Chronic sinusitis is a condition where the spaces inside of your nose and head swell up. This swelling can significantly interfere with mucus drainage in your nose and your Eustachian tube. Patients suffering from chronic sinusitis will report feelings of pressure on their eardrums and sometimes mild hearing loss.

How Does Chronic Sinusitis Affect Your Hearing?

As you just learned, chronic sinusitis can cause your Eustachian tube to become inflamed and filled up with fluid. This tube is essentially positioned at the middle ear and connects to your throat. This tube opens up whenever you yawn, swallow, or sneeze to alleviate pressure buildup in your ear.

When your Eustachian tube becomes inflamed, it can obstruct the normal functioning of your middle ear. This means that you can experience ear pressure because it cannot be alleviated due to the blockage of fluid in your middle ear. Additionally, this blockage prevents the middle ear from amplifying and transferring sounds between your inner and outer ear.

Allergy-Related Hearing Loss

When your allergies cause your sinuses to become inflamed, you can experience hearing loss. The most common type of hearing loss experienced by allergy sufferers is conductive hearing loss. This is a temporary form of hearing loss caused by an obstruction like mucus blocking sound waves from flowing freely through your ear. By treating the root cause of the allergy, you can typically fix the hearing issue.

Congestion or fullness in your ear can occur when the mucus glands produce too much fluid, and that fluid cannot drain properly. When the pressure of that excess fluid is felt, it causes discomfort and difficulty hearing. Most types of congestion hearing loss will naturally take care of themselves within a few days to a week.

Another temporary hearing problem that allergies can cause is tinnitus. This is characterized by experiencing a ringing, humming, or rushing sound that is not caused by external noise. This symptom is thought to be caused by inflammation and fluid when allergy or sinus conditions are present.

Can Hearing Aids Help?

Hearing aids are designed to assist with permanent hearing loss. Those who suffer from chronic sinusitis or allergy-related conditions that cause swelling in the middle ear won't likely benefit from having hearing aids. Rather, treating the root cause of the inflammation condition will be the key to fixing temporary hearing loss.

With that said, it's important that patients pay attention to when hearing loss sticks around after their sinusitis or allergy symptoms have dissipated. As soon as the inflammation goes down, the middle ear should return to normal, and your hearing should be restored. If you still notice that you have a problem with your hearing, it's best to get your hearing checked out by a specialist.

Contact Us Today

If you're experiencing hearing loss, it's time to talk with our hearing care specialists. Let them evaluate your situation and make recommendations on the best hearing aids to assist you on your journey to better hearing.

Resources:
https://www.advancedentdenver.com/allergy/hearing-loss/
https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/chronic-sinusitis/symptoms-causes/syc-20351661