Ear leakage rarely occurs as an isolated symptom, usually associated with one of the many conditions in the ear or in the temporal bone of the skull. The type of discharge may indicate which disease is causing an ear leak: blood, purulent, mucus, or serous. What to do if an ear leak occurs?
Leakage from the earis usually associated with ear diseases, i.e. primarily with otitis externa and otitis media, often complicated by perforation. A substance that comes out of the ear may have a different appearance (morphological structure) depending on what led to its formation. And like this:
- serous discharge - most often yellow and white in color and is an indicator of allergic diseases, as well as dermatological processes within the ear, e.g. ear herpes zoster
- mucus discharge, usually in comparison to serous fluid has a much denser consistency, whitish shade; in many cases it is associated with damage to the eardrum and is the result of untreated inflammation and trauma resulting from a sudden pressure change that damages the eardrum.
- purulent discharge - this is a pathognomonic picture, i.e. typical for the inflammatory process of bacterial, less fungal etiology; virtually any part of the ear can be infected; sometimes it is the first symptom of perforation of the eardrum, which is an emergency and requires immediate intervention.
- bloody discharge - this is most often the result of minor injuries within the ear canal, most often the guilty ones are cotton buds for removing earwax, pens, and in the case of children, toys and small items; however, neoplastic etiology should be ruled out in each case; blood leaking from the ear may be associated with a head injury, therefore imaging tests are necessary.
Accompanying symptoms of a leak from the ear
Ear leakage is very rarely an isolated symptom. In most clinical situations, it accompanies other ailments, which include:
- earache, medical term otalgia
- dizziness
- low-grade fever and fever
- swelling of the tissues surrounding the auricle
- deterioration of hearing quality, often noisesear, which additionally reduce the correct perception of sounds from the outside
Ear leakage: the most common being otitis
The most common pathology with leakage of secretions from the ear is otitis externa. The etiology varies, although in most cases they are bacteria, viruses or fungi whose colonization leads to damage to the structure of the epithelium lining the walls of the ear canal. One of the factors that increase the risk of infection is a damp environment inside the ear. This situation is additionally exacerbated by frequent visits to the swimming pool or a humid climate. Staphylococcus aureus dominates among the most frequently found pathogens. In rare cases it is a stick of blue oil -Pseudomonas aeruginosa .
Symptoms characteristic of otitis externa are primarily pain that worsens when chewing, low-grade fever or fever, headaches, ear discharge, hearing impairment.
Treatment consists mainly in introducing antibiotics in order not only to eliminate basic ailments, but also to prevent many complications. Very often, inflammation can spread to adjacent structures, which is manifested by inflammation of the salivary glands, lymph nodes, etc. The most dangerous form of herpes zoster is still ear herpes zoster, where in many cases nerves are invaded by the virus. This leads to permanent damage and paralysis of nearby nerves, e.g. the facial nerves.
General rules for treating ear leakage
Treatment depends on the etiology of the disorder. The length of therapy and its form are at the discretion of the physician. It is very important to protect the patient from pain, because ear pain can be very severe and make it practically impossible to function. Topical treatment with broad-spectrum antibiotics is preferred. Usually the treatment time does not exceed 7 days. If the patient, in addition to ear problems, reports symptoms suggesting infection development, the doctor should change the form of current treatment to systemically administered substances. It is worth remembering that the therapy should be continued until the doctor recommends it. This is important especially in the case of fungal infections that require long-term therapy, even 2 weeks after the symptoms have disappeared. A very important element of the therapy are treatments aimed at mechanical cleaning of the ear canal.
Ear inflammation prevention
In order to avoid frequent inflammations within the ear canal, a few preventive actions are enough. As it was highlighted above, moisture favorsinfections. Therefore, it is recommended that you avoid soaking your ears for too long while bathing. And if you get water, you should dry the ear as soon as possible and keep it dry. The issue of ear cleaning remains controversial. Commonly used cotton buds are not the best solution. Drops specially prepared for this purpose, which are designed to soften the earwax, will work better.