It might be a surprise to many people that roughly 20% of all ear infections happen to adults. The common notion is that ear infections are something that usually impact kids. And it’s true that ear infections are more common in children, but they also happen frequently in adults.
Ear infections can be especially uncomfortable for individuals with hearing loss because they can interfere with their hearing aids. Additionally, when hearing aids are not correctly maintained, they can become a vehicle for ear infection-causing diseases.
So is it a bad plan to use hearing aids with an ear infection? Overall, the answer is yes, but you may not want to. Ear infections can cause considerable swelling and discomfort in the ear, and your hearing aids may worsen those symptoms. However, there are some steps that people who use hearing aids can take to help avoid and manage ear infection symptoms.
Can an ear infection be caused by hearing aids?
If you’re an adult with hearing impairment and you start to notice the symptoms of an ear infection, you might begin to wonder: did my hearing aids cause my ear infection? The technical answer is no. But more detail is required to understand the complete story.
Almost all ear infections are caused by bacteria or a virus that gets into the ear. There are a wide variety of vectors that can lead to infection. Sometimes, an earlier illness, like a cold or sinus infection, will lead to an infection of the inner ear. In other situations, fluid accumulation might lead to an infection. It’s also entirely feasible that a virus or bacteria directly infected the inner ear by physical transmission.
This can happen with some frequency to individuals who wear hearing aids. The virus or bacteria hitches a ride on your hearing device and, upon insertion, gains access to the inner ear. Proper hearing aid cleaning and maintenance is essential for this reason. So the virus or bacteria is really the cause of the infection, not the hearing aid itself. But your hearing aid is involved in this transmission.
Interactions between hearing aids and ear infections
So, how do ear infections and hearing aids interact? To know what to expect, it’s useful to look at the most prevalent symptoms of an ear infection. Here are several of the most prevalent symptoms of ear infections:
- Ear pain
- Dizziness or vertigo
- Fluid draining from the ear
- Temporary loss of hearing in some cases
- Ringing in the ears (tinnitus)
- Swelling and inflammation
- Ear pressure or a feeling of fullness
Not everyone will suffer from every symptom, of course. In most cases, your infected ear will hurt and there will likely be obvious inflammation around the inner ear. For those with hearing loss, these symptoms can interact unfavorably with your hearing aids. That’s because the hearing aid goes inside the infected ear (at least some of it). Your hearing aids may cause added soreness as they aggravate the tender inflamed infected ear.
Also, with a hearing aid that goes primarily inside the ear canal, fluid drainage can be blocked. When fluids can’t drain, your discomfort might become prolonged. This will also increase the pressure (and pain) you feel in your ears. When you are wearing your hearing aid, pressure can be even more uncomfortable.
This added moisture can also impair the function of your hearing aid. So your ears are in more pain and your hearing aid isn’t really working as well as it should. Which means that wearing hearing aids when you have an ear infection can be a downright miserable time.
Solutions to wearing hearing aids with an ear infection
So what can you do if your hearing aids are annoying you while you have an ear infection? There are a number of steps you can take to lower your risk of developing ear infections and to address the discomfort that an ear infection might cause. Those steps include the following:
- Practice good ear hygiene: This means regularly cleaning your outer ear and, generally, keeping your ears clean and dry. Do not try to stick any object in your ear, however, including cotton swabs. Using cotton swabs can drive earwax and other debris further into your ear, increasing your risk of developing an infection. This is the exact opposite of what you’re likely trying to accomplish.
- Talk to your hearing specialist: Think about coming in to have your hearing aid re-fit if your ear infection clears but your hearing aid is still uncomfortable.
- Regularly clean your hearing aids: Keeping your device clean can decrease the chance of transmitting bacteria or viruses to your ears. Ask us for help if you’re not certain how to properly clean and sanitize your hearing aids.
- Talk to your healthcare provider: If you think that you have an ear infection, talk to your doctor as soon as you can. Treating a hearing aid as soon as possible will reduce the chance of it becoming severe or prolonged.
- Take breaks from wearing your hearing aids: If the pain is prolonged or significant, it’s okay to take a break from wearing your hearing aid until your ears feel better. During this time off, you can adopt other means of communicating with your loved ones (such as texting or writing messages on a piece of paper, and so on).
Hearing aids are most likely an essential part of your everyday life. They help you navigate your world more easily and have better communication with your friends and family. That makes it really hard to give up your hearing aid even for short periods. However, taking a break from your hearing aids while you have an ear infection can help you recuperate from your sickness more quickly and more comfortably. That means you can get back to enjoying what you hear faster.
It’s not unusual for people to get ear infections. But that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t seek out treatment or try to prevent them. If you have questions about how ear infections may affect your hearing aid use, give us a call today.