Good intentions to keep ears clean may be risking the ability to hear. The ear is a delicate and intricate area, including the skin of the ear canal and the eardrum. Therefore, special care should be given to this part of the body. Start by discontinuing the use of cotton-tipped applicators and the habit of probing the ears.
Read MoreAcute Otitis media is an inflammation of the middle ear (the cavity between the eardrum and the inner ear). Children are more commonly affected than adults because of the small size and horizontal position of their eustachian tube (the passage that connects the back of the nose to the middle ear).
Chronic suppurative otitis media (CSOM) is a chronic inflammation of the middle ear and mastoid cavity. Clinical features are recurrent ear discharge through a tympanic perforation, with hearing loss of varying severity.
A glue ear develops when phlegm and mucus from the nose pass up the thin Eustachian tube into the middle ear. It is difficult for these thick, sticky secretions to escape through the Eustachian tube to the back of the nose, particularly if the adenoids which surround the opening of the tube in to the nose are swollen.
Read MoreAffecting the outer ear, swimmer’s ear is a painful condition resulting from inflammation, irritation, or infection. These symptoms often occur after water gets trapped in your ear, with subsequent spread of bacteria or fungal organisms.
Otosclerosis is a condition of the middle ear and mainly affects the tiny stapes bone. It causes gradual hearing loss. The term otosclerosis is derived from the Greek words for “hard” (scler-o) and “ear” (oto). It describes a condition of abnormal growth in the tiny bones of the middle ear, which leads to a fixation of the stapes bone.
A persistent, high pitched ringing, swooshing or other type of noise that seems to originate in the ear or head is called tinnitus. It is a very annoying symptom, as the noise may continue day and night without relief and drown out quieter noises that the person is trying to hear.
Read MoreMeniere’s disease is a vestibular disorder usually presenting in adults 30 to 50 years of age. The classic syptoms are episodic vertigo, low-pitched tinnitus, fluctuating low-frequency sensorineural hearing loss (SNHL) and a feeling of fullness in the affected ear.
Each year more than two million people visit a doctor for dizziness, and an untold number suffer from motion sickness, which is the most common medical problem associated with travel. Remember: Most cases of dizziness and motion sickness are mild and self-treatable disorders.
Hearing loss is the most frequently occurring birth defect, occurring more frequently than all metabolic disorders screened for at birth combined. Approximately 3 in 1000 babies are born with a mild hearing loss or greater.
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