eyelashes are full and consistently dispersed, her nose is in the middle line with no blister or redness. Her vision is standard, with an acuity of 20\20. Her eyeballs are ordinarily aligned in the sockets, not protruding or sunken look.

Subjective data

One of her ears appears red. She complains of sharp aches that are constant and itchiness deep inside the ear. The external ear canal is inflamed with redness and swollen. There is the presence of liquid pus-like discharge oozing from the ear. She has no difficulty in hearing but feels hot inside the ear. The pain is intense when she changes the position or bends the heads on one side. She is asthmatic and portrays symptoms of a cold. She has no history of injury on or in the ear nor the side of the head and no trauma. She has taken pain relievers to reduce the pain. 

The patient has a childhood history of infections otitis to be precise, which recurrent approximately after three months or with changes in seasons and runs in the family. She was treated using antibiotic drops for the bacterial contagion; corticosteroid drops to lessen the swelling, acidic drops to help kill the bacteria, and codeine painkillers. However, many years have passed since she experienced the ailment. The pain started three days ago, mildly, and later intensified. She worked in the manufacturing industry for years, thus being exposed to extreme noises.

Actual and potential risks

The patient is most likely suffering from otitis externa that is according to the symptoms she displays as well as her history. Though problems linked with otitis externa are not common, there's a slight danger of additional complications emerging. They include abscesses filled with pus that may develop around and inside the sick ear. Chronic otitis externa may result in the buildup of dense and parched skin in the ear canal, thus narrowing (stenosis), which can as well affect an individual’s earshot and, in some cases cause deafness. The infection can extend to the eardrum and cause a buildup of pus in the inner part of the ear hence rupturing the eardrum. It is identified as a perforated eardrum. Otitis externa can also result in Cellulitis, a bacterial skin contagion that usually lives inoffensively on the top layer of the skin. It enters into the deeper layers of the skin via impaired parts, like those affected by otitis externa. Finally, it can result in malignant otitis, an impediment of otitis externa. The infection extends to the bone surrounding the ear canal. If not treated, it can be terminal. Nonetheless, it may be successfully cured by taking antibiotics and operations to eliminate the damaged tissues.