One form of dizziness is “vertigo” which is the specific complaint of either the environment moving in relation to the patient or the patient moving in relation to the environment. It is usually a spinning or rotatory sensation. Vertigo is usually linked to problems with the inner ear. Ninety-nine percent of people who suffer from vertigo due to inner ear problems will recover with time, without any treatment.
Ear Infections
Common symptoms include pain, discharge, itching, deafness, imbalance and sometimes a ringing in the ears.
Ear Tubes
These are tiny plastic tubes that are put in the eardrum. This is done during a short operation at hospital under general anesthetic.
Glue Ear
lue ear is one of the most common childhood illnesses. Children under the age of five are the largest group affected, though for some it can persist into adolescence. Some adults may also be affected.
Hearing Loss
Hearing loss can affect people of any age. One in six adults have some degree of hearing loss, which increase to three in four above the age of 75. Children can also be affected, usually due to fluid or infection in the middle ear but also due to congenital problems or viral illness during early childhood.
Prominent Ear Surgery
Most prominent ears lack a normal fold of cartilage. Sometimes other parts may be affected, and one ear may be worse than the other. Children with prominent ears are often teased at school, this condition is easily corrected with surgery.
Surfer’s Ear
Exostosis is the medical term for an abnormal growth of bone within the ear canal. More commonly it is known as swimmer’s or surfer’s ear. The most common cause of exostosis is repeated exposure to cold water and wind which causes the bone surrounding the ear canal to thicken to defend the inner ear.
Tinnitus
Tinnitus describes the condition when patients hear noises in their ears or their heads. Usually this noise is masked by environmental sounds. However when it becomes noticeable in every day life, it can become very irritating and becomes known as “tinnitus”. The noises vary in pitch from low frequency to high frequency and maybe intermittent or permanent.
Tympanoplasty/Mastoidectomy
Tympanoplasty is an operation to repair a hole in the ear drum. Mastoidectomy is an operation to remove disease or infected bone behind the ear. It is sometimes combined with repair of an ear drum.
The ear is the organ that detects sound and is also responsible for aiding in balance and body position. Read more about conditions, treatments and surgeries of the ear.