It might be a surprise to many people that approximately 20% of all ear infections occur in adults. Most individuals think of ear infections as a childhood ailment, something that affects mainly 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 especially inconvenient, as they can interact with hearing aids in some unpleasant ways. Hearing aids can also harbor germs that could lead to an ear infection if they aren’t correctly cleaned and maintained.
So, you might be wondering: Can I use hearing aids while I have an ear infection? In general, the answer is yes, but you may not want to. Hearing aids could intensify the discomfort and inflammation caused by an ear infection. However, there are some steps that those who use hearing aids can take to help prevent and manage ear infection symptoms.
Can an ear infection be caused by hearing aids?
If you’re an adult with hearing loss and you begin to notice the symptoms of an ear infection, you might begin to wonder: did my hearing aids cause this ear infection? The technical answer is no. But more detail is needed to understand the whole story.
The vast majority of all ear infections are due to viruses or bacteria that then infect the inner ear. There are a wide variety of vectors that can lead to infection. In some cases, the inner ear becomes infected after an earlier illness (for instance, a sinus infection or a cold). In other cases, fluid buildup may result in an infection. And it’s also certainly possible for viruses and bacteria to infect the inner ear through simple transmission.
This can occur with some frequency to individuals who use hearing aids. Your hearing aid accumulates this bacteria or virus and then gets inserted directly into your ear. That’s why it is crucial for those who have hearing loss to properly maintain and clean their devices. In other words, the hearing aid itself does not cause the ear infection, the virus or bacteria does. But your hearing aid does play a part in this transmission.
Contact between hearing aids and ear infections
So what is the degree of interaction between hearing aids and ear infections? To understand what to expect, it’s useful to look at the most common symptoms of an ear infection. Here are a few of the most prevalent symptoms of ear infections:
- Dizziness or vertigo
- Ringing in the ears (tinnitus)
- Discharge of fluid from the ear
- Swelling and inflammation
- A feeling of fullness or pressure in the ears
- Temporary loss of hearing in some cases
- Pain in the ear
Needless to say, everybody will experience the symptoms in their own way. Usually, you will have obvious swelling 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 your hearing aid will likely (at least partially) reside within the ear canal. Because the ear canal is irritated and tender, your hearing aids may cause additional discomfort.
Also, with a hearing aid that sits primarily inside the ear canal, fluid drainage can be obstructed. When fluids cannot drain, your discomfort might become prolonged. The pain and pressure in your ears will be increased because of this. This pressure can be even more marked when you’re wearing your hearing aid.
The functionality of your hearing aid can also be impacted by the excess moisture. So your hearing aids aren’t working at peak performance and your ears are in pain. Which means that wearing hearing aids when you have an ear infection can be a downright 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? There are a number of steps you can take to lower your risk of getting ear infections and to address the discomfort that an ear infection might cause. Here are a few of those steps:
- 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 happens less frequently.) If you don’t know how to clean and disinfect hearing aids, talk to us for a quick tutorial.
- Practice good ear hygiene: This means routinely cleaning your outer ear and, generally, keeping your ears dry and clean. Don’t try to stick any object 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.
- Take breaks from wearing your hearing aids: You can take a break from your hearing aids for a few days if you have severe or lasting pain. During this interim period, you can pursue other ways of communicating with your loved ones (like texting or writing messages on a piece of paper, and so on).
- Talk to your hearing specialist: If your ears start to feel better, but the discomfort from your hearing aids doesn’t recede, consider talking to us to see if you can get a better fit on your devices.
- Talk to your healthcare provider: You should talk to your doctor sooner than later if you suspect you might be developing an ear infection. The sooner you treat the ear infection, the less severe or prolonged your symptoms may be.
You probably depend heavily on your hearing aid every day. They help you communicate with loved ones and move about the world more easily. That makes it very hard to give up your hearing aid even for short periods. 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 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 affected by an ear infection.
