What could cause sharp ear pains and deteriorating hearing?

Question

Hello doctor,

I have been getting sharp ear pains for the past couple of months. When I was in school or around a lot of talking, I could not keep up with conversations with a lot of background noise. Everything has sounded like a broken speaker for the past few months. Every little sound causes extreme pain, and my hearing worsens daily. Many of my hearing problems happened after I got into shooting and later on when I got sick and had a fever for a few days. Am I losing my hearing? Do I have a severe ear infection? Kindly help. Thank you.

Answer 1

Hello,

Welcome to icliniq.com.

I understand your concern. Your hearing problem is associated with tinnitus. The pinching pain in the ear, along with discomfort with loud sounds, indicates a couple of things; therefore, the following investigations are a must for you: 1. Pure tone audiometry. 2. Impedance audiometry. 3. HRCT (high-resolution computed tomography) of the ears to rule out pathology of CPA (cerebellopontine angle). 4. Routine blood investigations to rule out diabetes mellitus, liver disease, and renal diseases. A thorough examination of your ear by an ENT (ear, nose, and throat) doctor is also necessary. We will correlate the findings of the physical examination with inferences from the above investigations to reach a final diagnosis to manage your problem accordingly. Hope that helps. Thank you.