Surprisingly, about 20% of all ear infections happen to adults. The common idea is that ear infections are something that usually affect children. Ear infections are definitely more common in children but adults do get them too.
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. Hearing aids can also shelter germs that could result in an ear infection if they are not properly cleaned and maintained.
So is it a bad plan to use hearing aids with an ear infection? Overall, the answer is yes, but you might not want to. Ear infections can cause significant swelling and discomfort in the ear, and your hearing aids might worsen those symptoms. However, there are some steps that people who use hearing aids can take to help prevent and manage ear infection symptoms.
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 impairment. The technical answer is no. But more detail is needed to understand the complete story.
Nearly all ear infections are caused by bacteria or a virus that gets into the ear. There are a number of paths that bacteria and viruses can take on their way to becoming an infection. Sometimes, an earlier 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 completely feasible that a virus or bacteria directly infected the inner ear by physical transmission.
For people who use hearing aids, this can be a regular occurrence. The virus or bacteria latches onto your hearing device and, upon insertion, gets access to the inner ear. That’s why it is crucial for people who have hearing impairments to correctly 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 might play a role in transmission.
How ear infections interact with hearing aids
So what is the level of interaction between hearing aids and ear infections? To understand what to expect, it’s helpful to look at the most common symptoms of an ear infection. Here are some of the most prevalent symptoms of ear infections:
- Pain in the ear
- Ringing in the ears (tinnitus)
- A feeling of fullness or pressure in the ears
- Dizziness or vertigo
- Temporary loss of hearing in some cases
- Fluid draining from the ear
- Swelling and inflammation
Not everybody will suffer from every symptom, of course. Typically, you will have obvious swelling of the inner ear and ear pain in the infected ear. For people with hearing loss, these symptoms can interact unfavorably with your hearing aids. That’s because your hearing aid will likely (at least in part) reside within the ear canal. Your hearing aids might cause added soreness as they aggravate the tender inflamed infected ear.
Also, with a hearing aid that goes mostly inside the ear canal, fluid drainage can be blocked. When fluids can’t drain, your discomfort may become prolonged. The pain and pressure in your ears will be increased as a result of this. This pressure can be even more pronounced when you’re wearing your hearing aid.
The performance of your hearing aid can also be impacted by the excess moisture. So your hearing aids aren’t functioning at peak performance and your ears are in pain. Which means that wearing hearing aids when you have an ear infection can be an absolutely miserable time.
Ear infection & hearing aid solutions
You may now be thinking: my hearing aids annoy me when I have an ear infection… but what can I do? You can lower your risk of getting an ear infection and address any discomfort that an ear infection might cause by taking a few steps. Here are a few of those steps:
- Take breaks from wearing your hearing aids: You can take a break from your hearing aids for a while if you have significant or persistent pain. During this time off, you can pursue other means of communicating with your loved ones (such as texting or writing messages on a piece of paper, and so on).
- Talk to your hearing specialist: Think about coming in to have your hearing aid re-fit if your ear infection goes away but your hearing aid is still not comfortable.
- Talk to your healthcare provider: You should speak with your doctor sooner than later if you suspect you may be developing an ear infection. The sooner you treat the ear infection, the less severe or prolonged your symptoms will be.
- Practice good ear hygiene: This means regularly cleaning your outer ear and, generally, keeping your ears clean and dry. However, you should never stick any object in your ear and that includes cotton swabs. With a cotton swabs, your chance of developing an ear infection increases because you could push earwax and debris further up into your ear canal. This is the exact opposite of what you’re likely trying to accomplish.
- Regularly clean your hearing aids: Keeping your device clean can decrease the risk 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.
You most likely depend heavily on your hearing aid every day. They help you navigate your world more easily and have better communication with your friends and family. Which means that these little devices can often be hard to give up, even for a short time. However, you will have a speedier recovery from your ear infection if you take a break from wearing them until you heal up. This will help you get back to feeling better sooner.
Ear infections are fairly common. But that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t seek out treatment or try to prevent them. If you have questions about how ear infections might impact your hearing aid use, give us a call today.
