It might be a surprise to many that approximately 20% of all ear infections occur in adults. The common idea is that ear infections are something that normally impact kids. Ear infections are certainly 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. Additionally, when hearing aids aren’t correctly maintained, they can become a vector for ear infection-causing diseases.
So, you may be wondering: Can I use hearing aids while I have 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 people who use hearing aids can take a few steps to treat and possibly prevent ear infections.
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. Technically, the answer is no. But more detail is required to understand the whole story.
The vast majority of all ear infections are caused by viruses or bacteria that then infect the inner ear. There are quite a few paths that bacteria and viruses can take on their way to becoming an infection. Sometimes, an earlier illness, like a cold or sinus infection, will result in an infection of the inner ear. An infection may be caused by fluid accumulation in other instances. It’s also entirely feasible that a virus or bacteria directly infected the inner ear by physical transmission.
For individuals who wear hearing aids, this can be a frequent occurrence. Your hearing aid accumulates this bacteria or virus and then gets inserted directly into your ear. Proper hearing aid cleaning and maintenance is essential for this reason. Essentially, the hearing aid itself doesn’t cause the ear infection, the virus or bacteria does. But your hearing aid is involved in this 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. Here are a few of the most common symptoms of ear infections:
- Dizziness or vertigo
- In some situations, temporary hearing loss
- Pain in the ear
- Tinnitus (a ringing in the ears)
- Ear pressure or a feeling of fullness
- Discharge of fluid from the ear
- Inflammation and swelling
Not everyone will experience every symptom, of course. Usually, you will have obvious inflammation of the inner ear and ear pain in the infected ear. These symptoms can have a negative interaction with hearing aids for people with hearing loss. That’s because the hearing aid is inside the infected ear (at least some of it). Your hearing aids may cause added soreness as they aggravate the tender inflamed infected ear.
Also, with a hearing aid that goes mostly inside the ear canal, fluid drainage can be obstructed. When fluids cannot drain, your discomfort may become prolonged. The pain and pressure in your ears will be increased as a result of this. This pressure can be even more pronounced when you’re wearing your hearing aid.
The performance 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. This means that you will have a horrible time wearing your hearing aid while you have an ear infection.
Ear infection & hearing aid strategies
You may now be thinking: my hearing aids bother 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 getting ear infections and to manage the discomfort that an ear infection might cause. Here are a few of those steps:
- Regularly clean your hearing aids: Keeping your device clean can lessen the chance of transferring bacteria or viruses to your ears. Ask us for assistance if you’re not sure how to properly clean and disinfect your hearing aids.
- Talk to your healthcare provider: If you think that you have an ear infection, talk to your doctor as soon as possible. The sooner you address the ear infection, the less severe or prolonged your symptoms will be.
- Talk to your hearing specialist: Consider coming in to have your hearing aid re-fit if your ear infection clears but your hearing aid is still uncomfortable.
- 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 in your ear and that includes cotton swabs. Using cotton swabs can push earwax and other debris further into your ear, increasing your chance of developing an infection. You’re attempting to accomplish the exact opposite.
- 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 lasting pain. You can use alternative methods of communication with family and friends, like texting, in the meantime.
Hearing aids are likely a crucial part of your daily life. They help you communicate with family and friends and move about the world more easily. Which means that these little devices can often be hard to give up, even for a short time. However, you will have a speedier 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 impacted by an ear infection.
