Diseases of the middle ear cause hearing to become more difficult. In the middle ear, inflammatory changes are most common – and usually in the context of a throat infection that spreads through the Eustachian tube.
Children in particular often suffer from concomitant otitis media in adults it occurs more often in the context of an eardrum injury that occurs after ear canal infections or during careless diving maneuvers.
Typical diseases of the inner ear
Diseases of the inner ear affect the auditory cells and thus hearing or balance cells, leading to dizziness, for example. Since hearing is essential for language development, special care is taken in children to ensure that hearing disorders do not go undetected. An initial hearing test is performed in the first days of life, and hearing loss should be treated in the first 3 years of life.
In middle age, hardening of the ossicles and inner ear is possible – this otosclerosis often affects women and both ears. While hearing is fortunately usually only temporarily impaired by inflammation, hearing loss usually persists with damage to the inner ear. Once the sensory cells are destroyed, they cannot regenerate.
Wear and tear with age is normal (age-related hearing loss), usually affecting the high frequencies (whose sensory cells were activated much more frequently). Hearing often improves with a hearing aid, which are now very small, handy and easy to use If the blood supply to the auditory cells in the inner ear is interrupted for a short time, a hearing loss occurs; ringing in the ear, on the other hand, can have various causes – usually it remains unclear why the ringing in the ears occurs.
Vertigo and balance disorders
Vertigo and other balance disorders indicate either a disorder in the inner ear or a disorder in information processing in the brain – for example, on a swaying ship, the positional information from the vestibular organ differs from what the eyes report to the brain, so motion sickness with nausea can result.
With age, there is sometimes an increase in otoliths in and on the gelatinous mass in the vestibular organ – dizziness occurs with even the slightest movement. In Meniere’s disease, the combination of dizziness, ringing in the ears, and hearing loss is caused by too much fluid in the inner ear.
How can I protect and support my ears?
Your eardrum protects the inside of your ears from germs – avoid any actions that could damage your eardrum, such as poking it with cotton swabs, staying in water frequently, or sudden massive pressure changes.
If you have a cold, make sure it doesn’t spread to your ears through your ear trumpets: Especially for children, decongestant nasal drops help at least once a day – this keeps the middle ear ventilated and germs have no chance.
Loud noises damage the sensory cells in the cochlea: In addition to concerts, starting jet fighters and motorcycles are also sources of noise whose decibel strength puts a lot of strain on the ear. Avoid these risk factors and have your hearing tested by an ENT specialist. By the way, noise is not only very harmful to your ears, but also promotes the development of sleep disorders, allergies and other diseases.
