How to prevent and treat ear infections effectively

Ear infections can be very painful. But where do they come from and how do we avoid them? For complete understanding, you need to know the anatomy of the ear. The ear canal extends from outside the ear to the ear eardrumIt is a membrane that vibrates and thus transmits sounds to the ossicles, the inner ear, and the auditory nerve, which carries information to the brain.

There are generally two types of ear infections:Otitis externawhich affects the ear canal, and acute, deep otitis media, which affects the eardrum membrane.

What are the symptoms of an ear infection?

In case'Inflammation of the middle ear Severe, the eardrum is red, inflamed, and sometimes purulent, and the inflammation is accompanied by a group of very disturbing symptoms for patients. “We have hearing loss, a feeling of pressure inside the ear, fluctuation in hearing, a feeling of sound resonance, as if we had a cochlea on the ear.” mention it Dr. Jack Major, Ear, Nose and Throat. “We can also have distortion through noise that is not necessarily annoying, or metallic noise, or noise from dishes that becomes annoying.” Continue.

Finally, it is also possible to have “Tinnitus With sounds in the ear or “Feeling unstable because there is not the same pressure on the eardrums.” He explains again. “It's all related to mismanagement of pressure inside the ear“, he explains.

Clean your nose well to protect your ears

Contrary to what some may think, the solution to reducing ear infections does not lie in cleaning the ears. Serious ear infections have nothing to do with it cerumen Or with Dirty ears. This is an inflammation of the Eustachian tube, the tube that connects part of the nose to the ear and which allows the eardrum to breathe.

If the Eustachian tube is not working well, fluid forms inside the ear and stagnates there instead of easily going down the back of the nose and into the throat.

a result : “There is no point in cleaning your ears, because the main thing you should do is clean your nose.” Dr. Mager notes. Concretely, “The goal of the game is to draw air by washing the nose to ventilate the Eustachian tube and replenish the air inside the ear. Serous otitis cannot be treated with drops or antibiotics. Because it is the result of a problem in the Eustachian tube, and its treatment is washing the nose.”

Take corticosteroids or yo-yo

if Ear infections Its treatment is very repetitive and very painful Corticosteroids It is also possible to apply it intranasally. If this treatment does not work, it is also possible to consult a speech therapist and the famous Eustachian tube rehabilitation.

Finally, another option often used in children, who are more affected by ear infections, but which can also be performed in adults, is to install a “yo-yo”, or transtympanic aerator, into the auditory ear canal. This silicone device placed across the eardrum helps ventilate the inside of the ear and rebalance pressure to prevent future ear infections.