Often experience a sharp pain in your ears that keeps you awake all night or have muffled hearing. Or your child is complaining and suffering from Ear Infections. So whether you’re a parent dealing with a crying toddler or an adult struggling with muffled hearing, this widespread ear problem affects millions every year. And let’s get to know the most common diseases of the Ear , it’s symptoms, treatment and preventions:-
1. Otitis Media
Otitis media is the most commonly found ear disease. It is an infection in the form of inflammation of the middle ear and mostly affects children. The symptoms of this disease include extreme ear pain especially when lying down,hearing problems, and sometimes fever along with Fluid drainage from the ear, hearing loss or muffled hearing and a feeling of fullness in the ear.
Often gets cured by itself for mild cases and for severe cases treatments include antibiotics and pain relievers.
Ways to Prevent:
- Avoid exposure to cigarette smoke.
- Get vaccinated (flu and pneumococcal vaccines reduce infection risk).
- Practice good hand hygiene to prevent infections.
- Breastfeeding (for infants) helps strengthen immunity.
2. Otitis Externa
Otitis externa is commonly known as Swimmer’s Ear. It is an infection or inflammation of the outer ear canal. This happens when water gets trapped in the ear, creating a moist environment where bacteria and fungi grow.
Other causes include excess moisture in the ears due to swimming, sweating, or showering.Ear canal injuries from cotton swabs, fingernails, hearing aids, or earbuds and skin conditions like eczema or psoriasis in the ear canal.
Symptoms of Otitis Externa includes itching inside the ear accompanied with mild discomfort and redness and slight swelling. And in more advanced stages it includes severe pain, especially when touching or moving the ear ,yellow, green, or bloody discharge and swollen lymph nodes near the ear accompanied with fever.
For mild cases ear drops and pain relievers like ibuprofen and acetaminophen works for pain relief. For moderate to Severe Cases. Prescribed antibiotic and antifungal drops
or oral antibiotics are given. Doctors also carry out ear cleaning if there is excessive discharge or blockage.
Prevention of Otitis Externa
– Keep ears dry after swimming or bathing and use a towel or tilt your head to drain out water.
– Avoid inserting objects cotton swabs, fingers, or hairpins as it has risk to damage the ear canal.
– Use earplugs when swimming in pools, lakes, or oceans this helps in keeping you safe from infections.
– If you have eczema or allergies avoid scratching the ear canal.
– After swimming, use preventive ear drops to evaporate moisture and prevent bacterial growth.
- Tinnitus
Tinnitus is the perception of noise for e.g., ringing, buzzing, or hissing in the ears without an external sound source.
This happens mostly due to hearing loss for age-related or noise-induced.It can also occur if earwax builds up or due to Exposure to loud noises.Symptoms may be constant or intermittent.
Treatment for this condition includes Medications like aspirin, certain antibiotics and addressing the underlying cause like removing earwax or treating infections. Even Sound therapy or hearing aids to mask the noise helps.
- Cerumen Impaction
Earwax (cerumen) is a natural substance that protects the ear, but excessive buildup and overproduction causes blockage leading to cerumen impaction.It can also happen due to improper cleaning e.g., using cotton swabs, which push wax deeper.People with Narrow ear canals have slightly higher chances of this risk.
Symptoms include hearing loss or muffled hearing, Ear ache, ringing in the ear and coughing due to stimulation of the ear canal.
Treatments for this condition popularly include Ear Wax softening drops, Irrigation of the ears i.e. flushing the ear with warm water.
- Hearing Loss
Hearing loss is caused by problems in the outer or middle ear that blocks sound conduction in the inner ear. Hearing loss is a partial or total inability to hear sounds in one or both ears.This can be categorised into two types:
Conductive Hearing Loss: This occurs due to Earwax blockage, otitis media, eardrum perforation, or otosclerosis.
Sensorineural Hearing Loss: Mostly affecting due to Aging , noise exposure, infections, or genetic factors.
The symptoms mainly include difficulty in hearing conversations, especially in noisy environments. Often requiring to increase the volume on devices.
Treatment for this include removing earwax or treat infections and Hearing aids or cochlear implants.
Prevention Tips for Ear Diseases:
- Avoid inserting objects into the ear.
- Dry ears thoroughly after swimming or showering.
- Protect ears from loud noises with earplugs or earmuffs.
- Treat upper respiratory infections promptly.
- Vaccinate against pneumococcal and influenza infections to reduce the risk of otitis media.
Hence if you think you are facing any of these whether it’s a stubborn ear infection, unexplained hearing loss, or persistent ringing in your ears, ignoring symptoms can lead to bigger issues down the road. And an early treatment from a qualified General Practitioner Men’s Health near you can make all the difference. So book your appointment soon and secure a healthier tomorrow.
