Covid and Ear Health – What you need to know in 2022.

Ear infections can occur when fluid is collected in or behind the ear drum and breeds bacteria. Middle ear infection can be preceded by a cold, flu, or even upper respiratory tract infection. Although they are most commonly seen in toddlers and young children, teens and adults can get them as well. Covid-19 is an infectious, viral disease that causes respiratroy illnesses such as coughing, fever, and difficulty in breathing, among other less noticeable symptoms such as exhaustion, lack of energy, and brain fog. Among Covid symptoms, many are very similar to ear infections. In particular, you want to watch out for these specific symptoms:

1. Fever
2. Headache
3. Fullness in ears
4. Fluid draining from ears
5. Hearing loss
6. Ear pain
7. Loss of balance/directions
8. Dizziness

These 8 symptoms are indicative of both ear infections and/or Covid-19, where Covid-19 will also have other symptoms such as loss of smell and taste, shortnesss of breath, nasal congestion, chest pain, or sore throat that ear infections do not have. If you experience any of these symptoms it is best to take a home test at the earliest possible time and seek out your family doctor for medical assistance.

Is Ear Infection a symptom of Covid-19?

No, not directly. You may experience ear infections due to complications of Covid, such as a weakened immune system, but ear infection by itself is not a symptom of Covid.

Can Covid-19 cause ear infections?

Ear infections occur when fluid collects behind the ear drum and bacteria thrifts on fluids, especially around the human body temperature. Mucus or pus can build up behind the ear drum due to a cold, fever, flu, or respiratory infection, which causes pain and pressure. Generally, Covid-19 has not known to be associated directly with ear infections, and they do not share the majority of the most severe symptoms. You may experience an ear infection due to Covid complications, such as a weakened immune system, but it is not directly caused by Covid-19. The jist of it is that Covid-19 is a viral infection, and ear infections tend to be bacterial in most cases. The two are not related.

Tinnitus in Post-Covid recovery

Tinnitus is a common symptom of a variety of conditions, including age related hearing loss as we have already discussed in previous blog posts. It can be continuous or come and go. For some people, tinnitus can be very loud, or it can be a high frequency humming. There is no one definite way of defining tinnitus. Because Covid-19 can cause some symptoms that are similar to ear infections and hearing loss, tinnitus is also often a symptom that comes with the territory.

What can I do about tinnitus if I started hearing the ringing after getting Covid-19?

The best thing you can do is see a hearing specialist to have an audiological examination done for you. Sometimes, tinnitus is just a symptom of a greater problem, and you want to resolve the problem rather than put a bandage solution over your hearing. Remember, once you have hearing loss, it’s often permanent and cannot be reversed. Like your teeth and eyesight, once it’s deteriorated, it will never come back. For temporary tinnitus, such as those from ear infections or post-covid recovery, some people find it helpful to lsiten to music using noise-cancelling headphones, or use a white noise machine. However, the best practice will always be to see your hearing specialist to determine whether or not it’s the right call for you. For most people, using a hearing aid, especially a premium hearing aid, helps drown out the ringing noises. Although tinnitus is incurable, treatments like hearing aids are the best way of living with tinnitus.