Causes Of Ear Pain

Ear pain can be caused due to various kinds of problems and some of these may be related to your overall health also. Ear pain is also known as otalgia and this is a common complaint for adults, but happens more often in children. It is important for the cause of ear pain to be understood because the treatment cannot be done for the same, without uncovering the problem. Pain in the ear can have a direct cause or be due to referred pain in some of the other parts of the body.

The major causes of ear pain include middle-ear infections, the out ear infection or the swimmer's ear, infected cyst, pressure from flying or diving, trauma, Tinnitus or ringing in the ears, osteoarthritis, which is a common type of arthritis caused by joint cartilage deterioration. The other cause of ear pain can also be a foreign object lodged in the ear canal. Some causes of ear pain, which are not related to the ears, include dental problems, sinus problems, TMJ disorder, cranial neuralgias, temporal arthritis and osteoarthritis in the jaw.

There are many different kinds of ear pain and treatments for the same depend on the cause of the ear pain. For example, bacterial infections the use of antibiotics is often prescribed along with pain relievers. For the other serious problems the ear, nose and throat physician or the ENT specialist, may need to be consulted. There are also times when the procedures such as surgery or injections are needed to get rid of these ear pains. The many causes of ear pain may be difficult to prevent and hence it is important to take precautions in loud environments.

You should be careful in loud places like concerts, and to keep objects out of the ear canal, including cotton swabs or ear plugs. Some of the facts that you should know about ear pain include that this pain is not a disease, but rather a symptom. This ear pain can actually result from numerous causes. Hence it is vital to identify the underlying cause of ear pain instead of trying to antibiotics or analgesics to alleviate the pain.

It has been seen that the ear can be anatomically divided into three main areas. These include the outer ear, the middle ear and the inner ear, which are affected by infections and other problems. But all the three parts of the ear, work together to provide proper hearing and balance. For example, the outer ear captures sound waves and these are converted to vibrations and passed to the inner ear. In turn the inner ear converts the vibrations to nerve impulses, which then travel to the brain.

The middle ear contains a small canal, which opens up in the back of the nose. This tiny passageway is known as the Eustachian tube and the function of the same is to equalize pressure between the middle ear and the surrounding environment. The bacterial or viral infections develop and spread through this Eustachian tube into the middle ear, which then results in pain in the ear.

• Juliana Breckinridge
• 25/05/2009, 12:59 AM
• 0 Comments