Surprisingly, about 20% of all ear infections happen to adults. Most individuals think of ear infections as a childhood illness, something that affects mainly young kids. Ear infections are certainly more prevalent in kids 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 uncomfortable ways. Additionally, when hearing aids are not properly maintained, they can become a vehicle for ear infection-causing diseases.
So, you might be wondering: Can I wear hearing aids while I have an ear infection? You can, but it might not be something you want to do. Ear infections can cause significant swelling and discomfort in the ear, and your hearing aids might worsen those symptoms. But individuals who use hearing aids can take a few steps to manage and possibly prevent ear infections.
Do hearing aids cause ear infections?
If you’re an adult with hearing loss and you begin to notice the symptoms of an ear infection, you might begin to wonder: did my hearing aids cause this ear infection? The technical answer is no. But in order to get the complete picture we have to look at it in greater detail.
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, such as a cold or sinus infection, will lead to an infection of the inner ear. An infection may be caused by fluid accumulation in other situations. And it’s also certainly possible for viruses and bacteria to infect the inner ear via direct transmission.
This can happen with some frequency to individuals who wear hearing aids. 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 does not cause the ear infection, the virus or bacteria does. But your device might play a role in transmission.
Interactions between hearing aids and ear infections
So what is the level of interaction between hearing aids and ear infections? To understand what to expect, it’s helpful to look at the most common symptoms of an ear infection. In general, ear infections will have the following symptoms:
- Discharge of fluid from the ear
- Temporary loss of hearing in some situations
- Dizziness or vertigo
- Swelling and inflammation
- Ear pain
- Ear pressure or a feeling of fullness
- Ringing in the ears (tinnitus)
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 swelling around the inner ear. For people with hearing loss, these symptoms can interact unfavorably with your hearing aids. That’s because the hearing aid goes inside the infected ear (at least some of it). Your hearing aids might cause added soreness as they irritate the tender inflamed infected ear.
Also, with a hearing aid that goes mostly inside the ear canal, fluid drainage can be obstructed. Your infection and discomfort might last longer if fluid is stuck in your ear. This will also increase the pressure (and pain) you feel in your ears. 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 excess moisture. So your ears are in more pain and your hearing aid doesn’t really work as well as it should. This means that you will have a horrible time wearing your hearing aid while you have an ear infection.
Strategies to wearing hearing aids with an ear infection
You might now be thinking: my hearing aids bother me when I have an ear infection… but what can I do? You can lower your risk of developing an ear infection and manage any discomfort that an ear infection may cause by taking a few steps. Those steps include the following:
- Talk to your healthcare provider: You should speak with your doctor sooner than later if you believe you may be developing an ear infection. The sooner you address the ear infection, the less severe or prolonged your symptoms may be.
- Practice good ear hygiene: It’s important to keep your ears dry and clean and regularly clean your outer ear. However, you should never stick any object inside of 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. This is the exact opposite of what you’re likely attempting to do.
- 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.
- 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 pursue other ways of communicating with your loved ones (like texting or writing messages on a piece of paper, and so on).
- 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.) If you don’t know how to clean and disinfect hearing aids, talk to us for a quick tutorial.
Hearing aids are most likely an essential part of your daily life. They help you communicate with loved ones 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 faster 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 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 affected by an ear infection.
