Understanding Chronic Ear Infections: Causes, Symptoms & Treatment

A chronic ear infection is an infection or inflammation in the middle ear that is persistent or recurrent. The infection can cause permanent damage in the ears and nearby bones.

Causes

• When the eustachian tube becomes blocked and no longer can drain fluid from the middle ear, viruses and bacteria in the middle ear are able to multiply. A chronic ear infection does not go away or keeps coming back for a period of weeks or months.

Symptoms

• People with a chronic ear infection often have symptoms such as pain in their ears, pressure in their ears, a fever, drainage from their ears, balance problems, headaches and/or clogged ears.

Risks

• Some people with a chronic ear infection have long-term hearing loss as a result of fluid buildup in the ears. In rare cases, a buildup of fluids in an ear can cause a ruptured eardrum.

Diagnosis

• A doctor uses an instrument called an otoscope, looking inside the ear or blowing a puff of air into the ear to examine for an infection. An acoustic reflectometry tests fluid buildup in the ear by sending sounds of different frequencies into the ear.

Treatment

• People with a chronic ear infection are often given antibiotics or ear drops. Some children with a chronic ear infection who have hearing loss or frequent infections need to get a tube surgically inserted in their ear drum to drain fluids and equalize pressure in the ears.