Surprisingly, around 20% of all ear infections afflict adults. Most individuals think of ear infections as a childhood illness, something that affects primarily young kids. And it’s true that ear infections are more prevalent in children, but they also happen frequently in adults.
For adults with hearing impairments or hearing loss, ear infections can be particularly inconvenient, as they can interact with hearing aids in some uncomfortable ways. Additionally, when hearing aids are not 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? You can, but it might not be something you want to do. Hearing aids could aggravate the discomfort and inflammation caused by an ear infection. However, there are some steps that those who use hearing aids can take to help prevent and manage ear infection symptoms.
Can an ear infection be caused by hearing aids?
You may be questioning if your hearing aid is the cause of your ear infection if you’re an adult with hearing loss. The technical answer is no. But in order to get the full picture we need to look at it in greater detail.
Almost all ear infections are caused by bacteria or a virus that gets into the ear. There are a wide range of vectors that can lead to infection. Often, 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 buildup in other situations. And it’s also certainly possible for viruses and bacteria to infect the inner ear via direct transmission.
For people who wear hearing aids, this can be a frequent occurrence. The virus or bacteria latches onto your hearing aid and, upon insertion, gets access to the inner ear. Correct hearing aid cleaning and maintenance is essential for this reason. In other words, the hearing aid itself doesn’t cause the ear infection, the virus or bacteria does. But your device could play a role in transmission.
Contact between hearing aids and ear infections
So, how do ear infections and hearing aids interact? The best way to anticipate what to expect is to look at the most common ear infection symptoms. Generally speaking, ear infections will have the following symptoms:
- Ringing in the ears (tinnitus)
- Inflammation and swelling
- In some instances, temporary hearing loss
- Ear pressure or a feeling of fullness
- Pain in the ear
- Fluid draining from the ear
- Dizziness or vertigo
Obviously, everyone will experience the symptoms in their own way. In the majority of cases, your infected ear will be painful and there will most likely be noticeable swelling around the inner ear. For individuals with hearing loss, these symptoms can interact unfavorably with your hearing aids. That’s because your hearing aid will most likely (at least partially) sit within the ear canal. Your hearing aids might cause added discomfort as they irritate the tender inflamed infected ear.
Additionally, any in-the-canal hearing aid can stop drainage. When fluids can’t 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 marked when you’re wearing your hearing aid.
This added moisture can also impair the operation of your hearing aid. So your hearing aids aren’t functioning 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
So what can you do if your hearing aids are bothering you while you have an ear infection? You can lower your risk of developing an ear infection and address any discomfort that an ear infection might cause by taking a few steps. Here are a few of those steps:
- 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. With a cotton swabs, your risk of developing an ear infection increases because you could push earwax and debris further up into your ear canal. You’re trying to accomplish the exact opposite.
- 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 transferring bacteria and viruses to your ears (or, at least, that it happens less frequently.) Ask us for assistance if you’re not certain how to properly clean and sanitize your hearing aids.
- Talk to your healthcare provider: You should speak with your doctor sooner than later if you think you might be developing an ear infection. The sooner you address the ear infection, the less severe or prolonged your symptoms will be.
- Take breaks from wearing your hearing aids: If the pain is persistent or severe, it’s okay to take a break from wearing your hearing aid until your ears are feeling better. During this interim period, you can adopt other ways of communicating with your loved ones (such as texting or writing messages on a piece of paper, and so on).
You probably depend heavily on your hearing aid every day. They help you communicate with loved ones and move around the world more easily. That makes it really hard 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. That means you can get back to enjoying what you hear faster.
Ear infections are fairly common. But that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t seek out treatment or try to prevent them. Contact us if you’re wondering how your hearing aid use will be impacted by an ear infection.