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Can A Blocked Nose Cause Hearing Loss

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Types Of Sinus & Allergy

Top 7 Causes of a Clogged Ear (With Minimal to No Pain)

Hearing loss that stems from sinus and allergy issues can manifest in different ways. Conductive hearing loss is the most common condition, but congestion or fullness and tinnitus are also types of hearing loss associated with sinus and allergy problems.

Conductive Hearing Loss

This temporary condition occurs when an element like mucus or earwax prevents the sound waves from flowing freely through the outer, middle and inner ear. Conductive hearing loss can be caused by allergies or sinusitis, so if you treat these issues and clear up your allergies or infection, but still have difficulty hearing, you should see a hearing specialist.

Fullness or Congestion

Dull pain and pressure can result from the congestion or fullness that occurs as glands produce excess fluid that is unable to drain. When this fluid presses on the eardrum, it causes discomfort and makes it more difficult to hear. In most cases, the discomfort will decrease and dissipate within a few days to a week, but if sharp or acute pain occurs, you should see a doctor immediately as this could be a sign of an ear infection.

Tinnitus

Joy Victory Managing Editor Healthy Hearing

Joy Victory has extensive experience editing consumer health information. Her training in particular has focused on how to best communicate evidence-based medical guidelines and clinical trial results to the public. She strives to make health content accurate, accessible and engaging to the public.Read more about Joy.

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How To Keep Hearing Aids Dry

To make sure hearing aids stay working properly when the weather changes, be sure to wear a hat or use an umbrella when going out in the rain. Youll also want to dry your hair and ears thoroughly after showering prior to putting in your hearing aids. Lastly, in addition to regular cleaning, use a hearing aid dehumidifier overnight or anytime your hearing aids are exposed to excess moisture.

If you suspect hearing loss, be sure to see a hearing healthcare professional if your hearing problems persist after the barrage of wet weather, sudden barometric changes and allergy season ends, so you can enjoy the beautiful sounds of springtime for years to come.

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Allergies Viruses And Hearing

Allergies and colds are the most likely to cause a middle ear infection, also known as otitis media. After a few days of a stuffy or runny nose, the lining of your middle ear is irritated. This can block the Eustachian tube, which can feel like popping in the ears, fullness or congestion. Sometimes this blockage results in a temporary hearing loss, called conductive hearing loss. It usually resolves itself once the cold or allergy is gone.

The flu also can lead to conductive hearing loss due to congestion. This also usually resolves itself. However, the flu might also cause a more serious hearing problem known as sensorineural hearing loss. This is when the inner ear nerves that transmit sound signals to the brain are damaged. It happens when the flu virus attacks the inner ear. Sensorineural hearing loss may be permanent if its not treated quickly, usually within two days. However, its difficult to diagnose, so if you have the flu and experience a sudden loss of hearing, see your health care provider as soon as possible.

Anxiety Can Cause Ear Fullness Pressure And Pain

Common risk factors for Eustachian Tube Dysfunction

It’s not unusual for people with anxiety to experience ear pain and pressure, especially during a panic attack or when under a lot of stress. You may experience this as ear pressure, fullness, pain or even that your ears simply “feel weird.” You may have a near-constant urge to pop your ears to relieve the pressure, but the ear popping does little to help you feel better.

Why does this happen? The inner ears are very sensitive to changes in fluid and blood supply. If your heart is racing and/or your blood pressure is elevated because you feel anxious , your ears can be affected very quickly. Likewise, elevated stress hormones can alter the delicate balance of fluids in your ear, making them swell.

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Why Do You Have An Allergic Reaction

When a foreign substance, such as pollen. causes hypersensitivity, your immune system responds by producing antibodies that release histamine. Histamines cause itching, mucus and sometimes swelling. Allergies can occur year-round, but for many people pollen and grass allergies are more likely to occur in the spring or fall.

Stuffiness Ear Discomfort And Sinus Pain

Get moisture. Use a nasal saline spray several times a day, or hold a warm, moist washcloth to your face. This can ease the pressure and pain.

Humidifiers will also help keep your sinuses from drying out. Or you can sit in the bathroom with a hot shower running for 15 minutes to curb pain.

Check the medicine cabinet. Try an over-the-counter pain reliever, such as acetaminophen, ibuprofen, or naproxen, to ease an earache or pain from sinus pressure.

Try a . Over-the-counter tablets or nasal sprays can ease sinus blockage which in turn can relieve clogged ears. But don’t use nasal decongestant sprays for more than 3 days, or you will rebound⦠meaning the more you use it the more you need it because youâre congested.

Avoid extreme temperatures. They can make sinus-related ear problems worse. If your ears bother you, it isnât the time to go jogging on a hot day or build a snow fort with the kids.

Keep your head up. If you bend forward with your head down, it can make the pressure worse. Youâll want to skip yoga class until the sinus problem is over.

Blow your nose gently. Block one nostril while you blow through the other.

Drink plenty of fluids. Down lots of water in the evening. When you stay hydrated, it keeps nasal mucus thin. That helps it drain and means less nighttime stuffiness.

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Can Sinus Issues Cause Hearing Loss

When the sinuses become inflamed, either from infection or other nasal issues, they can affect your hearing too. Swollen sinuses cause the glands between your nose and eyes to create more mucus than usual, which can block nasal and sinus pathways from draining properly. Your sinuses and ear canal are very close together, so the blockage in your sinuses can cause the Eustachian tube to become inflamed and filled with fluid, leading to pressure on the eardrum. This inner ear pressure can lead to symptoms such as:

  • Discomfort
  • Mild hearing loss or muffled hearing
  • Dizziness
  • Vertigo or balance issues

If you are having difficulty hearing because of sinusitis, infection, or other sinus issues, sounds may sound muffled or distant, as if heard underwater or through a tunnel. Irregular pressure or inflammation can even affect your equilibrium causing issues with balance or walking.

Surviving The Allergy Season With Hearing Aids

2 Your Health: Hearing Loss and Sinusitis

The allergy season can bring more than sniffles and sneezes. The buildup of fluid in your ears can lead to pain and loss of hearing, a disconcerting experience for anyone. If you’re struggling to tell the difference between temporary conductive hearing loss and a permanent condition, this article can help you tell the difference.

Hearing aids

Pollen season is a stressful time for everyone, especially those with hearing loss. For those that already experience trouble hearing, congestion can exacerbate their hearing loss and make it difficult to get through the season. Conductive hearing loss can lead to dizziness, pain, and tinnitus. If you already suffer from hearing loss, this can cause concerns about your condition worsening. If you use hearing aids, fluid in the ears can make it painful and difficult to use your hearing aids.

In order to help with both those problems, this article will cover all aspects of seasonal allergies and their effects on the ears.

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An Important Function Of Sinus

  • Allows voice resonance
  • It helps in filtering and add moisture to air inhaled from nasal passages removing unwanted particles at the same time.
  • Lighten weight from the skull.

The four paranasal sinuses, named accordingly to the bones where they are placed:

  • Ethmoid: located in the upper part of the nose in the middle of the eyes.
  • Frontal: triangular-shaped sinus, located in a bottom part of the forehead over eyes and eyebrows.
  • Maxillary: largest among four, in cheekbones next to the nose.
  • Sphenoid: located behind the eyes.

What Is The Connection Between Sinus Infections And Hearing Loss

Sinus infections and the sensation of blocked sinuses are nothing short of annoying. Sinus infections, also known as sinusitis, can cause a range of symptoms including headaches, fever, fatigue, cough, tooth pain, and facial pain. Sinus infections also affect your ears and your hearing.

In this post, nasal and sinus specialist Dr. Conrad McCutcheon explores the connection between sinus infections and hearing loss. We treat both conditions here at Memorial Village ENT in Houston, Texas.

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Tips To Prevent Sinus Infections

In order to avoid ear pain and temporary hearing loss due to clogged ears as a result of sinus infections one must prevent sinus infections. Here are some tips to help you prevent sinus infections and avoid the complications associated with it.

  • Control your allergies.
  • Keep hydrated, which keeps mucus thin.
  • Reduce alcohol consumption, which can worsen mucus.
  • Minimize exposure to people with cold or flu.
  • Always wash your hands and avoid germs.
  • Avoid chlorinated swimming pools.
  • Take a nasal spray or decongestant prior to flying.
  • Dont smoke, which can aggravate sinusitis, or quit smoking.

These tips can better help protect you against sinus infections. If you do develop a sinus infection, begin treatment right away to reduce complications.

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Mohan Garikiparithi got his degree in medicine from Osmania University . He practiced clinical medicine for over a decade before he shifted his focus to the field of health communications. During his active practice he served as the head of the Dept. of Microbiology in a diagnostic centre in India. On a three-year communications program in Germany, Mohan developed a keen interest in German Medicine , and other alternative systems of medicine. He now advocates treating different medical conditions without the use of traditional drugs. An ardent squash player, Mohan believes in the importance of fitness and wellness.

Hearing Loss A Sinus Complication Can Be Cured With Sinusitis Treatment

Ear Infections &  Hearing Loss

Indeed, to cure hearing loss, one should get sinusitis cured. Treat up sinusitis before it starts damaging your hearing power and dont let it spread in your ear if you dont want to get hearing loss. To diagnose sinusitis, one can go for X-ray or physical examination. To judge the infection and its extent, sometimes, doctors recommend CT scan. Testing the accumulated fluid in the ear can also help doctors to detect infection type and recommend the best medication for relief.

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Can A Sinus Infection Cause Hearing Loss

The last thing you want to be asking yourself on top of When is this sinus infection going to end? is, Can a sinus infection cause hearing loss? But if thats the situation you find yourself in, you want answers, and quick.

So: Can a sinus infection cause hearing loss? In short, yes. But how? What does sinus infection hearing loss look like? How is it best treated? Sinus Solutions of South Florida is here to address these questions in-depth. In the process, we hope to help you identify a pathway to better hearing, better sinus health, and better everyday living.

Psst If youre wondering if you have sinusitis, a sinus infection, or a cold, check out this article on the difference between sinusitis and a cold.

What Can You Do

Getting moisture and hydrating your nasal passages is a great start. Using a saline spray several times a day or pressing a warmed washcloth to your face can ease some pain. Keeping a humidifier in your home will also keep your sinuses healthy and happy, or a simple steam shower does the job just as well.

Taking an over-the-counter pain reliever, such as ibuprofen, helps ease inflammation and any ear pain. A decongestant or a nasal spray that contains a decongestant can relieve blockage and clogged ears but only use it if and when neededoveruse can result in more congestion. Also stay indoors whenever the weather calls for extreme conditions as these can cause a flare up. If youre having a bad ear day, maybe going out for walk in the rain isnt such a good idea.

Sinus infections can sneak up on you so it is also good to:

Keep your head elevated as it can cause more pressure

Try not to force blowing your nose as it can cause ears to pop

Drink lots of water in the evening as it thins and drains yellow mucus

Steer clear of caffeine , salt, and alcohol since these can affect circulation to your ears.

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Treat Your Hearing Loss With Our Experts

Hearing loss can be annoying, frustrating, and even scary. An experienced ENT specialist at Advanced ENT & Allergy Center can help you get your life and hearing back. We will determine the diagnosis and create an ideal treatment plan to fit your lifestyle, guiding you through every step. Find relief from your symptoms, hear better, and work with an expert doctor whether youre at home or in our office.

Sinus Infections Can Cause Loss Of Hearing

Clearing sinuses to help tinnitus

Having grown up with that silly childrens song, some of us accepted long ago that somehow the knee bone is connected to the jaw bone, but did you know your nose is connected to your ear? More specifically, your nasal sinus cavity links to your eardrum, which occasionally causes hearing loss when suffering from acute or chronic sinusitis. If you or someone you know finds themselves enduring this condition, the best move is to treat sinusitis before it causes permanent damage, especially in children.

What is Sinusitis?

Simply put, sinusitis is an infection or inflammation of the sinus cavity, the air pocket tucked behind the bones of your nose and between your eyes. The two kinds of sinusitis, acute and chronic, share similar symptoms: runny nose, tension headaches, postnasal drip, coughing, and congestion. The difference lies in the longevity of their course. Chronic, by definition, refers to a lasting condition, whereas acute implies immediate and short-term discomfort fewer than eight weeks.

Though people with acute sinusitis may experience temporary bouts of hearing loss, the ability to hear usually restores itself once the infection clears. Chronic sinusitis, on the other hand, may turn temporary hearing loss into a permanent condition when complicated by an accompanying ear infection.

Why the Hearing Loss?

What Do I Do?

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Integrated Ear Nose And Throat Of Lone Tree Colorado

According to the National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders , sudden deafness, or sudden sensorineural hearing loss, strikes one person per 5,000 every year, typically adults in their 40s and 50s. Sudden sensorineural hearing loss usually comes on suddenly and rapidly, and nine out of 10 people with it lose hearing in one ear.

Unfortunately, most people who experience sudden sensorineural hearing loss delay treatment or dont seek treatment at all, because they think the condition is due to allergies, sinus infections, or ear wax impaction. If you suspect you have sudden sensorineural hearing loss, you should seek immediate medical care, because any delayed treatment could result in a permanent hearing loss.

Sudden Hearing Loss FAQs

How is sudden hearing loss diagnosed?

Your audiologist will conduct a hearing test to diagnose sudden sensorineural hearing loss. This test will help answer if your hearing loss is due to one of the following conditions: 1) Sound is not reaching the inner ear due to an obstruction , or 2) The ear is not processing the sound that reaches it due to a sensorineural deficit. With this test, your audiologist will also be able to determine the range of hearing thats been lost. If you have a hearing loss of at least 30 decibels in three connected frequencies, the hearing loss is diagnosed as sudden sensorineural hearing loss.

What are the signs that you may have a sudden hearing loss?

What causes sudden hearing loss?

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Brain Injury Or Head Trauma

A serious brain injury or head trauma can damage bones in the middle ear or nerves in the inner ear. This can happen after a fall or blow to the head. Other symptoms of a head injury include headaches, dizziness, and loss of consciousness.

Muffled hearing doesnt always occur by itself. It can appear with other symptoms, too. Its important to describe all symptoms to a doctor to help identify the underlying cause.

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The Link Between Allergy And Menieres Disease

The study The Link between Allergy and Menieres Disease suggests there might be a link between allergies and MD.

This is suggested because there have been animal studies that prove allergic activity within the inner ear.

Further studies do need to be accomplished to actually prove the link between allergies and MD in humans.

Until then, MD is considered an idiopathic disease, meaning there is no known cause.

Science hasnt proved a direct link yet, but they do suggest that it might be a good idea to treat those with MD in a similar fashion as an allergy treatment .

Early Warning Signs Of Hearing Loss:

Will Sinus Infection Cause Hearing Loss
  • Difficulty hearing other people clearly
  • Misunderstanding conversations
  • Asking people to repeat themselves
  • Watching TV or listening to music at a higher volume than others
  • Difficult to hear on the phone
  • Finding it hard to keep up with a conversation
  • Feeling tired or stressed from concentrating while listening
  • Muffled hearing
  • Ringing in the ears

Hearing loss in general is something that usually happens slowly over time when you are exposed to loud noise.

Hearing loss that is not noise-induced can be caused by allergies, head trauma, medications, trouble with the mechanics inside your ears, diseases, and many other conditions.

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