Otitis Externa (Swimmer's Ear) : Symptoms

Chidren and adolescents with otitis externa often have been diving or swimming for long periods of time, especially in polluted lakes, rivers, or ponds. Routine showering can also lead to otitis externa. Water in the ear canal can carry infectious...

Bacteria, fungi, and viruses have all been implicated in causing ear infections called otitis externa. The most common cause of otitis externa is bacterial infection. The usual offenders include Pseudomonas aeruginosa , Enterobacter aerogenes , Pr...

An earache can be a sharp, dull, or burning pain in one or both ears. The pain may be temporary or constant. See also: Otitis media; Swimmer's ear; Malignant otitis externa.

Earaches are common during childhood, but a vaccine can ease the pain for thousands of kids.

Answering the questions in this health decision guide will help you understand more about what usually causes children to have ear pain, and help you know what you can do for the pain and when you should contact your pediatrician for medical care. Contact your pediatrician immediately if you notice that your child is not acting well or is confused, has difficulty breathing, severe stomach pain, or a stiff neck.

People often make an immediate association between earache and ear infection. However, discomfort in and around the ear can be caused by many different problems. This guide will cover the more common reasons for an ear ache.

An earache is a commonly used term for ear pain or discomfort that is a symptom of disease or injury.

Ear discharge is drainage of blood, ear wax, pus, or fluid from the ear.

Hearing loss is the total or partial inability to hear sound in one or both ears. See also: Hearing loss of aging

Detailed information on hearing loss, including sudden hearing loss and treatment

Detailed information on hearing loss, including management of hearing loss

Detailed information on hearing loss, including sudden hearing loss and treatment

Many experts urge hearing tests before newborns leave the hospital. Every year, about 12,000 American babies are born with hearing problems.

Detailed information on hearing loss, including sudden hearing loss and treatment

A consumer's guide to the new hearing aid technologies as well as an overview of the causes, diagnosis, and treatment of hearing loss. Strategies for preventing hearing loss and preserving your hearing are also described.

Nearly 30 million Americans have some form of hearing loss, including one of every three people ages 65 to 75. Yet just a fraction of us seek help. Here's why.

Parents and pediatricians should know how to detect hearing problems at various stages during a child's first three years of life.

An open-fit hearing aid, which leaves the ear canal open instead of covering the opening, helps eliminate distortion caused by sound waves, and may be more comfortable for wearers.

Detailed information on hearing loss in babies

As you age, some hearing loss is normal. You lose more than the ability to hear how loud a sound is. You also lose the ability to hear certain types of sounds. For example, you might not be able to hear some of the high-pitched sounds of a child's voice.

Detailed information on hearing loss in babies

Detailed information on hearing loss in babies

Prolonged exposure to excessive noise can result in permanent hearing loss. Many occupations have increased risk of hearing damage, and in such cases ear protection should be worn.

People who are tone deaf, or amusic, are unable to distinguish differences in pitch, and may have a similar difficulty with rhythm. Research suggests this may be due to weak connections between the parts of the brain responsible for processing music.

Detailed information on noise-induced hearing loss

Hearing loss is any degree of impairment of the ability to apprehend sound.

Hearing begins in the womb—pregnant women have reported feeling the fetus move in response to loud noises at 31 weeks (7 weeks before full-term delivery). Newborns are sensitive to the location, frequency, pitch, and volume of sounds. Loud sounds startle them, while rhythmic, repetitive sounds tend to soothe them. During the second month of life, they become sensitive to a wider range of sounds, reacting to a variety of medium-range sounds that can affect them differently depending on their mood. (For example, a child at this age may enjoy the sound of a vacuum cleaner when she is feeling happy and become upset by it when she is in an irritable mood.) It has been found that infants can hear higher frequencies than adults can (a fact that may be related to the adult instinct to produce "baby talk" at higher pitches than those of their normal speaking voices). In addition, babies can detect a broad range of pitches and discriminate among different speech sounds (better, in some cases, than adults). At the age of six months, they can tell the difference between sounds that differ as little as 10 decibels in loudness. Parents can test the hearing of a young infant at home by clapping or making some other loud noise and seeing if it elicits a startled response. By the age of six months, infants will look around for the source of the noise. Hearing should also be evaluated regularly by a child's pediatrician. Infants and children can have their hearing tested by audiometry, in which frequency perception is assessed by listening to sounds through earphones in a soundproof room; tympanometry, which works by measuring sound waves bouncing off the eardrum with a special probe inserted into the ear; and brain-stem auditory-evoked response (BAER), which measures brain waves through a test that is similar to an electroencephalogram (EEG). Approximately 1% of all children sustain some degree of hearing impairment, with 2 out of 1,000 suffering profound hearing loss. About 65% of these children are born deaf, and an additional 12% become deaf before the age of 3. A hearing loss delays speech and language acquisition, interferes with cognitive development, and disrupts progress in school. Even with the modern technology and level of health care available in the United States, hearing losses in children sometimes go undetected or unconfirmed for months or even years—significant hearing losses have gone undiagnosed in children as old as six. Early detection and intervention are crucial in preventing or minimizing developmental and educational delays. Hearing loss is most commonly categorized by which parts of the ear are affected. Conductive hearing loss is caused by a problem in the middle or outer ear that interferes with the conduction of sound to the inner ear, while sensorineural hearing loss involves an abnormality of the cochlea or auditory nerve in the inner ear. Mixed hearing loss indicates a combination of both of these types. Hearing impairments are also classified as prelingual (before a child can learn to speak) or postlingual (after language acquisition has occurred), and genetic or nongenetic (based on whether it is inherited). Yet another way hearing loss is classified is by severity. Normal hearing is generally defined as the ability to hear sounds of 15 decibels (dB) or less. A child with a mild hearing loss can only hear sounds that are between 15 and 40 or 45 dB or louder. At this level of hearing loss, speech and conversation are unaffected, but there is some difficulty hearing distant sounds. A moderate hearing loss means that only sounds registering 40 to 60 or 70 dB can be heard. At this level, the ability to hear normal conversation and form sounds is affected. With severe hearing loss, a child can only hear sounds that register 60 to 90 dB and needs a hearing aid to be able to discern more than an occasional word of conversation. A profound hearing loss is defined as the inability to hear sounds that are un

Hearing loss is any degree of impairment of the ability to apprehend sound.

Hearing loss is any degree of impairment of the ability to comprehend sound.

Hearing impairment is the temporary or permanent loss of some or all hearing in one or both ears.

Most people over age 65 have some hearing loss, and by age 80, almost everyone does. Because hearing loss usually occurs slowly over the years, you may not realize your hearing ability has gotten worse.

Hearing loss can be caused by many things - some reversible such as wax buildup in the ear canal or ear infections with fluid build up. Some hearing loss is irreversible - that due to mechanical problems within the ear itself, or sensorineural problems within the inner ear.