It may be a surprise to many people that roughly 20% of all ear infections occur in adults. Most people think of ear infections as a childhood sickness, something that impacts primarily young kids. Ear infections are definitely more prevalent in kids but adults do get them too.
For adults with hearing impairments or hearing loss, ear infections can be particularly inconvenient, as they can interact with hearing aids in some uncomfortable ways. Also, when hearing aids aren’t properly maintained, they can become a vector for ear infection-causing diseases.
So, you might be wondering: Can I use hearing aids while I have an ear infection? You can, but it might not be something you want to do. Ear infections can cause substantial inflammation and discomfort in the ear, and your hearing aids may exacerbate those symptoms. But individuals who use hearing aids can take a few steps to manage and possibly prevent ear infections.
Do hearing aids cause ear infections?
If you’re an adult with hearing loss and you start to notice the symptoms of an ear infection, you might begin to wonder: did my hearing aids cause my ear infection? Technically, the answer is no. But more nuance is needed to understand the whole story.
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. In some cases, the inner ear becomes infected after an earlier illness (for example, a sinus infection or a cold). In other situations, fluid buildup may lead to an infection. It’s also entirely possible that a virus or bacteria directly infected the inner ear by physical transmission.
This can occur with some frequency to people who use hearing aids. Your hearing aid collects this bacteria or virus and then gets inserted directly into your ear. Proper hearing aid cleaning and maintenance is essential for this reason. Essentially, the hearing aid itself does not cause the ear infection, the virus or bacteria does. But your device might play a role in transmission.
Contact between hearing aids and ear infections
So what is the level of interaction between hearing aids and ear infections? The best way to anticipate what to expect is to examine the most common ear infection symptoms. Here are a few of the most common symptoms of ear infections:
- Dizziness or vertigo
- Swelling and inflammation
- A feeling of fullness or pressure in the ears
- Ear pain
- Temporary loss of hearing in some situations
- Tinnitus (a ringing in the ears)
- Discharge of fluid from the ear
Not everybody will suffer from every symptom, of course. Usually, you will have noticeable inflammation of the inner ear and ear pain in the infected ear. For those with hearing loss, these symptoms can interact unfavorably with your hearing aids. That’s because the hearing aid is inside the infected ear (at least some of it). Because the ear canal is inflamed and tender, your hearing aids could cause extra discomfort.
Additionally, any in-the-canal hearing aid can stop drainage. Your infection and discomfort might last longer if fluid is trapped in your ear. The pain and pressure in your ears will be increased because of this. This pressure can be even more pronounced when you’re wearing your hearing aid.
This increased moisture can also impair the operation of your hearing aid. So your ears are in more pain and your hearing aid isn’t really working as well as it should. This means that you will have a horrible time wearing your hearing aid while you have an ear infection.
Ear infection & hearing aid strategies
You may now be thinking: my hearing aids bother me when I have an ear infection… but what can I do? You can reduce your risk of developing an ear infection and address any discomfort that an ear infection may cause by taking a few steps. Here are a few of those steps:
- Talk to your healthcare provider: If you think that you have an ear infection, speak with your doctor as soon as you can. 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 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: Consider coming in to have your hearing aid re-fit if your ear infection goes away but your hearing aid is still not comfortable.
- Practice good ear hygiene: This means regularly cleaning your outer ear and, generally, keeping your ears dry and clean. However, you should never stick any object inside of your ear and that includes 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 attempting to accomplish the exact opposite.
- Regularly clean your hearing aids: Keeping your device clean can lessen 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 probably 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 will usually be hard to give up, even for a short time. However, taking a break from your hearing aids while you have an ear infection can help you recover from your sickness more quickly and more comfortably. That means you can get back to enjoying what you hear faster.
It’s not unusual for individuals to get ear infections. But that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t get treatment or try to prevent them. If you have questions about how ear infections may affect your hearing aid use, give us a call today.