The disease causing the inflammation of the middle ear is termed as the otitis media. The meaning of the term is “inflammation (otitis in Greek) of the middle (media in Greek) ear”. The middle ear is that part of our ear that lies just at the back of the eardrums. Otitis media is the most common among all the causes of earaches in small children.
It can be either acute otitis media or chronic otitis media. The later is also popularly termed as the “ glue ear” because of the nature of the disease. Here the ear is filled with a thick sticky glue-like fluid that leads to the inflammation.
Otitis media is very common among children. This occurs at least twice or thrice a year and have been noticed to have accompanied viral or respiratory tract infections. Mostly the kids who are not yet seven years old are more prone to getting this disease. This is because of the Eustachian tube being not properly formed in the children. As the child grows, this Eustachian tube develops and changes its position, thereby lessening the frequency of the disease.
Types of Otitis Media
In accordance with the degrees of severity and the symptoms, otitis media can be categorized in the following types:
Acute otitis media:
Acute otitis media is the more complicated form of the otitis media and is caused by viral URI. When the middle ear is contaminated with bacterial infection causing puss formation, it is termed as acute otitis media of the bacterial origin. Bacterial otitis media can be caused by viral otitis media in a short span of time. This might not onle cause perforation in the ear drum and loss of hearing but also might lead to further complications like meningitis or mastoiditis.
The other forms of otitis media are:
Otitis media with effusion or OME
Chronic otitis media
Otorrhea
Causes of Otitis Media
Otitis media is such a disease that can either be caused by a virus or a bacteria., But whatever might cause it, it does not tale much time to pass on from one type of infection to another. The causes of otitis media differ somewhat from one type to another, but however, some general causes common to all are as follows:
Acute infection in the respiratory tract
Common cold
Drainage problem in the middle ear (for chronic otitis media)
Defects in the Eustachian tube
Blockage of the Eustachian tube due to enlargement of adrenoids
A particular pneumonia type, the Streptococcus pneumoniae
Haemophilus influenzae
Improper cleaning of bacteria from the middle ear due to tubal dysfunction
Moraxella catarrhalis
Mycobacterium tuberculosis
Complications of Otitis Media
Generally otitis media is a regular occurrence with the children and thy cure easily. But sometimes acute otitis media might lead to complications like meningitis or mastoiditis.
Symptoms of Otitis Media
The general symptoms of otitis media are as follows:
Pain in the ear
Fever
Tugging at the ear by children
Irritable
Loss of appetite
Problem in hearing
There might be puss discharge from the ear suddenly, and this might point towards the fact that the eardrum has been somehow ruptured and need immediate medical attention to avoid permanent hearing loss.
Diagnosis of Otitis Media
Diagnosis of otitis media is not very difficult as the symptoms are easily detectable, except for the fact that in very small children, theses symptoms might not be expressed properly. The doctor can be consulted to diagnose otitis media in such cases. The doctor might either diagnose otitis media from the symptoms and examination or from hearing loss tests.
Otitis Media Treatment
Once the disease is diagnosed, treatment can be given easily. The treatments for otitis media are as follows:
Antibiotics to cure the infections
Ear suction
Operation to drain the ear
Insertion of drainage tubes that are tiny in structure and are called grommets
Osteopathic and Chiropractic spinal manipulations
Homeopathic treatment
Eardoc treatment
