It might be a surprise to many people that approximately 20% of all ear infections happen to adults. Most individuals think of ear infections as a childhood illness, something that impacts primarily young kids. Ear infections are certainly more common in kids but adults do get them too.
Ear infections can be especially uncomfortable for individuals with hearing loss because they can interact with their hearing aids. Hearing aids can also harbor germs that could result in an ear infection if they aren’t correctly cleaned and maintained.
So is it a bad idea to use hearing aids with an ear infection? Overall, the answer is yes, but you may not want to. Ear infections can cause significant inflammation and discomfort in the ear, and your hearing aids might worsen 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?
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 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 a wide range of vectors that can lead to infection. Often, a previous illness, like a cold or sinus infection, will lead to an infection of the inner ear. In other situations, fluid accumulation might lead to an infection. And it’s also certainly possible for viruses and bacteria to infect the inner ear through simple transmission.
This can happen with some frequency to individuals who wear hearing aids. Your hearing aid collects this bacteria or virus and then gets inserted directly into your ear. That’s why it is critical for people with hearing impairments to correctly maintain and clean their devices. So the virus or bacteria is really the cause of the infection, not the hearing aid itself. But your hearing aid is involved in this transmission.
Contact between hearing aids and ear infections
So, how do ear infections and hearing aids interact? The best way to anticipate what to expect is to look at the most common ear infection symptoms. Generally speaking, ear infections will present with the following symptoms:
- Fluid draining from the ear
- A feeling of fullness or pressure in the ears
- Pain in the ear
- Inflammation and swelling
- Vertigo or dizziness
- In some cases, temporary hearing loss
- Ringing in the ears (tinnitus)
Not everybody will experience every symptom, of course. In most circumstances, your infected ear will be painful and there will most likely be obvious inflammation around the inner ear. For people with hearing loss, these symptoms can interact unfavorably with your hearing aids. That’s because your hearing aid will most likely (at least in part) sit within the ear canal. Because the ear canal is inflamed and tender, your hearing aids may cause extra discomfort.
Also, with a hearing aid that goes mostly inside the ear canal, fluid drainage can be obstructed. Your infection and discomfort may last longer if fluid is stuck in your ear. This will also increase the pressure (and pain) you feel in your ears. When you are wearing your hearing aid, pressure can be even more uncomfortable.
The functionality of your hearing aid can also be impacted by the extra 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 an absolutely miserable time.
Solutions to wearing hearing aids with an ear infection
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 reduce your risk of developing ear infections and to manage the discomfort that an ear infection may cause. Those steps include the following:
- Practice good ear hygiene: It’s important to keep your ears clean and dry and regularly clean your outer ear. 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 jam earwax and debris further up into your ear canal. This is the exact opposite of what you’re likely attempting to do.
- Talk to your hearing specialist: If your ears begin to feel better, but the discomfort from your hearing aids doesn’t go away, consider talking to us to see if you can get a better fit on your devices.
- Take breaks from wearing your hearing aids: If the pain is prolonged or severe, it’s okay to take a break from wearing your hearing aid until your ears feel better. 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).
- 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 sanitize hearing aids, talk to us for some instruction.
- Talk to your healthcare provider: You should talk to your doctor sooner than later if you think you may be developing an ear infection. The sooner you address the ear infection, the less severe or prolonged your symptoms will be.
You most likely depend heavily on your hearing aid every day. They help you communicate with loved ones and move around the world more easily. That makes it really difficult to give up your hearing aid even for short periods. However, you will have a faster recovery from your ear infection if you take a break from wearing them until you heal up. 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. Contact us if you’re wondering how your hearing aid use will be affected by an ear infection.