Surprisingly, about 20% of all ear infections afflict adults. The common idea is that ear infections are something that usually affect children. Ear infections are certainly 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. Also, when hearing aids aren’t correctly maintained, they can become a vector for ear infection-causing diseases.
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 substantial swelling 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 treat ear infection symptoms.
Do hearing aids cause ear infections?
If you’re an adult with hearing impairment and you begin to notice the symptoms of an ear infection, you may begin to wonder: did my hearing aids cause this ear infection? Technically, the answer is no. But more detail is required to understand the complete story.
The vast majority of all ear infections are a result of viruses or bacteria that then infect the inner ear. There are a number of paths that bacteria and viruses can take on their way to becoming an infection. Often, a previous illness, such as a cold or sinus infection, will result in an infection of the inner ear. An infection might be caused by fluid accumulation in other instances. And it’s also definitely possible for viruses and bacteria to infect the inner ear via simple transmission.
This can happen with some frequency to individuals who use hearing aids. Your hearing aid collects this bacteria or virus and then gets inserted directly into your ear. That’s why it is crucial for people who have hearing loss 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? The best way to anticipate what to expect is to look at the most common ear infection symptoms. In general, ear infections will present with the following symptoms:
- Ear pain
- Temporary loss of hearing in some cases
- Dizziness or vertigo
- Fluid draining from the ear
- Swelling and inflammation
- Ear pressure or a feeling of fullness
- Ringing in the ears (tinnitus)
Not everyone will experience every symptom, of course. Typically, you will have noticeable inflammation 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 partially) sit within the ear canal. Because the ear canal is inflamed and tender, your hearing aids may cause additional discomfort.
Additionally, any in-the-canal hearing aid can stop drainage. Your infection and discomfort may last longer if fluid is trapped 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 added moisture can also impair the operation of your hearing aid. So your hearing aids aren’t working at peak performance and your ears are in pain. This means that you will have a terrible time wearing your hearing aid while you have an ear infection.
Ear infection & hearing aid strategies
So what can you do if your hearing aids are annoying you while you have an ear infection? There are a number of steps you can take to lower your risk of developing 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 transferring bacteria and viruses to your ears (or, at least, that it occurs less often.) If you don’t know how to clean and disinfect hearing aids, talk to us for a quick tutorial.
- 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 persistent pain. During this time off, you can adopt 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: If your ears begin to feel better, but the discomfort from your hearing aids doesn’t go away, think about talking to us to see if you can get a better fit on your devices.
- Practice good ear hygiene: This means routinely cleaning your outer ear and, generally, keeping your ears dry and clean. 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. This is the exact opposite of what you’re likely attempting to accomplish.
- Talk to your healthcare provider: If you think that you have an ear infection, talk to your doctor as soon as possible. Treating a hearing aid as soon as possible will decrease the chance of it becoming severe or prolonged.
Hearing aids are most likely an essential part of your everyday life. They help you get around your world more easily and have better communication with your friends and family. That makes it very difficult to give up your hearing aid even for short periods. 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 quicker.
Ear infections are relatively common. But you should still seek treatment if you detect symptoms. Contact us if you’re wondering how your hearing aid use will be affected by an ear infection.
