ear disease

Introduction
Outer ear
- Infections and injuries
  - Frostbite
  - Hematoma
  - Perichondritis
  - External otitis
  - Boil in the ear (furuncle)
  - Erysipelas of the outer ear
  - Leprosy
  - Osteoma of the bony ear canal
  - Cyst of the ear
  - Keloid of the ear
- Deformities
  - Absence of the outer ear
  - Lop ear
- Other ailments
  - Eczema
  - Impacted earwax
- Cancer of the outer ear
Middle ear
- Acute middle-ear infection
  - Secretory otitis media
  - Aero-otitis media
- Chronic middle-ear infection
- Ossicular interruption
- Otosclerosis
Inner ear
- Nerve deafness
  - Congenital nerve deafness
  - Viral nerve deafness
- Effects of injury and trauma
  - Ototoxic drugs
  - Skull fracture and concussion
  - Exposure to noise
- Inflammation and tumour
  - Labyrinthitis
  - Acoustic neuroma
- Ménière disease
- Presbycusis
Rehabilitation

References & Edit History Related Topics

Images & Videos

Cross-section diagram of the human ear showing the outer ear, middle ear, and inner ear, with labeled parts including the auricle, auditory canal, tympanic membrane, ossicles, cochlea, semicircular canals, and nerves.

Black-and-white photo of a man in a suit plugging his ears with his fingers. An orange polka dot pattern is behind his head.

Quizzes

44 Questions from Britannica’s Most Popular Health and Medicine Quizzes

Related Questions

At what ages does otosclerosis usually begin?
How are newborns screened for hearing loss using otoacoustic emissions?
How can a small tube in the eardrum help ventilate the middle ear?
How can an audiogram help identify the cause of hearing loss?
How can an eardrum perforation occur during otitis media?
How can chronic otitis media with effusion develop?
How can earwax block sound from reaching the eardrum?
How can excessive noise damage hearing?
How can inner-ear disorders affect hearing and balance?
How can middle-ear disorders affect the movement of sound?
How can problems in the outer ear reduce hearing?
How can routine hearing tests help protect workers exposed to loud noise?
How can rubella during pregnancy cause hearing loss in a newborn?
How do doctors use the eardrum to diagnose otitis media?
How do the Rinne test and Weber test help distinguish types of hearing loss?
How do warm and humid conditions increase the risk of outer-ear canal infections?
How does a stapedectomy improve hearing in people with otosclerosis?
How does an upper respiratory infection spread to the middle ear?
How does auditory brainstem response testing measure hearing in infants?
How does cholesteatoma develop in the middle ear?
How does otosclerosis prevent the stapes from transmitting sound?
How does secretory otitis media cause painless hearing loss?
How does tympanometry detect fluid behind the eardrum?
How does visual reinforcement audiometry test hearing in toddlers?
How long do Ménière disease attacks usually last?
What can block the eustachian tube and lead to secretory otitis media?
What does an air-bone gap on an audiogram show?
What serious complications can result from an untreated cholesteatoma?
What symptoms can occur with otitis externa?
Who was Prosper Ménière?
Why are antibiotics not needed when secretory otitis media has no infection?
Why are swimmers more likely to develop external otitis?
Why can otosclerosis cause conductive hearing loss?
Why can poor eustachian tube function cause hearing problems in children?
Why can surgery improve some forms of conductive hearing loss?
Why can swelling in the outer-ear canal cause temporary hearing loss?
Why can untreated middle-ear infections lead to mastoiditis or meningitis?
Why does otosclerosis often affect one ear before the other?
Why does presbycusis become more common after age 60?

Health & Medicine Conditions & Diseases Diseases of the Senses

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External Websites

The Nemours Foundation - For Kids - What Is an Ear Infection?

ear disease

human

Written by

George E. Shambaugh

Professor of Otolaryngology, Northwestern University, Chicago. Chief Editor, Archives of Otolaryngology, 1960–70. Author of Surgery of the Ear.

George E. Shambaugh

Fact-checked by

Britannica Editors

Encyclopaedia Britannica's editors oversee subject areas in which they have extensive knowledge, whether from years of experience gained by working on that content or via study for an advanced degree....

Britannica Editors

History

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...

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