I can barely hear out of my left ear

If you’re suddenly experiencing hearing loss from a clogged ear, there are several potential causes, side effects and at-home steps to take to help clear your clogged ear and return your hearing to normal. While some causes of clogged ears are simple to remedy at home, others may require an audiologist to diagnose the cause and suggest treatment to improve your hearing.

What are the causes of clogged ears?

Eustachian tube blockage. The eustachian tube, which connects the middle ear to the throat, can become blocked when fluid or mucus is trapped. Oftentimes, this occurs when experiencing seasonal allergies, a cold or sinus or ear infection. Swimmer’s ear is another condition that blocks eustachian tubes and is caused when bacteria or fungus grows in the ear canal. If the clogged ear is paired with ear pain, redness, fluid drainage or fever, be sure to contact your doctor since it is likely an ear infection that may need medical attention.

Hardened earwax or earwax impaction. Earwax is essential in protecting your ear canal by preventing dust or debris to enter your ear canal. One of the common ways that earwax creates a clogged ear is when a cotton swab is used to clean the ear. Instead of cleaning it, the earwax can be pushed further down, causing a clogged ear. At times, earwax can also become hardened and prevent the ear from hearing correctly. If you are also having dizziness or ringing in the ears, this is likely attributed to earwax impaction. Earwax impaction can lead to short-term hearing loss, but if not treated, it can also lead to otitis external. 

High altitude. If you have ever driven over a mountain pass or been in an airplane, you know the feeling of your ears popping due to rapid elevation changes. When the air pressure outside your ear rapidly changes, it can cause the ear to become clogged or blocked. Other causes that are related to pressure changes include scuba diving and hiking in high altitudes that your body is not accustomed to. This is usually remedied quickly when your ears pressurize normally. This may result in slight short-lasting hearing loss, dizziness or a feeling of fullness in the ear.

Improving a clogged ear

Many times, a clogged ear can be remedied quickly at home with the following steps: 

• Use over-the-counter allergy or sinus medication: Medications that contain decongestants or antihistamines can treat clogged ears associated with colds or allergies. Both nasal sprays and oral medications can prove beneficial for relieving ear pressure associated with these. 
• Pop your ears using the Valsalva maneuver: The most common way to pop your ears is the plug your nose, blow air out while keeping your lips closed, essentially puffing your cheeks out and adding pressure to the inner ear. Do not too hard though, since this can create further problems for your eardrum. If you attempt once and it does not work to clear your clogged ear, do not reattempt it. This will only be beneficial for pressure changes, and will have no effect on your clogged ear if you’ve recently had a cold, allergies or have a potential earwax impaction. 
• Swallow or chew gum: If you have fluid trapped in your middle ear or need to pop your ears from altitude changes and the associated pressure, one option is to chew gum or try swallowing repeatedly. You may notice your ear popping while you do this, and your hearing should then return to normal if this method is successful. 
• Try a cool or warm compress: Put a washcloth in warm or cool water, wring it out and place it over the ear. The heat may help warm any blocked earwax and may provide some temporary pain relief.

When should you see an audiologist?

Keep in mind that the ear is a very sensitive area, and any hearing loss should be addressed as quickly as possible to remedy it. Audiologists are professionals who can help with clogged ears.

If you have tried these simple remedies and continue to experience a clogged ear and hearing loss in that ear, it’s time to make an appointment with an audiologist to diagnose the culprit. Audiologists have specialized tools to remedy an earwax impaction and can diagnose other potential reasons that your ear may be clogged. 

If you are experiencing a clogged ear and associated hearing loss, you can learn more or schedule an appointment with Rametta Audiology & Hearing Aid Center at either of our offices.

• Tarentum office: 724-224-6811
• Vandergrift office: 724-567-7381

You have a brief window to seek treatment.

Everyone's hearing naturally declines with age, and people often have one ear that hears better than the other. But if hearing loss appears suddenly in one ear for no apparent reason, you may have experienced sudden sensorineural hearing loss, or SHL, a kind of nerve deafness.

There are about 66,000 new cases of SHL per year in the United States, according to research in the August 2019 issue of Otolaryngology — Head and Neck Surgery. But these numbers are hard to come by, since the condition may be underdiagnosed.

"The main reason is that people don't view it as a serious problem and don't get the medical care they need. This delay increases the risk of permanent hearing loss," says Dr. Steven Rauch, an Ear, Nose and Throat specialist with Harvard-affiliated Massachusetts Eye and Ear.

Unknown causes

It is not known what causes SHL, but experts point to several possible reasons: a viral infection, an immune system malfunction, an inflammatory injury to the ear, or blocked blood flow to the ear — or even some combination of these.

SHL can affect people of all ages, although it tends to occur most in the 50s and 60s. It usually strikes one ear. You may hear a "pop" or feel like your ear is clogged. "Your hearing often does not go away all at once, either," says Dr. Rauch. "It is a gradual decline over several minutes or even hours, like air leaking from a tire."

Besides hearing problems, SHL can affect your balance, which increases your risk of falls. SHL also could be a sign of a small stoke or tumor. SHL gets ignored because the symptoms feel familiar, like a head cold or earwax or water in the ear. People try to treat it with cold or sinus medicine, swimmer's ear drops, or cleaning their ears. "They think it's just an annoying stuffy ear that will go away, so they put it on the back burner until it's too late," says Dr. Rauch.

SHL or just a stuffy ear? Humming can tell

How can you know the difference between a regular stuffy ear and sudden hearing loss? Try this test:

Hum aloud to yourself. With normal hearing, you hear the sound equally in both ears. If you do this when you have a new loss of hearing in one ear, the humming will shift to one side or the other.

For example, if your right ear is affected and the hum is louder in that ear, then the hearing loss is more likely a conductive loss, and probably due to blockage from a cold or built-up ear wax. (You can simulate this effect by humming while you cover your right ear.)

However, if the humming is louder in the left ear, it suggests the right ear hearing loss is due to recent nerve damage, and that requires prompt medical attention.

Treatment and duration

But time is of the essence to save your hearing. "You have about a 10- to 14-day window to treat SHL; otherwise the hearing loss becomes permanent," says Dr. Rauch. "So make sure to see your doctor, or get a referral to visit an ear, nose, and throat specialist if your hearing goes away for longer than a day."

However, even with timely treatment, you may not regain your full hearing. "In most cases, mild SHL may recover, but people with moderate or severe hearing loss make a total recovery only in about 20% of cases, even with prompt treatment," says Dr. Rauch.

SHL is treated with corticosteroids over a two- to three-week period. You can take the drugs orally or via an injection through the eardrum. Corticosteroid pills, such as prednisone, are taken at the same dose every day for 14 days, and then the dose tapers off for the final week. Alternatively, ear injections are given twice a week for two weeks.

Oral steroids are more comfortable to take but can have side effects like an upset stomach, higher blood pressure, mood swings, and insomnia. Injections generally have no systemic side effects, but they can be uncomfortable, and people have to visit their doctor to get them. Some doctors recommend both oral and injected steroids in hopes of increasing the recovery rate.

"Remember that if you are used to normal hearing and it suddenly blocks up, that is never okay," says Dr. Rauch. "The sooner you get it checked out, the better. If it is SHL, every day you delay reduces your chance of recovery."

Image: Motortion/Getty Images

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