Ear discharge

Ear discharges are the most common symptom in the ear problems. About more than 10 million cases in a year suffer from the ear discharges. Ear discharges may lead to loss of hearing in many cases. Ear discharge is common among all age group. It can affect from the children to the aged people.

The causation for the ear diseases may be of acute origin or the chronic reasons. The most common causes include the foreign bodies, middle ear infections, injury to the ear drum or the other allergies like Eczema. The discharges may be thick, whitish or yellow in colour. They are thick and foul smelling in nature. It may be occasionally blood stained. Ear discharges are the most common symptom if the disease or infection is involved in the ear.

Ear infections

Ear infections or the Otitis Media are the most common cause for the ear discharge in many people. It is usually acquired or congenital. In this condition there is a keratinized growth of squamous epithelium in the middle ear called as Cholesteatoma. In complications it may be associated with hearing loss, facial palsy, CNS dysfunctions and vertigo. Causes include Viral, bacterial and fungal infections like E. coli, Staphylococcus aureus, Candida albicans, Rhino virus etc. Many risk factors also include smoke exposure and Nasal discharges, where the force blowing of the nose will lead to middle ear infections. Symptoms include ear discharge with foul smelling and white or yellow discharge, ear pain, Fever, tinnitus, Loss of hearing and poor sleep.

The treatment for the ear infections includes the analgesics, topical ear drops and antibiotics for the pain, fever and discharge. The medications for ear infection include Ibuprofen, Paracetamol, drops with Benzocaine are advised by the ENT doctors. If there is chronic ear infection for more than a year then surgical procedure like Radical mastoidectomy with cavity obliteration is followed under trained and professional ENT specialists and for irreversible hearing loss, hearing aids are provided.

Treatment of Ear discharge

The treatment for other diseases involving the ear discharge depends on the cause. In some cases, the child unknowingly pushes the objects like seeds, nuts, peas or cotton and in adults insects like cockroaches, moths, and flies get in to the ear and start the problems like pain, tinnitus with foul smelling discharge from the ears. This has to be removed with the great tactfulness and only by the ENT surgeons. Other causes like rupture of the ear drum or any injury to the ear drum can also leads to the discharges and sometimes bleeding too.

The ear discharge treatment is usually done on the basis of the cause involved. In case of only discharge with no pathological indication then cleaning, suction and dry swabbing is done but if there is rupture of the ear drum then surgery of the injured tissue is done. Common medicines for ear discharge involves analgesics and antipyretics such as paracetamol, ibuprofin, aspirin and opioid drugs and antibiotics like Amoxicillin is frequently used in the treatment of the ear discharges. In severe cases Corticosteroids are applied in form of topical ear drops. Tympanoplasty and Tympanic membrane repair or the ossicular reconstruction is done.  

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