While everyone has dealt with a runny nose, we don’t commonly mention other types of cold symptoms because they are less common. Once in a while, a cold can move into one or more ears, but you rarely hear about those. This form of cold can be more risky than a common cold and should never be disregarded.
What does it feel like when you have a cold in your ear?
Your sinuses are directly interconnected to your ears, so it’s normal to feel some blockage in your ears when you have a cold. This blockage is often alleviated when you use a decongestant to relieve sinus symptoms.
But you shouldn’t ever disregard pain in your ear, even when you have a cold. The eardrum can be infected if the cold moves into the ears. And that will result in inflammation. The immune system responds to the cold by producing fluid that can accumulate on the eardrum. So somebody with an inflamed eardrum might also experience a slow leaking of fluid from the ear. Because it’s a slow leak, it’s most noticeable when you are sleeping on your side.
This is known as conductive hearing loss and affects how well you hear in the short term. Sadly, it can also cause the eardrum to burst, which leads to long-term hearing loss. In turn, more permanent damage happens to the hearing nerves from the inflammation, which is known as sensorineural hearing loss.
Waiting could be costly
Come in and see us if you’re dealing with any pain in your ears. Oftentimes, a primary doctor assumes that the ear symptoms will go away when the primary cold does. Sometimes, a patient will even forget to mention any pain they may be experiencing in their ear. But the infection has most likely gotten to the point where it’s causing harm to the ear if you’re feeling pain. In order to avoid further damage, the ear infection needs to be quickly addressed.
Many people who develop pain in their ear during a cold, get over their cold only to notice that the ear pain lingers. This is often when a person finally decides to visit a hearing specialist. But at this point, a considerable amount of damage has already been done. This damage often causes permanent hearing loss, especially if you’re at risk of ear infections.
Over time, hearing clarity is impacted by the small-scale scars and perforations of the eardrum which are left behind from ear infections. The eardrum is a buffer between your inner and middle ear when it’s healthy and working in a normal capacity. 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.
What should you do if you waited to treat that ear infection?
Don’t be so hard on yourself. A cold with pain in the ear can actually be a more significant cold than most individuals might think. You should make an appointment for a hearing test as soon as you can if you are experiencing hearing loss after a cold.
We can assess whether the hearing loss is short-term (conductive). If this is the situation, you may have an obstruction in your ear that needs to be extracted by a professional. If you have sensorineural, or irreversible hearing loss, there are treatment solutions, including new hearing technology, that we can help you with.
Schedule an appointment as soon as possible if you’re having difficulty hearing after a cold.