Pain inside the ear

Pain inside the ear is often quite severe, it leads to a significant decrease in work capacity, and its complications are fraught with serious consequences.

[ 1 ], [ 2 ], [ 3 ]

Diseases that cause pain inside the ear

If you experience pain in your ear, you should immediately make an appointment with a doctor; in exceptional cases, you can even call an ambulance. These frequent "ear problems" can be caused by many factors. The most common of them include:

• Otitis (middle, external);
• Injuries and foreign bodies;
• Inflammation of the tonsils;
• "Cork"

[ 4 ], [ 5 ], [ 6 ], [ 7 ], [ 8 ]

Otitis

This is the name for ear inflammation. There are several types of this disease:

• If the middle ear is inflamed, the disease is called otitis media. This is probably the most common cause of complaints among patients of ENT doctors. It is brought into the body from the nose and throat by viruses and bacteria. This problem is most often found in children, but adults can also be found among patients. Often, the accompanying syndrome is an increase in temperature.

Treatment of the disease usually comes down to taking antibiotics and antiseptics. Physiotherapy and compresses are often used. It is also advisable to stay in bed;

• When problems with the ear canal (otitis externa) occur, redness and swelling are observed, which are not so difficult to notice. In addition to pain, the ear may itch.

You can get rid of this problem with the help of gauze swabs soaked in alcohol (70%), compresses and physiotherapy.

• Particularly severe complications may arise with inflammation of the inner ear. In such cases, bed rest and antibacterial treatment are necessary. If this does not bring any effect, surgical intervention is possible.

However, even with a normal temperature and no intense pain, you should consult an ENT specialist, because its complications are fraught with hearing loss. And be prepared for the fact that you will only be able to get rid of otitis in one and a half to two weeks.

Trauma and foreign bodies

This problem also often concerns children, who can, when playing with small things, stick one of them into the ear, which results in inflammation of the organ and hearing loss. It is also possible for an insect to get into the ear canal.

In each of these cases, you should not try to remove the interfering object from yourself or your child. You must immediately go to the doctor! In cases where living organisms penetrate the ear, and the integrity of the eardrum is preserved, it is often enough to just pour slightly heated (up to 37 degrees) alcohol into the damaged organ, after which the dead insect can be easily washed out with water released from a syringe. If the objects are “inanimate”, special tweezers are used to remove them.

If you receive an ear injury after a blow or fall, specialist assistance should also be urgent! After all, the consequences of such injuries are bleeding, noise, and acute pain in the ear. To avoid complications, first tilt your head to the injured side, cover the ear with a sterile bandage and call an ambulance.

Inflammation of the tonsils

Everyone knows it under the guise of angina. The pain sensations spread to the palate, throat, ear. The cause of this common disease is in most cases the patient's reduced immunity. In addition to pain in the specified organs, there are complaints of apathy, lethargy, difficulty swallowing, eating.

Treatment of tonsillitis involves the use of antibiotics, as well as the use of various procedures, such as rinsing the tonsils.

Sulfur plug

It is also one of the fairly common complaints when visiting an ENT doctor. It is usually caused by poor hygiene, a predisposition consisting of excessive secretion of sulfur by special glands; genetics - a special structure of the auricle.

The plugs may not show any symptoms for a long time, however, a common symptom is a significant deterioration in hearing, especially when swimming.

It is strictly forbidden to pull out the plugs yourself! In this way, you can not only not help, but also harm yourself by damaging the eardrum. The doctor will first examine the ear and determine the type of plug. In cases where it is dry and hard, it is first softened with hydrogen peroxide.

The plug is washed out using a syringe without a needle. This procedure is painless and is quite easily tolerated by patients.

Who should you contact if you have pain inside your ear?

Pain inside the ear can become an obstacle to the normal perception of all sounds in the world, so if you notice even the slightest hint of its appearance, we recommend that you do not wait or endure it, but immediately contact an ENT doctor who will solve the problem as quickly and painlessly as possible!