This website uses information supplied from the AAO-HNS.
How the ear works
The ear has three main parts: the outer, middle and inner ear.
Never put anything smaller than your elbow in your ear! Cotton swabs are for cleaning bellybuttons, not ears. You have probably heard these admonitions from relatives and doctors since childhood … find out why.
Ear infection and earache
Otitis media means inflammation of the middle ear. The inflammation occurs as a result of a middle ear infection and can occur in one or both ears. Otitis media is the most frequent diagnosis recorded for children who visit physicians for illness.
Ears and altitude
Ear problems are the most common medical complaint of airplane travelers, and while they are usually simple, minor annoyances, they occasionally result in temporary pain and hearing loss.
A perforated eardrum is a hole or rupture in the eardrum, a thin membrane that separates the ear canal and the middle ear. The medical term for eardrum is the tympanic membrane.
If you already have an ear infection, or if you have ever had a perforated or otherwise injured eardrum or ear surgery, you should consult an ear, nose, and throat specialist before you go swimming and before you use any type of ear drops. If you do not know if you have or ever had a perforated, punctured, ruptured, or otherwise injured eardrum, ask your ear doctor.
Plastic surgery of the ear
Protruding and drooping ears or torn earlobes can be surgically corrected. These procedures do not alter the patient's hearing, but they may improve appearance and self-confidence.
A cholesteatoma is a skin growth that occurs in an abnormal location, the middle ear behind the eardrum. It is usually due to repeated infection, which causes an ingrowth of the skin of the eardrum.
A cochlear implant is an electronic device that restores partial hearing to the deaf. It is surgically implanted in the inner ear and activated by a device worn outside the ear.