Table of contents:
- 1. The infection is getting worse
- 2. Rupture of the eardrum
- 3. Hearing loss
- 4. Facial paralysis
- 5. Meniere's disease
Ear infections can happen to anyone. This infection occurs when the fluid in the ear becomes filled with bacteria or viruses. As a result, you will feel pain, fever, and a very uncomfortable sensation in the ear. Well, treating ear infections is certainly very important. However, you will need to treat the ear infection until it clears up completely. If the treatment is not complete, new problems can arise in your ears. What are the effects of ear infections on health if not treated until they heal?
1. The infection is getting worse
Treating the ear isn't just for pain relief. Most of the time, when you are not sick, you assume that you are healed. Drug use was stopped. Make no mistake, you should first make sure the infection has completely healed or not.
The reason is, when you ignore your ear infection that has not fully healed it can actually happen again, which will get worse and more painful.
The effects of ear infections can even spread to other parts of the ear. One of the most common is mastoiditis. This is an infection that occurs in the ear bone called the mastoid.
If this bone is infected, this infection can move again to other parts, including the head. In the head, ear infections that are not properly treated can lead to meningitis, which is inflammation of the lining of the brain.
2. Rupture of the eardrum
If your ear infection is not treated properly, it can increase the risk of rupturing the eardrum. The fluid from the ear infection that forms can push the eardrum that limits the middle ear outward.
This fluid is a mixture of pus and blood. This fluid can push the eardrum even stronger and can tear it over time. When the eardrum is torn, this blood-mixed pus will flow out of the ear.
3. Hearing loss
Don't mess with ear infections, hearing loss can also be one of the effects of ear infections that are not treated until they heal.
Reporting from Livestrong, people who experience recurrent ear infections, and are continuously due to not being treated properly can also increase the risk of hearing loss. This can be especially true in children. This hearing loss usually occurs in the short term or temporarily.
However, if fluid from an ear infection is trapped for several months, it also has the potential to permanently damage the eardrum and nearby ear bones. If this is permanently damaged, the ears can become deaf.
Children who suffer from hearing loss due to prolonged ear infections may experience speech and language delays.
4. Facial paralysis
Facial paralysis is a condition where the ability to move the face is lost due to nerve damage. Due to damaged nerves, facial muscles will become weak and unable to move. This can occur on one side of the face or on both sides.
There are many factors that cause this condition, one of which is a middle ear infection or damage to the ear. Middle ear infections can irritate one of the facial nerves near the middle ear. As a result, this can affect the movement of muscles in the face.
5. Meniere's disease
Meniere's disease is a disorder that occurs in the inner ear. The exact cause of the meniere is not known, but scientists suspect it is caused by changes in the amount of fluid in the inner ear tube.
If there is an increase in fluid in the middle ear as a result of infection, this also has the potential to cause Meniere's disease. People who experience Meniere's will experience vertigo, ringing in the ears, reduced balance, headaches, and hearing loss.
