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Can a sinus infection cause hearing loss?

Can a sinus infection cause hearing loss?

 

If you suffer from chronic sinus infections, you may be putting your ears at risk for sudden hearing loss, ear infection, and more!

When you have a sinus infection, bacteria pool in your sinus cavities and cause inflammation throughout your nasal cavity and sinus lining. If it is an acute infection, you may feel facial pressure/tenderness, congestion, fatigue, and more. Sometimes a chronic infection (>3 months) may not have many symptoms and you may just be experiencing congestion.

This bacteria or virus can travel up the eustachian tube and get into the fluid of your inner ear called the perilymph. This causes severe inflammation in the hearing organ (cochlea) and can cause a drastic drop in the hearing. Some patients have woken up suddenly not able to hear out of one ear and it is a very scary experience. Some may also experience vertigo because the inflammation can occur in the balance organ (labyrinth) which sits right next to the cochlea.

If the hearing does drop out, it needs to be quickly treated with a strong steroid called a trans-tympanic dexamethasone infusion (TTDI). At Sinus & Snoring Specialists, this is a simple clinic procedure performed by the Physician Assistants, where dexamethasone is injected into the middle ear to bring down inflammation in an attempt to save the hearing and/or help with vertigo. The eardrum is numbed before so the patient has no discomfort during the procedure.

It is very important to have healthy sinuses for many reasons but especially to protect your ears. If you suffer from allergies, sinusitis, congestion, hearing loss, or vertigo, consider having your sinuses evaluated in our office with a mini-CT scan. You may be living with a chronic sinus infection and not know it.

Schedule a Consultation

For more information or to be evaluated by Dr. Daniel Slaughter and the team at Sinus & Snoring Specialists, contact us today for a consultation at 512.601.0303 to schedule an appointment.

 

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Posted in: Ear and Hearing Care, Hearing Loss, Pediatric ENT, Sinus and Nasal, Sinus Infection

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