Ear pressure can cause dizziness
DEAR DOCTOR: After a recent sinus infection, I experienced severe vertigo due to fluid pressing against my eardrum. What was going on?
DEAR READER: What you’re describing falls into a collection of conditions known as otitis media, a general term that refers to inflammation of the middle ear. Otitis media can develop any time something prevents fluid in the area from draining.
There are several types of otitis media. When an infection develops, this is known as acute otitis media, or AOM. The cause is most often viral or bacterial. Symptoms include pain in one or both ears, a feeling of fullness in the affected ear, muffled hearing, a sore throat or drainage from the ear. In some cases, AOM can progress into a condition known as chronic suppurative otitis media. Characterized by the persistent discharge of fluid from the middle ear through a rupture in the ear drum, this is a serious condition that can lead to hearing loss.
When fluid collects in the middle ear but is not infected, this is known as otitis media with effusion, which means fluid. As with acute otitis
media, there is often a feeling of fullness in the ear and a loss of hearing acuity. In some cases, the condition can cause the dizziness and vertigo that you described. Unlike AOM, however, symptoms typically don’t include pain or fever. Acute otitis media with effusion can last anywhere from a few weeks to several months. If the condition persists beyond three months, or if it recurs, the diagnosis becomes chronic otitis media with effusion.
The culprit here is the Eustachian tube, a narrow passage between the middle ear and the rear of the nose, near the soft palate. Its functions are to equalize air pressure between the middle ear and pressure outside of the body and to drain fluids from within the ear. But upper respiratory tract infections can cause the Eustachian tubes to become congested, which means fluids will remain trapped in the middle ear. Children’s Eustachian tubes are narrower than those in adults, which is why they account for the lion’s share — at least 80 percent — of otitis media diagnoses.