It might be a surprise to many people that roughly 20% of all ear infections occur in adults. The common idea is that ear infections are something that usually affect kids. And it’s accurate that ear infections are more prevalent in children, but they also happen frequently in adults.
For adults with hearing impairments or hearing loss, ear infections can be especially inconvenient, as they can interact with hearing aids in some uncomfortable ways. Additionally, when hearing aids are not properly 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? You can, but it might not be something you want to do. Hearing aids could intensify the discomfort and swelling caused by an ear infection. But individuals who use hearing aids can take a few steps to manage and possibly prevent ear infections.
Can an ear infection be caused by hearing aids?
You might be wondering if your hearing aid is the cause of your ear infection if you’re an adult with hearing loss. The technical answer is no. But in order to get the complete picture we need to view it in greater detail.
Nearly all ear infections are caused by bacteria or a virus that gets into the ear. There are a wide variety of vectors that can result in infection. Often, a previous illness, such as a cold or sinus infection, will lead to an infection of the inner ear. An infection might be caused by fluid buildup in other instances. It’s also entirely feasible that a virus or bacteria directly infected the inner ear by physical transmission.
For people who wear hearing aids, this can be a frequent occurrence. The virus or bacteria latches onto your hearing device and, upon insertion, gains access to the inner ear. That’s why it is critical for those who have hearing loss to properly maintain and clean their devices. So the virus or bacteria is actually the cause of the infection, not the hearing aid itself. But your device may play a role in transmission.
How ear infections interact with hearing aids
So, how do ear infections and hearing aids interact? To know what to expect, it’s helpful to look at the most common symptoms of an ear infection. Generally speaking, ear infections will have the following symptoms:
- A feeling of fullness or pressure in the ears
- Tinnitus (a ringing in the ears)
- Fluid draining from the ear
- Vertigo or dizziness
- In some instances, temporary hearing loss
- Inflammation and swelling
- Ear pain
Not everyone will suffer from every symptom, of course. In the majority of cases, your infected ear will be painful and there will likely be noticeable inflammation around the inner ear. For individuals with hearing loss, these symptoms can interact unfavorably with your hearing aids. That’s because your hearing aid will most likely (at least in part) reside within the ear canal. Your hearing aids could cause added soreness as they irritate the tender inflamed infected ear.
Additionally, any in-the-canal hearing aid can stop drainage. Your infection and discomfort might last longer if fluid is stuck in your ear. The pain and pressure in your ears will be increased as a result of this. When you are wearing your hearing aid, pressure can be even more uncomfortable.
The performance of your hearing aid can also be impacted by the excess moisture. So your ears are in more pain and your hearing aid doesn’t really work 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
You may now be thinking: my hearing aids annoy me when I have an ear infection… but what can I do? There are a number of steps you can take to lower your risk of getting ear infections and to manage the discomfort that an ear infection might cause. Those steps include the following:
- Talk to your hearing specialist: If your ears start to feel better, but the discomfort from your hearing aids doesn’t go away, consider talking to us to see if you can get a better fit on your devices.
- Regularly clean your hearing aids: Keeping your device clean can lessen the chance of transmitting bacteria or viruses to your ears. If you don’t know how to clean and sanitize hearing aids, talk to us for some instruction.
- Practice good ear hygiene: This means regularly cleaning your outer ear and, generally, keeping your ears dry and clean. Do not try to stick anything in your ear, however, including cotton swabs. With a cotton swabs, your chance of developing an ear infection increases because you could jam earwax and debris further up into your ear canal. You’re trying to accomplish the exact opposite.
- Talk to your healthcare provider: If you suspect that you have an ear infection, talk to your doctor as soon as possible. The sooner you treat the ear infection, the less severe or prolonged your symptoms may be.
- Take breaks from wearing your hearing aids: You can take a break from your hearing aids for a while if you have severe or lasting pain. During this interim period, you can adopt other means of communicating with your loved ones (like texting or writing messages on a piece of paper, and so on).
You probably depend heavily on your hearing aid every day. They help you communicate with loved ones and move around the world more easily. That makes it really difficult to give up your hearing aid even for short periods. However, you will have a faster recovery from your ear infection if you take a break from wearing them until you heal up. That means you can get back to enjoying what you hear faster.
Ear infections are relatively common. But that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t seek out treatment or try to prevent them. Contact us if you’re wondering how your hearing aid use will be impacted by an ear infection.