It might be a surprise to many that roughly 20% of all ear infections happen to adults. The common notion is that ear infections are something that usually impact children. Ear infections are certainly more common in children but adults do get them too.
Ear infections can be especially uncomfortable for people who have hearing loss because they can interact with their hearing aids. Hearing aids can also harbor germs that could lead to an ear infection if they are not correctly cleaned and maintained.
So, you might be wondering: Can I use hearing aids while I have an ear infection? Overall, the answer is yes, but you may not want to. Ear infections can cause considerable inflammation and discomfort in the ear, and your hearing aids might exacerbate those symptoms. However, there are some steps that people who use hearing aids can take to help avoid and manage ear infection symptoms.
Do hearing aids cause ear infections?
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 have to look at it in greater detail.
The vast majority of all ear infections are due to viruses or bacteria that then infect the inner ear. There are quite a few paths that bacteria and viruses can take on their way to becoming an infection. Often, an earlier illness, like a cold or sinus infection, will lead to an infection of the inner ear. In other cases, fluid accumulation might lead to an infection. And it’s also definitely possible for viruses and bacteria to infect the inner ear through direct transmission.
This can happen with some frequency to people who wear hearing aids. The virus or bacteria hitches a ride on your hearing aid and, upon insertion, gets access to the inner ear. Proper hearing aid cleaning and maintenance is crucial for this reason. So the virus or bacteria is really the cause of the infection, not the hearing aid itself. But your hearing aid does play a part in this transmission.
How ear infections interact with hearing aids
So, how do ear infections and hearing aids interact? The best way to anticipate what to expect is to look at the most prevalent ear infection symptoms. Here are several of the most prevalent symptoms of ear infections:
- Vertigo or dizziness
- In some instances, temporary hearing loss
- Pain in the ear
- A feeling of fullness or pressure in the ears
- Swelling and inflammation
- Fluid draining from the ear
- Tinnitus (a ringing in the ears)
Obviously, everyone will experience the symptoms in their own way. In the majority of circumstances, your infected ear will be painful and there will likely be noticeable inflammation around the inner ear. These symptoms can have an adverse interaction with hearing aids for those with hearing loss. That’s because your hearing aid will most likely (at least partially) reside within the ear canal. Because the ear canal is inflamed and tender, your hearing aids might cause additional discomfort.
Also, with a hearing aid that sits primarily inside the ear canal, fluid drainage can be obstructed. 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.
This increased moisture can also impair the function of your hearing aid. So your hearing aids aren’t functioning at peak performance and your ears are in pain. 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 might now be thinking: my hearing aids bother me when I have an ear infection… but what can I do? There are a number of steps you can take to reduce your risk of developing ear infections and to address the discomfort that an ear infection might cause. Those steps include the following:
- Talk to your healthcare provider: You should talk to your doctor sooner than later if you believe you might be developing an ear infection. Treating a hearing aid as soon as possible will decrease the risk of it becoming severe or prolonged.
- Take breaks from wearing your hearing aids: If the pain is persistent or significant, it’s okay to take a break from wearing your hearing aid until your ears are feeling better. During this interim period, 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).
- Practice good ear hygiene: It’s important to keep your ears dry and clean and regularly clean your outer ear. However, you should never stick any object in your ear and that includes cotton swabs. Using cotton swabs can push earwax and other debris further into your ear, increasing your risk of developing an infection. You’re attempting to accomplish the exact opposite.
- Talk to your hearing specialist: If your ears start to feel better, but the discomfort from your hearing aids doesn’t recede, think about talking to us to see if you can get a better fit on your devices.
- Regularly clean your hearing aids: Making sure your devices are clean can help to ensure they aren’t transmitting bacteria and viruses to your ears (or, at least, that it occurs less frequently.) If you don’t know how to clean and disinfect 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 difficult to give up, even for a short time. However, you will have a quicker 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 relatively common. But that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t get treatment or try to prevent them. If you have questions about how ear infections may impact your hearing aid use, give us a call today.