{"id":2175,"date":"2023-07-13T18:43:27","date_gmt":"2023-07-13T22:43:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/entnova.com\/?p=2175"},"modified":"2023-07-13T18:43:28","modified_gmt":"2023-07-13T22:43:28","slug":"can-ear-infections-cause-hearing-loss","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/entnova.com\/can-ear-infections-cause-hearing-loss\/","title":{"rendered":"Can Ear Infections Cause Hearing Loss?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>Most of us have had an ear infection in our life at one point or another, usually in childhood. It\u2019s not uncommon for people with an ear infection to experience temporary muffled hearing or hearing loss that resolves once the infection clears. However, some cases of severe, repeated ear infections may increase your risk of permanent <a href=\"https:\/\/entnova.com\/hearing\/hearing-loss\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">hearing loss.<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Ear Infection Symptoms <\/h2>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"alignright size-large\"><img decoding=\"async\" width=\"1280\" height=\"853\" src=\"https:\/\/entnova.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/pexels-karolina-grabowska-5206946-1280x853.jpg\" alt=\"Doctor examining a man's ear.\" class=\"wp-image-2178\" srcset=\"https:\/\/entnova.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/pexels-karolina-grabowska-5206946-1280x853.jpg 1280w, https:\/\/entnova.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/pexels-karolina-grabowska-5206946-350x233.jpg 350w, https:\/\/entnova.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/pexels-karolina-grabowska-5206946-256x171.jpg 256w, https:\/\/entnova.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/pexels-karolina-grabowska-5206946-768x512.jpg 768w, https:\/\/entnova.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/pexels-karolina-grabowska-5206946-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/entnova.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/pexels-karolina-grabowska-5206946-scaled.jpg 2048w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1280px) 100vw, 1280px\" \/><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n<p>Middle ear infections, also known as otitis media, occur when a virus or bacteria causes inflammation and fluid buildup in your middle ear. Symptoms may include:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul>\n<li>Earache<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>A feeling of fullness in the ear<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Ear drainage<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Temporary hearing loss<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>Young children may also have a fever and display behaviors like pulling on their ears or acting more fussy than usual.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Temporary hearing loss from an ear infection comes from the fluid in the middle ear blocking sound. Once your infection begins to clear up, your hearing should return to normal.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Chronic Ear Infections and Permanent Hearing Loss<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>While most hearing loss from ear infections is temporary in nature, repeated or chronic ear infections can damage the middle eardrum or other parts of the middle ear and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov\/pmc\/articles\/PMC9419542\/#:~:text=This%20is%20common%20with%20middle,the%20middle%20ear%20are%20damaged.\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">lead to permanent hearing loss.<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Chronic ear infections are ear infections that do not go away or keep coming back. Having them can put you at risk of developing a hole in the eardrum that does not heal. Symptoms of a chronic ear infection are similar to those of an acute infection; however, they may come and go and be less severe. &nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>If you or your child deals with chronic ear infections, it\u2019s important to seek treatment from your medical provider. In addition to antibiotics, treatment like ear tube surgery may be recommended to lower the risk of continued infection and help prevent permanent damage.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">When to See a Hearing Specialist<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>If you or your child has lingering hearing issues after an ear infection, like difficulty following conversations when at home or out to dinner at Ashton Family Restaurant, schedule an appointment with a hearing specialist. They can perform an ear exam and administer a hearing test to determine if any hearing loss is present and if it is temporary or permanent in nature.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/entnova.com\/hearing\/hearing-aids\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Hearing aids<\/a> are the most common treatment for permanent hearing loss. They can help you or your child better process speech and other sounds and make it easier to navigate the world around you.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>For more information or to schedule an appointment with one of our hearing experts, contact <span class=\"company-name \">ENT Specialists Of Northern Virginia<\/span> today.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><ul class=\"related-posts\"><li><a href=\"https:\/\/entnova.com\/what-should-i-know-before-getting-hearing-aids\/\" class=\"related-post\">What Should I Know Before Getting Hearing Aids<\/a><\/li><li><a href=\"https:\/\/entnova.com\/how-does-hearing-work\/\" class=\"related-post\">How Does Hearing Work?<\/a><\/li><li><a href=\"https:\/\/entnova.com\/what-to-know-about-unilateral-hearing-loss\/\" class=\"related-post\">What To Know About Unilateral Hearing Loss<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Most of us have had an ear infection in our life at one point or another, usually in childhood. It\u2019s not uncommon for people with an ear infection to experience temporary muffled hearing or hearing loss that resolves once the infection clears. However, some cases of severe, repeated ear infections may increase your risk of&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2178,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"none","_seopress_titles_title":"","_seopress_titles_desc":"","_seopress_robots_index":"","schema":"","fname":"","lname":"","position":"","credentials":"","placeID":"","no_match":false,"name":"","company":"","review":"","address":"","city":"","state":"","zip":"","lat":"","lng":"","phone1":"","phone2":"","fax":"","mon1":"","mon2":"","tue1":"","tue2":"","wed1":"","wed2":"","thu1":"","thu2":"","fri1":"","fri2":"","sat1":"","sat2":"","sun1":"","sun2":"","hours-note":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/entnova.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2175"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/entnova.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/entnova.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/entnova.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/entnova.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2175"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/entnova.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2175\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2180,"href":"https:\/\/entnova.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2175\/revisions\/2180"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/entnova.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2178"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/entnova.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2175"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/entnova.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2175"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/entnova.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2175"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}