While everybody has encountered a runny nose, we don’t commonly talk about other kinds of cold symptoms because they are less common. One kind of cold you don’t often hear about is the one that goes into one or both ears. This type of cold can be more risky than a common cold and shouldn’t ever be neglected.
What does it feel like when you get a cold in your ear?
Your sinuses are directly linked to your ears, so it’s common to feel some congestion in your ears during a cold. Usually, when you take a decongestant for sinus relief, this blockage will also be relieved.
But if you feel pain in the ears, this is something you should never dismiss, even when you have a cold. The eardrum can become infected if the cold goes into the ears. When it does, swelling happens. The immune system reacts to the cold by creating fluid that can accumulate on the eardrum. Often, a slow leaking fluid comes with this inflammation. This leak is most obvious when you sleep on your side because the leak is so gradual.
This impacts how well you hear in the short term, which is called conductive hearing loss. But long term hearing loss can also happen if this inflammation causes the eardrum to burst. In turn, more permanent damage happens to the hearing nerves from the inflammation, which is called sensorineural hearing loss.
Waiting could cost you
Come in and see us if you have any pain in your ears. It’s not unusual for a primary care physician to wait until the cold goes away because they assume the ear pain will go away with it. A patient might not even think to mention that they’re feeling actual ear pain. But the infection has likely gotten to the point where it’s doing harm to the ear if you’re feeling pain. In order to prevent further damage, the ear infection needs to be quickly treated.
In many circumstances, ear pain will linger even after the cold goes away. This is often when a person finally decides to see a hearing specialist. But, a lot of damage is normally done by this time. Irreversible hearing loss is frequently the consequence and that’s even more relevant with individuals who get ear infections regularly.
After a while, hearing acuity is impacted by the tiny scars and perforations of the eardrum which are left behind from ear infections. In a normal, healthy individual, the eardrum acts as a barrier between the middle ear and inner ear. If the eardrum gets perforated even once, then the infection that was formerly confined to the middle ear can now enter the inner ear, where it can damage the irreplaceable tiny nerve cells that you need to hear.
If you waited to get that ear infection addressed, what should you do?
Don’t be so hard on yourself. A cold with pain in the ear can actually be a more severe cold than most individuals may think. If you’re dealing with continued hearing loss after a cold, it’s best to schedule an appointment with us sooner rather than later.
We can determine whether the hearing loss is short-term (conductive). You might need to have an obstruction professionally extracted if this is the case. If you’re dealing with sensorineural, or irreversible hearing loss, there are treatment solutions, including new hearing technology, that we can help you with.
Schedule an appointment right away if you’re having trouble hearing after a cold.
