It may be a surprise to many people that roughly 20% of all ear infections occur in adults. Most people think of ear infections as a childhood sickness, something that impacts mainly young kids. Ear infections are definitely more common in children 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 result in an ear infection if they are not properly cleaned and maintained.
So is it a bad idea to use hearing aids with an ear infection? In general, the answer is yes, but you may not want to. Ear infections can cause substantial swelling and discomfort in the ear, and your hearing aids may worsen those symptoms. However, there are some steps that those who use hearing aids can take to help prevent and treat ear infection symptoms.
Can an ear infection be caused by hearing aids?
You may 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 more detail is required to understand the whole story.
Almost all ear infections are caused by bacteria or a virus that gets into the ear. There are a number of paths that bacteria and viruses can take on their way to becoming an infection. In some cases, the inner ear becomes infected after a past illness (for instance, a sinus infection or a cold). In other cases, fluid accumulation might result in an infection. And it’s also definitely possible for viruses and bacteria to infect the inner ear via direct transmission.
For people who use hearing aids, this can be a frequent occurrence. The virus or bacteria hitches a ride on your hearing device and, upon insertion, gains access to the inner ear. Correct hearing aid cleaning and maintenance is crucial for this reason. So the virus or bacteria is actually the cause of the infection, not the hearing aid itself. But your device may 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? To know what to expect, it’s useful to look at the most prevalent symptoms of an ear infection. Here are some of the most common symptoms of ear infections:
- Temporary loss of hearing in some situations
- A feeling of fullness or pressure in the ears
- Vertigo or dizziness
- Pain in the ear
- Ringing in the ears (tinnitus)
- Inflammation and swelling
- Fluid draining from the ear
Obviously, everybody will experience the symptoms in their own way. In the majority of cases, your infected ear will hurt 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 partially) reside within the ear canal. Your hearing aids could cause added soreness as they aggravate the tender inflamed infected ear.
Additionally, any in-the-canal hearing aid can prevent drainage. When fluids cannot drain, your discomfort might become prolonged. The pain and pressure in your ears will be increased as a result 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 functioning 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
So what can you do if your hearing aids are bothering you while you have an ear infection? You can lower your risk of getting an ear infection and manage any discomfort that an ear infection might cause by taking a few steps. Here are a few of those steps:
- Take breaks from wearing your hearing aids: If the pain is persistent or severe, it’s all right to take a break from wearing your hearing aid until your ears feel better. During this time off, you can adopt 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 go away, think about talking to us to see if you can get a better fit on your devices.
- 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 often.) 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 regularly cleaning your outer ear and, generally, keeping your ears dry and clean. However, you should never stick any object inside of your ear and that includes cotton swabs. Using cotton swabs can drive earwax and other debris further into your ear, increasing your risk of developing an infection. This is the opposite of what you’re likely attempting to do.
- Talk to your healthcare provider: If you suspect that you have an ear infection, speak with your doctor as soon as you can. Treating a hearing aid as soon as possible will decrease the risk of it becoming severe or prolonged.
Hearing aids are most likely a crucial part of your everyday life. They help you navigate your world more easily and have better communication with your family and friends. That makes it really 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 sooner.
Ear infections are fairly common. But you should still get treatment if you notice symptoms. Contact us if you’re wondering how your hearing aid use will be affected by an ear infection.