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The common cause of all forms of otitis media is dysfunction of the Eustachian tube. [18] This is usually due to inflammation of the mucous membranes in the nasopharynx , which can be caused by a viral upper respiratory tract infection (URTI), strep throat , or possibly by allergies .
A common cause of primary otalgia is ear infection called otitis media, meaning an infection behind the eardrum. [3] The peak age for children to get acute otitis media is ages 6–24 months. One review paper wrote that 83% of children had at least one episode of acute otitis media by 3 years of age. [10]
[2] [3] Mastoiditis is usually caused by untreated acute otitis media (middle ear infection) and used to be a leading cause of child mortality. With the development of antibiotics , however, mastoiditis has become quite rare in developed countries where surgical treatment is now much less frequent and more conservative, unlike former times.
The most common aetiology of acute otitis externa is bacterial infection, [5] while chronic cases are often associated with underlying skin diseases such as eczema or psoriasis. [6] A third form, malignant otitis externa, or necrotising otitis externa, is a potentially life-threatening, invasive infection of the external auditory canal and ...
[3] [4] This commonly includes nasal obstruction, sore throat, tonsillitis, pharyngitis, laryngitis, sinusitis, otitis media, and the common cold. [5]: 28 Most infections are viral in nature, and in other instances, the cause is bacterial. [6] URTIs can also be fungal or helminthic in origin, but these are less common. [7]: 443–445
The terms atelectasis or sometimes adhesive otitis media can be used to describe retraction of a large area of the pars tensa. Tympanic membrane retraction is fairly common and has been observed in one quarter of a population of British school children. [1] Retraction of both eardrums is less common than having a retraction in just one ear.
H. influenzae can cause respiratory tract infections including pneumonia, otitis media, epiglottitis (swelling in the throat), eye infections and bloodstream infection, meningitis. It can also cause cellulitis (skin infection) and infectious arthritis (inflammation of the joint). [49]
The use of cotton swabs in the ear canal is one of the most common causes of perforated eardrum, a condition which sometimes requires surgery to correct. [18] A 2004 study found that the "use of a cotton-tip applicator to clean the ear seems to be the leading cause of otitis externa in children and should be avoided."