Ear Symptoms

Deafness (including glue ear)
Fortunately, total deafness or inability to hear is really rare. Sometimes, infants are born with a complete or profound lack of hearing; some adults lose their sense of hearing, generally only in a single ear, but there are numerous causes of partial hearing loss. Old age often results in partial and gradual loss of hearing. Hearing loss is defined as a dysfunction of the inner ear due to the inability of the sound waves in the air to reach the cochlea. Sensorineural deafness occurs when there is a failure of the nerves or a part of the brain. This cannot generally be cured by surgery except for rare cochlea transplants in a few cases and requires aid from external sources like a hearing aid. Hearing loss can either be from birth, through an accident, or gradual aging effect.
1. Childhood: Early detection of hearing loss in a child is vital to ensure timely rehabilitation and proper measures not to let the deficiency hamper the child’s growth. Care should be taken to detect nerve deafness among young children so as to ensure expert help and treatment from an early age. Providentially such extreme cases are quite rare. However, Otitis media cases with effusion or Serous Otitis media, commonly called Glue Ear, are increasingly common among children. It is generally an acute condition wherein a thick fluid blocks the middle ear and prevents sound from being transmitted from the eardrum to the nerves. Headbanging, deafness to even high-pitched noises, frustration, and poor language development are some common symptoms observed among children. Watchful waiting is an effective treatment method keeping a check on timely testing and diagnosis. Examining hearing in children is a tedious and meticulous task and requires the expertise and patience of a qualified audiologist. It requires many tests to finally conclude a child has a sensorineural loss or a conductive loss and that he needs surgery or a hearing aid.
2. The Adult: Glue ear is not as common in adults as it is in children, although sporadically, some cases appear in adulthood. Experiencing hearing loss due to a cold and cough is typical, but if it persists for more extended periods, there may be a problem. In such cases, symptomatic treatment should be done regularly, and if even that doesn’t work after six to eight weeks, grommet insertion may be beneficial. Unlike children, adults can be operated over local anesthetic. Exposure to loud noises regularly, perforation of the eardrum by some sharp object, inherent condition, or scar tissue in the eardrum may all lead to hearing loss in adults. This may also lead to some serious infections and a disease called otosclerosis caused by the hardening of middle ear bones. If not treated on time, these conditions can turn serious and cause permanent damage to the ear.
3. Later years: With age, the sense of hearing starts depleting at variable rates among all individuals depending on their lifestyles among various other conditions. This loss of hearing is called presbyacusis and is worse in scenarios where there is a lot of background noise. This condition can be treated using hearing aids after precise assessment and diagnosis in most cases. Thus, it is essential to be in the hands of an able and skilled audiologist who’d carry out accurate tests jot down the possible causes, and suggest the best treatments. With the help of good hearing aids, the elderly can enjoy their life without being deprived of the little joys that they cannot experience due to their hearing impairment.
Dizziness (Vertigo)
The feeling of losing balance, spinning, or being lightheaded is generally called dizziness. One may faint as this condition affects the sensory organs ears, and eyes. It is a symptom of many diseases, including vertigo. It may be caused due to a variety of reasons like dehydration, low blood pressure, heat stroke, motion sickness, ear infection, Acute labyrinthitis, migraine, Benign paroxysmal positional vertigo (BPPV), etc. When the dizziness is caused due to disorders of the inner ear, it is a symptom of vertigo. Accurate diagnosis requires a physical examination, a historical review, an audiogram, and some more tests to precisely examine the inner ear’s function.
Treatment of this condition is cause-specific. For instance, the treatment of BPPV requires a precise Epley maneuver treatment. Physiotherapy exercises encouraging rehabilitation, the use of sedatives to help reduce the overactivity of the inner ear are some treatments for dizziness.
Tinnitus
Tinnitus is a prevalent condition that causes the sensation of ringing in the ears. Like dizziness, tinnitus isn’t itself a disease but a symptom of an underlying condition like gradual hearing loss with age, circulatory system disorder, or an ear injury. It is thus essential to study the depth of the problem and take necessary measures as this may not be a massive issue for some patients but is a real threat to others.
Ear discharge
The human ear produces an erratic amount of wax, which is generally discarded from the ear itself. The amount of wax produced varies from person to person. But when a discharge is observed from the ear apart from regular polish, it signifies an infection. It may be an infection of the outer ear’s skin called an otitis externa or a condition of the middle ear, which may have occurred due to the eardrum burst, called otitis media. Both these cases can be harrowing and require necessary treatment like anti-inflammatories, cleaning, or the use of antibiotics, be it liquid drops, ear sprays, or tablets. Sometimes an ear discharge may be noticed that is not particularly painful but is quite offensive. This may be a sign of a severe underlying condition called cholesteatoma. In this case, the skin grows into the bone of the skull and possesses life-threatening complications. It is thus, critical to diagnose and treat this condition early on. The treatment includes medicines as well as surgery in advanced conditions.

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