What are Ear Diseases?

Today, more and more people turn to hearing aids and digital hearing aids for assistance in hearing well. Wearing hearing aids could be due to a number of reasons, including total or partial hearing loss caused by an accident, birth defects or because of ear diseases.

There are many types of ear diseases that can affect anyone of us, which if have gone unnoticed, could cause serious problems which could affect hearing, thereby bringing about the need for hearing aids.

There’s otitis externa or outer ear infection which happens due to the inflammation of the ear canal skin. It can be a result of skin condition like eczema; presence of fungal infection; presence of bacterial or viral infection; irritation of the lining of the ear canal due to scratching or continuous use of cotton bud. It is also linked to warm temperatures, high humidity, local trauma, swimming, and use of hearing aid and hearing protector.

The early signs of this infection include itchiness or discharge of white watery substance indicating fungal infection. Said discharged may dry overnight. Usually, there is little or lack of hearing loss. This kind of otitis externa likewise is called the swimmer's ear. This infection is normally indicated by continuous itching of the outer lining of the ear.

Another sign of this infection is a pus-like discharge indicative of viral or bacterial infection. Usually the outer ear and the ear canal suffer from redness and swellings. Other symptoms of the viral and bacterial infection are continuous draining from Eustachian tube all the way to the back part of the throat; and headaches.

Another type of ear disease is the otitis media or the Middle Ear Infection, usually resulting from bacterial or viral infection. Some of the common symptoms of infection of the middle ear are headache, earache, fever, mild deafness, discharge from ear, loss of appetite, and difficulty in sleeping.

Mastoid Infection or Mastoiditis is yet another form of ear disease. The mastoid is a portion of the skull made up of bones just behind the ear. An infection of the air cells located in the mastoid bones is Mastoiditis. Symptoms of this disease are swelling and reddening of the area behind the ear. A middle ear infection that is left untreated may cause this ear disease. When the infection is blocked in the mastoid bone part, the infection becomes mastoiditis.

Meanwhile, cholesteatoma happens when the skin from the inner portion of the tympanic membrane mixes with the ear wax, penetrating the open hole located in the eardrum and failing to drain the Eustachian tube. Accumulation of wax and dead skin cells results to the formation of a cyst-like mass known as cholesteatoma. Once the mass grows bigger and is left untreated, the mass can exert pressure on the surrounding areas of the ear like the ossicles and the eardrum.

Yet another ear disease is otosclerosis, the most common cause of hearing loss in the US. This disease begins when a spongy and bone-like tissue, otosclerosis, grows at an area where the third middle ear bone gathers the cochlea’s oval window. When this growth furthers, it prevents the otosclerosis from moving well.

Lastly, there’s Ménière's Disease which is a disorder of the inner ear and brings immediate episodes of vertigo lasting anywhere from a few minutes to a couple of hours. Patients can experience persistent loss in hearing and tinnitus affecting the ear.

All of these ear diseases could affect the hearing capability of an individual. The damage could be severe or in some fortunate cases, just slight. For those individuals who sustained severe damages, more often than not, hearing aids become the best way to go. With all the options and types of hearing aids and digital hearing aids in the market, it is quite easy to find one that would fit the needs of the individual who will be using it. Hearing aids have been considered to be extremely helpful in bringing a person’s sense of hearing back, letting him enjoy the beautiful sounds of life.