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ear disease
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What is an ear disease?
An ear disease refers to any disease or disorder affecting the human ear and hearing. Impaired hearing usually results from a disease or abnormality of the outer, middle, or inner ear.
Common diseases include:
* External otitis An infection of the outer-ear canal caused by microorganisms, especially in warm, humid climates and among swimmers.
* Perichondritis Infection of the cartilage of the outer ear from injury or swimming in polluted water. Prompt antibiotic treatment is necessary to prevent permanent deformity of the outer ear.
* Cysts Cysts of the ear are sacs filled with liquid or semisolid material. They are often caused by a gland that lubricates the skin behind the earlobe.
* Leprosy A rare disease today that sometimes affected the outer ear, causing a painless, slowly progressing thickening and distortion of the affected tissues.1 Britannica SourceCreated from Britannica articles using AI. AI can make mistakes, so verify using Britannica articles. -
What are the main parts of the human ear that can be affected by diseases?
The ear consists of three main parts: the outer, middle, and inner ear. Each section is susceptible to different diseases and conditions.
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Outer Ear: Diseases include infections of the skin, cartilage, glands, and hair follicles in the ear canal. The ear canal can be impaired when filled with tumors, infected material, or earwax, preventing sound from reaching the eardrum.
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Middle Ear: Acute middle-ear infections (acute otitis media) and secretory otitis media can occur. In secretory otitis media, the middle-ear cavity fills with fluid due to inadequate ventilation, causing impaired hearing.
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Inner Ear: The labyrinth in the inner ear contains the nerve endings of the vestibular and auditory nerves; inner-ear diseases may affect these nerves. Ménière disease is a disorder that affects both the vestibular and auditory nerves. Ototoxic drugs can also cause impairment of auditory nerve function.
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What are some common types of ear diseases in humans?
Ear diseases in humans can affect the outer, middle, or inner ear, leading to hearing impairment. Common types include:
- External otitis: Infection of the outer ear canal, often due to microorganisms, causing itching and drainage.
- Otitis media: Inflammation of the middle ear, very common in children, often linked to upper respiratory infections.
- Ménière disease: Inner ear disorder with excess fluid, causing vertigo and hearing impairment.
- Tinnitus: Ringing or buzzing in the ears, arising from various conditions like earwax buildup or noise exposure.
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How can ear infections affect hearing?
Ear infections, particularly those affecting the middle ear, can impact hearing by disrupting the transmission of sound. For example, in secretory otitis media, the middle-ear cavity fills with fluid, which then impedes the vibration of the eardrum and ossicles, leading to hearing impairment.
Additionally, infections can disrupt the ossicular chain, the tiny bones that carry sound vibrations, resulting in mild to severe hearing loss. Viral infections may also cause sensorineural hearing loss by affecting the auditory nerve in the inner ear.
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What symptoms might someone have if they develop an ear disease?
Ear diseases can manifest in various ways, impacting hearing and balance. Symptoms may include hearing impairment, tinnitus (ringing or buzzing in the ears), and vertigo (dizziness).
Infections of the outer ear may cause itching, tenderness, drainage, and, if the ear canal becomes blocked, impaired hearing. An unusual infection of the cartilage of the outer ear, called perichondritis, can result in a tender, dusky red ear, two to three times its normal thickness, along with a greenish or brownish discharge. Meniere disease, affecting the inner ear, can cause recurring vertigo, fluctuating hearing impairment, sound distortion, and a feeling of fullness in the ear.
In some instances, yellowish-green fluid seeping out of the ear can be a symptom of a middle ear infection.
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How can people prevent and treat ear diseases?
Ear diseases can be prevented and treated through different methods depending on the type and cause of the disease.
To prevent ear diseases, the rubella vaccine can prevent deafness in newborns if the mother contracts German measles during pregnancy. Early detection and routine hearing tests can help prevent nerve damage caused by excessive noise exposure.
Treatment varies depending on the cause of the hearing loss. Outer-ear canal infections can be treated by a physician through cleaning, antiseptic or antibiotic eardrops, and avoiding swimming. Perichondritis, an infection of the cartilage of the outer ear, requires prompt antibiotic treatment to prevent permanent deformity of the outer ear. In cases of hearing loss due to problems with sound conduction, surgery can often correct the defect and restore hearing.
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ear disease, any of the diseases or disorders that affect the human ear and hearing.
Impaired hearing is, with rare exception, the result of disease or abnormality of the outer, middle, or inner ear. Serious impairment of hearing at birth almost always results from a dysfunction of the auditory nerve and cannot be improved by medical or surgical treatment. In early and late childhood the most frequent cause for impaired hearing is poor functioning of the eustachian tubes with the accumulation of a clear, pale yellowish fluid in the middle-ear cavity, a disorder called serous, or secretory, otitis media. In early and middle adult life the usual cause for progressive impairment of hearing is otosclerosis. The usual cause of hearing loss after the age of 60 is presbycusis, a disorder that results from the aging process.
In most cases when loss of hearing is due to a problem with sound conduction, surgical restoration can correct the defect and restore hearing. When loss of hearing is the result of nerve damage, however, surgery is not of use. Medical treatment of auditory nerve damage is helpful only in rare cases—e.g., when the loss is due to syphilis or an early case of Ménière disease or in some instances when zinc deficiency is the underlying cause.
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More important than a cure for auditory nerve damage is prevention. Cases of deafness in the newborn due to rubella (German measles) in the mother can be averted with the rubella vaccine. Nerve damage caused by exposure to excessive and prolonged noise is preventable by early detection. One approach is to give routine hearing tests to individuals who work in environments where excessive noise is unavoidable.
The incidence of impaired hearing in the general population depends on the degree of hearing loss defined as impaired (see ear: The physiology of hearing: Hearing tests: Audiometry). According to U.S. statistics, by age 6, 0.2 percent of all children have impaired hearing in one or both ears that is sufficient to warrant consultation of an ear specialist. By age 18 the number of children with hearing loss sufficient to require diagnostic examination reaches 2.5 to 3 percent. By age 65 the number of adults with a recognizable hearing impairment reaches 5 percent. After age 65 the incidence of impaired hearing rises rapidly. About 30 to 35 percent of individuals between the ages of 65 and 75 and 40 percent of those older than 75 are affected by hearing loss.
Comparable figures from Great Britain show that 1 in 6 persons is estimated to have some hearing difficulty, but only one-fourth of these have any real handicap, with one-third of this latter group needing hearing aids and 1 in 20 being deaf to all speech and beyond help with a hearing aid. Of British children, 1 in 1,000 is severely deaf, and as many as 7 per 1,000 are estimated to have a level of impairment that requires some form of help.
The structure and function of the human auditory and vestibular systems are treated in the following sections from the ear article: Anatomy of the human ear, The physiology of hearing, and The physiology of balance. This article deals with the more important diseases and disorders of the outer, middle, and inner ear.
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Outer ear
Diseases of the outer ear are those that afflict skin, cartilage, and the glands and hair follicles in the outer-ear canal. The sound-transmitting function of the outer ear is impaired when the ear canal becomes filled with tumour, infected material, or earwax (cerumen), so that sound cannot reach the tympanic membrane, or eardrum. The most common diseases of the outer ear are briefly described in the following paragraphs.