While everybody has dealt with a runny nose, we don’t often talk about other kinds of cold symptoms because they’re less frequent. One kind of cold you don’t often hear about is the one that goes into one or more ears. While you might generally consider colds as harmless, here’s why this ear-related cold symptom should never be dismissed.
What does a cold in the ear feel like?
Your sinuses are directly connected to your ears, so it’s common to feel some blockage in your ears when you have a cold. Normally, when you use a decongestant for sinus relief, this blockage will also be relieved.
But you should never disregard pain inside of your ear, even during a cold. If the cold goes into the ear, the eardrum can become infected. When it does, swelling takes place. Inflammation is an immune response that causes fluid to collect on the exterior of the eardrum. So someone who is coping with an inflamed eardrum might also experience a gradual leaking of fluid from the ear. This leak is most apparent when you sleep on your side because the leak is so gradual.
This impacts how well you hear over the short term, which is known as conductive hearing loss. Sadly, it can also cause the eardrum to burst, which leads to long-term hearing loss. As a result, more permanent damage happens to the hearing nerves from the inflammation, which is known as sensorineural hearing loss.
Waiting could cost you
If you’re noticing ear pain, have your ears checked by us. In many cases, a primary physician assumes that the ear symptoms will clear themselves up when the primary cold clears up. Occasionally, a patient won’t even remember to mention any pain they might be experiencing in their ear. But if you’re feeling pain, the infection has progressed to a point where it is most likely doing damage to the ear. In order to prevent further damage, the ear infection has to be quickly treated.
In many cases, ear pain will linger even after the cold clears up. This is usually when an individual finally decides to go to a hearing specialist. But by this time, a considerable amount of damage has already been done. This damage often causes an irreversible hearing loss, especially if you’re prone to ear infections.
After a while, hearing acuity is affected by the tiny scars and perforations of the eardrum which are left behind from ear infections. In a normal, healthy individual, the eardrum acts as a boundary between the middle ear and inner ear. Ear infections that were previously restricted to the middle ear can get into the inner ear if the eardrum is lacerated even once. When the infection enters the inner ear, it can irreversibly harm the nerve cells needed to hear.
If you waited to have that ear infection addressed, what should you do?
Don’t be so hard on yourself. Most people just assume ear pain with a cold is normal when it actually signals a much more serious cold infection. You should make an appointment for a hearing assessment as soon as possible if you are experiencing hearing loss after a cold.
We can determine whether the hearing loss is temporary (conductive). You may need to have an obstruction professionally removed if this is the situation. If you’re dealing with sensorineural, or permanent hearing loss, there are treatment solutions, including new hearing technology, that we can help you with.
Schedule an appointment as soon as possible if you’re having difficulty hearing after a cold.