Allergies and Your Ears

Allergies affect one in five people in the U.S. These allergies can take many forms and affect various parts of the body, including the ears. If you regularly experience ear discomfort or hearing problems, allergies could play a role in your distress.

Thankfully, you can do something about your allergy-related ear issues once you understand why they occur and how to get the proper diagnosis and treatment. Get started by examining these frequently asked ear allergy questions and their answers.

Why Would an Allergy Affect Your Ears?

Allergies occur when your immune system responds to a normally harmless substance as if it posed a legitimate threat to your health. It reacts by sending out antibodies to attack the substance while also producing a chemical called histamine.

Histamine triggers sinuses to produce excess mucus, which may then run down the Eustachian tubes, producing both ear discomfort and throat irritation. At the same time, tissue swelling may prevent fluid drainage, causing congestion. Since the ear canals connect to the Eustachian tubes, you may experience ear symptoms.

If you suffer from the ailment commonly known as hay fever (allergic rhinitis), you may have ear problems every time the seasons change and the air fills with mold spores, tree pollen, or grass pollen. Constant exposure to year-round airborne allergens can leave you with chronic ear trouble.

What Ear Symptoms Can Allergies Cause?

The sinus pressure and congestion from an allergic reaction can allow fluid to build up both in your ear canals and behind your eardrums. These abnormal pressures can cause intense ear pain and an unpleasant feeling of fullness in the ears. The outer parts of your ears may also itch annoyingly.

Allergic reactions that involve the ears can also affect hearing. The fluid pressure in your ears and sinus passages can interfere with the normal movement of sound waves, a problem known as conductive hearing loss. These same pressures can also cause tinnitus, a ringing in the ears that can interfere with normal hearing.

How Do Ear Allergies Contribute to Other Ear Disorders?

Untreated ear allergies can make you vulnerable to ear infections. Viruses and bacteria use the trapped fluid as a breeding ground, turning the perceived health threat into a genuine one. An ear infection may cause symptoms so similar to ear allergy symptoms that you might not even realize that this complication has developed.

Ear allergies can also play a role in a disorder called Meniere's disease. In this condition, inner ear irritation produces symptoms such as tinnitus (in this case creating a roaring noise instead of a ringing sound), vertigo, a sense of fullness in the ear, and hearing loss that may fluctuate in severity from day to day.

How Do Allergy Doctors Diagnose an Allergy-Based Ear Problem?

Before you can get the right treatment for your ear and hearing symptoms, you must know whether the problem stems from an allergy or some other condition. If your family doctor has already ruled out an acute infection or injury, consider consulting an allergy specialist to identify any allergens that might affect your ears.

Your allergy doctor will most likely use some form of skin testing. In this form of testing, a puncture, injection, or patch conveys a tiny amount of different potential allergens to your skin. If your skin reacts to a specific allergen, you've found the problem. Blood tests can also identify allergens by the antibodies they trigger.

How Can Treatment Ease or Prevent Ear Symptoms?

With luck, you may discover that your ear allergy symptoms stem from purely seasonal or environmental allergens. If so, you can minimize the problem by cleaning your home more frequently, wearing a mask outdoors, or simply avoiding allergen-rich environments.

Your allergy doctor may prescribe antihistamines or steroid drugs that offer temporary relief from ear allergy symptoms. If you want a more long-term solution, ask your allergy doctor whether injected drugs would help control your condition.

Allergy and Asthma Clinic of Fort Worth can get to the bottom of your allergy issues. Contact our office today to schedule an appointment, get a firm diagnosis, and discuss your treatment options.