Causes and Treatments of Otitis

What is otitis?

Otitis is defined as an inflammation of the ear, but properly speaking, we can distinguish between otitis externa, which occurs in the outermost part of the ear, and otitis media, which occurs behind the eardrum.

What are the causes of the appearance of otitis?

Otitis externa is mainly caused by the entrance of water and by the manipulation of the ear. For this very reason, otitis externa is also called swimmer’s otitis because it typically occurs in summer. On the other hand, otitis media are also divided into two groups: acute otitis media, which occurs mainly in young children, due to upper respiratory tract colds, and secretory otitis media, which are due to mucus and occur in the context of allergies, rhinitis or vegetations in children.

What are the symptoms of otitis?

The symptoms of otitis externa are basically pain, which is a very intense pain and is often accompanied by discharge through the ear canal. On the other hand, in acute otitis media, which is caused by infections, there is usually a fever, also intense pain but not as much as in otitis externa and, after a few days, the presence of discharge from the ear may appear. And in secretory otitis media, which is produced by mucus, in this case there may appear pinching, sensation of ear plugging, sensation of the voice booming in the ear and there are also symptoms associated with the origin, whether it is an allergy or a case of adenoid vegetations in children. Likewise, it is an important cause of hearing loss in children and, therefore, this hearing loss in these children should rule out a mucus problem in the ear.

How is otitis diagnosed?

For the diagnosis of otitis, a complete medical history should be taken with questions aimed at finding out the cause of this inflammation, followed by an examination of the ear, which can be performed using a conventional otoscope, an otomicroscope, an endoscopic otoscope or a videotoscope. Then, hearing tests are performed, which, in children there are specific tests of infant audiometry, and also tests are usually performed to see how is the ventilation of the ear and tympanic mobility, which is called impedanciometry. Similarly, we must find out if it is a vegetation problem, how the vegetations are found and allergy tests are also often performed.

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How is otitis treated?

In the treatment of otitis externa, the entry of water into the ears should be avoided and anti-inflammatory drugs and ear drops are administered to shorten the evolution of the process. In acute otitis media it is important to administer anti-inflammatory drugs, often oral antibiotics are also administered, and in the specific case of secretory otitis media, that of the mucus, a clinical control is made to see that this mucus is correctly resolved, when this is not the case, corticoids can be administered orally or, in some cases, it is even necessary to place transtympanic drainages through a simple surgical intervention to avoid long-term sequelae of the ear.

Can otitis externa be prevented?

Otitis externa can be prevented by avoiding manipulation of the ear. The use of cotton swabs should also be avoided, as well as the introduction of clips and other instruments inside the ear, which can facilitate infection. On the other hand, in otitis media it is important to know that the risk factors for more otitis media in children are, above all, nursery school attendance, parental smoking and overcrowding. Likewise, allergy and vegetation symptoms should be taken into account and should be treated appropriately.