Allergies and Your Hearing – An FAQ

With fall comes a new set of allergies. It’s hay fever. Then you have pet dander, dust, pollen, grass, and a host of other things that can affect your allergies. Usually, it starts with itchy eyes that water, and a stuffed up nose. But perhaps you haven’t considered the ways that allergies affect your ears. It’s something that gets overlooked, but is allergies and your hearing are very important.

Why Do You Have Allergies in the First Place?

Allergies occur anytime you have a foreign substance in your body. It can cause your immune system to respond by releasing histamine. Histamine is what actually causes the itching and growth of mucus. While you can get allergies year-round, they tend to be worse for most people in the spring and fall.

How Do Allergies Affect Your Ears?

You can get allergic reactions to all three parts of your ears. There’s the outer ear, middle ear, and inner ear. For the outer ear, you might have itching and perhaps some redness or swelling. The middle ear has a drain tube called the Eustachian tube. If this gets clogged with mucus, draining doesn’t happen the way it should. You can have pressure, popping, or an earache. You might also feel itching here as well. The inner ear fills with fluid and can get infected. Here’s where you have more serious symptoms like dizziness, ringing, or balance problems. There is even the possibility of short-term hearing loss also known as conductive hearing loss. Fortunately, it tends to reverse once your allergies are taken care of.

ENT Help With Allergies and Your Ears

There are several treatments available to help you with allergies and your hearing so you can avoid these ear problems. Palm Beach Sinus Doctors are ready to help you resolve symptoms and take care of the root cause of your allergy issues. Get in touch today to set up and appointment and find relief.