Earache Causes

A nasty earache more often than not, is a sign of inflamed sinuses and an indication of a cold infection. In some cases, it may arise due to a bacterial, viral or even a fungal infection. A sharp, piercing pain in the ear is called an earache. There are different causes for different types of pains. It is a common medical problem affecting both children as well as adults. It usually occurs due to the inflammation and swelling of the different parts of the ear. Let us have a look at the different causes affecting the different parts of the ear.

Causes

The human ear is divided into three parts, the external ear, middle ear and the inner ear canal. Each of these parts can suffer due to various causes. Let us have a look at some of the common causes and their remedies in the following paragraphs.

Otitis Externa
The outer ear canal tends, mostly after swimming, to suffer from a skin infection. This is one of the common ear pain causes in children. The skin becomes red, dry, flaky and painful. Some complain of a ringing or buzzing sound in the ear and few experience a sensation of blocked ear. Many times, one suffers from a thick discharge from the ear canal.

Otitis Media
Another cause in children and infants is otitis media. This is an infection of the middle ear as well as eardrum. Although common in children, it is also seen affecting adults. Symptoms of otitis media include loss of hearing, ringing sound in the ear, sensation fullness in ear, fever, ear discharge, vomiting, diarrhea, irritability and poor feeding and poor sleeping patterns in infants. The cause of otitis media is a bacterial or viral infection of the middle ear. This infection is almost always followed by a cold or upper respiratory tract infection. Many develop this middle ear infection due to allergies, bottle feeding an infant in supine position, etc.

Bullous Myringitis
One of the causes is an inflammation of the eardrum due to infection or trauma to the ear. The eardrum may also get injured when a foreign object pierces the ear. Bacteria and virus may infect the eardrum and lead to inflammation and blister formation. This condition is called bullous myringitis. The symptoms include extreme pain due to eardrum rupture, fever, hearing loss and bloody discharge from the ear.

Fluid in the Ear
An ear infection or blockage in the Eustachian tube may lead to fluid in the ear. This condition may lead to earache and needs surgical intervention for treatment.

Barotrauma
One of the ear pain causes in adults is barotrauma. In this condition, changes in the ear pressure causes a pain in the ear. Flying in an airplane, diving deep into the sea, loud explosion or noise, etc leads to pressure in the ear. It may lead to ruptured eardrum at times.

Perichondritis
One of the common causes is perichondritis that occurs due to trauma to the ear. One such common trauma to the ear that leads to a pain in the ear is ear piercing.

Earwax
A build up of earwax is one of the intermittent causes of earache. It forms an ear plug-in the auditory canal that may cause intermittent pain and reduction in hearing. The treatment for earwax is removal of the 'plug' by dissolving the wax with the use of ear drops.

Most remedies involve use of ear drops or placing one or two drops of warm vegetable oil, olive oil, baby oil drops, etc in the ear. Many times, chewing a wad of chewing gum also helps in relieving the pain. Placing a few drops of garlic oil in the ear canal also helps relieve ear infections due to bacteria, virus and fungal agents. For severe pain with fever, discharge and other symptoms, seek medical help.