One ear feels blocked?

One ear seems to be blocked. This situation is probably caused by getting angry or staying up late. However, it is also possible that it is caused by otitis media. Modern people are under great pressure in work and life, which can easily lead to getting angry. Sometimes getting angry can also cause one ear to feel like it is blocked. If you want to confirm the diagnosis, it is best to go to the hospital for examination as soon as possible and treat the disease symptomatically after clarifying the cause.

Six obvious signs of otitis media

Otitis media is an inflammatory disease that occurs in the entire middle ear or in part of its structure. It often occurs in children. It is generally divided into two categories: non-suppurative and suppurative otitis media. Among them, non-suppurative ones include secretory otitis media, barotraumatic otitis media, etc., and suppurative ones include acute and chronic otitis media. Among them, specific inflammation is generally rare, such as tuberculous otitis media.

Symptoms of otitis media

1. Acute suppurative otitis media

Symptoms: suppurative otitis media, commonly known as ear damage. It is an inflammation of the middle ear caused by purulent bacterial infection. Its main symptoms are ear pain and pus discharge. Children have more obvious systemic symptoms than adults, and may have fever, vomiting, etc. The consequence is complications. Severe complications include intracranial complications such as meningitis, brain abscess, etc., and other complications include extracranial complications such as labyrinthitis, facial nerve paralysis, etc.

2. Secretory otitis media

symptom

(1) Deafness: Hearing loss may occur suddenly after a cold, while descending an airplane, or while diving. Hearing may improve when the tragus is compressed or the head position changes.

(2) Secretory otitis media also causes ear pain and a feeling of fullness in the ear.

(3) Tinnitus: It is usually a low-pitched, rumbling tinnitus, and can be heard as the sound of air passing through water when yawning or blowing the nose.

(4) Child patients may show slow response, mishearing or inattention.

(5) Otoscopic examination: In the acute phase, the tympanic membrane is congested, retracted, the light cone is deformed or shortened, and the short process of the malleus is prominent. After tympanic fluid accumulates, the color of the tympanic membrane changes to light yellow, orange-red, or amber. If the disease has lasted for a long time, the tympanic membrane is often gray and turbid. If the secretion is serous.

3. Catarrhal otitis media

Symptoms: In patients with chronic catarrhal otitis media, the Eustachian tube mucosa becomes thickened or adhered due to prolonged congestion and edema, causing poor function of the Eustachian tube. Due to long-term negative pressure in the tympanic cavity, the eardrum sinks inward and its range of motion becomes smaller, resulting in symptoms of deafness and tinnitus.

4. Otitis media with effusion

symptom

(1) Blockage and fullness in the ears: During the acute phase, there will be varying degrees of blockage and fullness in the ears, as well as dizziness. Chronic patients only feel a sense of blockage. Children cannot express themselves clearly.

(2) Hearing loss: Acute otitis media with effusion is characterized by upper respiratory tract infection first, followed by hearing loss. There is an echo in one's own hearing, and symptoms may worsen or improve when the head is moved. The onset of chronic otitis media with effusion is insidious, and the time of onset is often unclear. Children with bilateral ear diseases often have slow reactions to sounds, need to turn up the volume when watching TV, and have difficulty concentrating on studying. If one ear is normal, the parents may not notice it for a long time.

(3) Tinnitus: In the acute phase, there is a sound of air and water in the ear. In the middle and late stages, due to the accumulation of fluid in the middle ear cavity, fibrous adhesions are formed, resulting in tinnitus of varying degrees and forms.

(4) Ear pain. A small number of patients with exudative otitis media may also experience ear discharge.

5. Chronic otitis media

symptom

(1) Ear discharge: It is the main common symptom of this disease. It may be mucous, mucopurulent or pure purulent. Non-dangerous pus discharge is thinner and has no odor. Although the dangerous type of pus discharge is not much, it is thicker, mostly pure purulent, and accompanied by a foul odor.

(2) Deafness: The severity of deafness varies. Because it usually affects only one ear, it is easy to be ignored. This type of deafness is often proportional to the progression of the disease, that is, the more severe the lesion, the more severe the deafness. It is usually conductive hearing loss.

(3) In addition to the above symptoms, if you experience dizziness, vomiting, facial paralysis, severe headache, chills, high fever, etc., it means that complications have occurred and you should go to the hospital immediately for treatment.

6. Acute otitis media

Symptoms: Sudden onset of ear pain, often accompanied by a cold or cough. If the patient is a baby, he will cry incessantly and rub the earlobe of the affected ear. Fever, body temperature can be as high as 39 degrees Celsius. Vomiting may occur, or the ear canal may have a discharge of soft wax or pus. Hearing may be lost in the affected ear.

Common causes of ear pain

Otitis externa and acute otitis media are common causes of earache. In the former, the external auditory canal is red and swollen, with obvious local tenderness, and the ear pain worsens when the mouth is opened; in acute otitis media, the ear pain is throbbing, and after the eardrum is perforated, pus flows out and the ear pain is significantly relieved. When chronic otitis media has intracranial and extracranial complications, in addition to ear pain, it is often accompanied by symptoms such as headache, fever, nausea, vomiting and dizziness. When there is an ear tumor, the ear pain is obvious, accompanied by symptoms such as facial nerve paralysis and discharge of purulent and bloody secretions.