Symptoms of Middle ear infection

Symptoms of Middle ear infection

The list of signs and symptoms mentioned in various sources for Middle ear infection includes the 17 symptoms listed below:

• Ear pain
• Earache - see also symptoms of earache
• Other symptoms of earache in infants or young children:
  • Irritability
  • Sleeping difficulty
  • Listlessness
  • Pulling at the ears - infants will often rub or pull their ears.
  • Crying (infant)
  • Screaming (infant)
• Balance problems
• Fever
• Ear fluid draining
• Relief of earache when fluid leaks from the ear
• Hearing loss - almost always temporary.
• Tinnitus
• Diarrhea
• Vomiting
• more information...»

Research symptoms & diagnosis of Middle ear infection:

• Overview -- Middle ear infection
• Diagnostic Tests for Middle ear infection
• Home Diagnostic Testing
• Complications -- Middle ear infection
• Doctors & Specialists
• Misdiagnosis and Alternative Diagnoses
• Hidden Causes of Middle ear infection
• Other Causes -- causes of these or similar symptoms

Middle ear infection: Complications

Review medical complications possibly associated with Middle ear infection:

• Hearing impairment - can be permanent if treatment is not prompt enough.
• Fluid in the ear (see Ear discharge)
• Secretory otitis media
• Glue ear
• Temporary Deafness
• Deafness
• Labyrinthitis
• more complications...»

Diagnostic Testing

Diagnostic testing of medical conditions related to Middle ear infection:

• Physical examination - looking in the ears.
• Pneumatic otoscope - blows air against the eardrum
• Tympanometry
• Hearing test
• more tests...»

Research More About Middle ear infection

Do I have Middle ear infection?

• Middle ear infection: Introduction
• Middle ear infection: Diagnostic Testing to confirm diagnosis
• Home Diagnostic Testing
• Alternative diagnoses and misdiagnosis for Middle ear infection
• Hidden Causes of Middle ear infection
• Treatments for Middle ear infection
• More about Middle ear infection

Home Diagnostic Testing

Home medical tests related to Middle ear infection:

• Cold & Flu: Home Testing:
  • Home Fever Tests
  • Home Ear Infection Test Kits
  • Home Flu Tests
  • Home Strep A Tests
• Ear Infections: Home Testing:
  • Home Ear Infection Testing
  • Home Ear Tests
  • Home Hearing Testing
• more home tests...»

Wrongly Diagnosed with Middle ear infection?

The list of other diseases or medical conditions that may be on the differential diagnosis list of alternative diagnoses for Middle ear infection includes:

• Otitis externa - Chronic otitis media
• Auditory tube dysfunction - Chronic otitis media
• Mastoiditis - Chronic otitis media
• Tympanosclerosis - Chronic otitis media
• Pharyngitis - Chronic otitis media
• more diagnoses...»

See the full list of 23 alternative diagnoses for Middle ear infection

Middle ear infection: Research Doctors & Specialists

• Ear, Nose & Throat Specialists:
  • Otolaryngology (Ear, Nose & Throat)
  • Pediatric Otolaryngology (Child Ear, Nose & Throat Specialist)
  • Otology / Neurotology (Ear/Hearing Specialists)
  • Plastic Surgery within the Head & Neck
• more specialists...»

Research all specialists including ratings, affiliations, and sanctions.

More about symptoms of Middle ear infection:

More information about symptoms of Middle ear infection and related conditions:

• Other diseases with similar symptoms and common misdiagnoses
• Tests to determine if these are the symptoms of Middle ear infection
• Symptoms that may be caused by complications of Middle ear infection
• Underlying causes of Middle ear infection
• Associated conditions for Middle ear infection
• Risk factors for Middle ear infection

Other Possible Causes of these Symptoms

Click on any of the symptoms below to see a full list of other causes including diseases, medical conditions, toxins, drug interactions, or drug side effect causes of that symptom.

• Balance problems - see all causes of Dizziness
• Crying (infant) - see all causes of Crying (infant)
• Diarrhea - see all causes of Diarrhea
• Ear fluid draining - see all causes of Ear discharge
• Ear pain - see all causes of Earache
• Earache - see all causes of Earache
• Fever - see all causes of Fever
• Hearing loss - see all causes of Hearing loss
• Irritability - see all causes of Irritability
• Listlessness - see all causes of Listlessness
• Pulling at the ears - see all causes of Ear symptoms
• Sleeping difficulty - see all causes of Sleeping difficulty
• Tinnitus - see all causes of Tinnitus
• Vomiting - see all causes of Vomiting

Medical Books Online about Middle ear infection

Medical Books Excerpts Excerpts of published medical book chapters related to Middle ear infection are available from published medical books for more detailed information about Middle ear infection.

Copyright notice for book excerpts: Copyright © 2008 Lippincott Williams & Wilkins. All rights reserved.

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Symptoms of Middle ear infection: Online Medical Books

16 MEDICAL BOOKS ONLINE! Review excerpts from medical books online, free, without registration, for more information about the symptoms of Middle ear infection.

Otitis media: Signs and symptoms
(Professional Guide to Diseases (Eighth Edition))

Clinical features of acute suppurative otitis media include severe, deep, throbbing pain (from pressure behind the tympanic membrane); signs of upper respiratory tract infection (sneezing or coughing); mild to very high fever; hearing loss (usually mild and conductive); tinnitus; dizziness; nausea; and vomiting. Other possible effects include bulging of the tympanic membrane, with concomitant erythema, and purulent drainage in the ear canal from tympanic membrane rupture. However, many patients are asymptomatic.

Acute secretory otitis media produces a severe conductive hearing loss — which varies from 15 to 35 dB, depending on the thickness and amount of fluid in the middle ear cavity — and, possibly, a sensation of fullness in the ear and popping, crackling, or clicking sounds on swallowing or with jaw movement. Accumulation of fluid may also cause the patient to hear an echo when he speaks and to experience a vague feeling of top-heaviness.

The cumulative effects of chronic otitis media include thickening and scarring of the tympanic membrane, decreased or absent tympanic membrane mobility, cholesteatoma (a cystlike mass in the middle ear) and, in chronic suppurative otitis media, a painless, purulent discharge. The extent of associated conductive hearing loss varies with the size and type of tympanic membrane perforation and ossicular destruction.

If the tympanic membrane has ruptured, the patient may state that the pain has suddenly stopped. Complications may include abscesses (brain, subperiosteal, and epidural), sigmoid sinus or jugular vein thrombosis, septicemia, meningitis, suppurative labyrinthitis, facial paralysis, and otitis externa.

PEDIATRIC TIP The following factors increase a child’s risk of developing otitis media:

❑ acute otitis media in the first year of life (recurrent otitis media)

❑ day care

❑ family history of middle ear disease

❑ formula feeding

❑ male gender

❑ sibling history of otitis media

❑ smoking in the household.

Acute otitis media may not produce any symptoms in the first few months of life; irritability may be the only indication of earache.

» READ BOOK EXCERPT ONLINE »

Source: Professional Guide to Diseases (Eighth Edition), 2005

Otitis media: Signs and symptoms
(Handbook of Diseases)

Signs and symptoms vary with the specific type of the disorder.

Suppurative otitis media

Signs and symptoms of acute suppurative otitis media include severe, deep, throbbing pain (from pressure behind the tympanic membrane); signs of upper respiratory tract infection (sneezing, coughing); mild to very high fever; hearing loss (usually mild and conductive); dizziness; nausea; and vomiting.

Other possible effects include bulging of the tympanic membrane with concomitant erythema and purulent drainage in the ear canal from tympanic membrane rupture. However, many patients are asymptomatic.

Secretory otitis media

With acute secretory otitis media, a severe conductive hearing loss varies, depending on the thickness and amount of fluid in the middle ear cavity — and, possibly, a sensation of fullness in the ear and popping, crackling, or clicking sounds on swallowing or with jaw movement. Accumulation of fluid may also cause the patient to hear an echo when he speaks and to experience a vague feeling of top-heaviness.

Chronic otitis media

The cumulative effects of chronic otitis media include thickening and scarring of the tympanic membrane, decreased or absent tympanic membrane mobility, cholesteatoma (a cystlike mass in the middle ear) and, in patients with chronic suppurative otitis media, a painless, purulent discharge. The extent of associated conductive hearing loss varies with the size and type of tympanic membrane perforation and ossicular destruction.

If the tympanic membrane has ruptured, the patient may state that the pain has suddenly stopped. Complications may include abscesses (brain, subperiosteal, and epidural), sigmoid sinus or jugular vein thrombosis, septicemia, meningitis, suppurative labyrinthitis, facial paralysis, and otitis externa.

» READ BOOK EXCERPT ONLINE »

Source: Handbook of Diseases, 2003

Otitis Media: Otitis Media - signs & symptoms
(The 5-Minute Pediatric Consult)

• Ear pain
• Fever
• Irritability

» READ BOOK EXCERPT ONLINE »

Source: The 5-Minute Pediatric Consult, 2008

Otitis Media and Sinusitis: Presentation
(Pediatric Infectious Disease)

Pain is considered a common feature of otitis media, which may cause disruptions in sleeping or increased irritability. Although only 25% of children with otitis media are febrile, younger children are more likely to have fever than older children.

» READ BOOK EXCERPT ONLINE »

Source: Pediatric Infectious Disease, 2004

Middle ear infection as a symptom:

For a more detailed analysis of Middle ear infection as a symptom, including causes, drug side effect causes, and drug interaction causes, please see our Symptom Center information for Middle ear infection.

Medical articles and books on symptoms:

These general reference articles may be of interest in relation to medical signs and symptoms of disease in general:

• Diagnostic Testing for a Diagnosis of Middle ear infection
• Research Alternative Diagnoses for Middle ear infection
• More about Middle ear infection
• Online Diagnosis
• Self Diagnosis Pitfalls
• Pitfalls of Online Diagnosis
• Symptoms of the Silent Killer Diseases
• Lesser known silent killer diseases
• Books on signs and symptoms

Full list of premium articles on symptoms and diagnosis

About signs and symptoms of Middle ear infection:

The symptom information on this page attempts to provide a list of some possible signs and symptoms of Middle ear infection. This signs and symptoms information for Middle ear infection has been gathered from various sources, may not be fully accurate, and may not be the full list of Middle ear infection signs or Middle ear infection symptoms. Furthermore, signs and symptoms of Middle ear infection may vary on an individual basis for each patient. Only your doctor can provide adequate diagnosis of any signs or symptoms and whether they are indeed Middle ear infection symptoms.