How are ear infections treated?

Ear infections are common and can affect different parts of the ear. Diagnosis and treatment are the role of a doctor, not an audiologist, but understanding the general picture can help you know when to seek care. As an audiology clinic, we do not diagnose or treat infections, though we can check your hearing once an infection has settled.

What are the main types of ear infection?

The two most common types are:

• Middle-ear infection (otitis media): an infection behind the eardrum, more common in children, often following a cold. It can cause pain, fever, reduced hearing and sometimes discharge if the eardrum is affected.
• Outer-ear infection (otitis externa): an infection of the ear canal, sometimes called "swimmer's ear", which can cause pain, itch, swelling and discharge, often after water exposure.

Because the location and cause differ, a doctor's approach to each will differ too.

How is treatment decided?

Treatment is a medical decision, made by a doctor after they examine your ear and consider the type, cause and severity of the infection. There is no single approach that suits every case, and what is right for you depends on factors only a doctor can properly assess. It is not something to self-manage, self-medicate or guess at.

What matters most from a self-care point of view is following your doctor's plan closely, keeping the ear dry where advised, using any pain relief as directed, and avoiding inserting cotton buds or other objects into the ear canal, which can make things worse and delay recovery.

When should you see a doctor?

See a GP promptly if there is severe pain, discharge, high fever, hearing loss, symptoms that last more than a couple of days, or if a young child is unwell. Seek urgent care for severe pain with swelling behind the ear, or if the person is very unwell. Recurrent infections also deserve review, as ongoing problems can sometimes affect hearing.

Can ear infections affect hearing?

Temporary reduced hearing during an infection is common and usually improves as the infection clears under your doctor's care. Occasionally, repeated or ongoing middle-ear problems can have a longer effect, particularly in children, which is why follow-up matters. If you or your child notice that hearing has not returned to normal after an infection has settled, a hearing assessment can check whether anything lingers.

Fluid can sometimes remain behind the eardrum for a while after the infection itself has gone, which may keep hearing muffled for a time. For children, this is worth watching, because clear hearing supports speech and learning during important developmental years. A simple check can provide reassurance or flag whether further review with your doctor is needed.

What is the audiologist's role?

An audiologist does not diagnose or treat ear infections. Our role sits either side of the medical care: examining the ear where appropriate, checking hearing once an infection has settled, and helping you understand whether any hearing change is linked to the infection or something separate. If you have an active infection, please see your GP first.

At Hearing Help in Newport Marketplace on the Redcliffe Peninsula, we recommend seeing your GP for the diagnosis and treatment of an active ear infection. Once it has resolved, you can book a hearing assessment without a referral if you are concerned that hearing has been affected.