What does it mean when the outside temperature drops yet the body’s temperature rise? When flu symptoms start to creep in, it is best not to turn a deaf ear. Exposure to severe weather and high winds can lead to constant stress on the auditory system. All it takes is a oversight to end up with a cold and plugged ears.
Continous exposure to cold temperatures, wind and humidity are all contributing factors to onset inflammatory and flu-like episodes. Colds and tinnitus are a prime example of how symptoms are a concatenation of triggers. In this case, the overproduction of earwax, due to the ear’s inflammatory state, creates the partial occlusion of the ear canal and the persistence of a subconscious noise in the absence of a real acoustic stimulus. This sensation is often accompanied by the echoing of one's own voice.
Seasonal colds can trigger an ear inflammation that can onset permanent or temporary permanent hearing loss, a hearing complication that manifests as the gradual loss of the ability to distinguish sounds and words. There are several types of temporary hearing impairments, including sensorineural hearing loss or perceptual hearing loss, which is distinguished by direct impairment of the auditory nerve and subsequent word processing and comprehension.
How much do the flu and temporary imbalance have in common? Let's find out the correlation between seasonal symptoms, labyrinthitis and a cold. Labyrinthitis is an inflammation of the labyrinth, a specific section of the inner ear, which mainly results in dizziness. The winter season and cooler temperatures increase the risk of contracting colds and flus as well as the possibility of the inflammation of the section of the ear designated to hearing and motor skills. This creates disorientation, confusion and often tinnitus, or the perception of sound in the absence of external stimuli.
More so than adults, children are more likely to contract seasonal diseases. Not only due external stimuli, but also due to the anatomical conformation of their organs, which are still developing. This is the case with the classic cold and earache. The eustachian tubes, responsible for draining secretions from the nasal cavity, are narrower and shorter in children. For this reason, obstruction and subsequent bacterial or viral overgrowth arises sooner.
One of the most common side effects of a seasonal flu is the onset of cold and itchy ears. The correlation between these two manifestations is the stagnation of mucus in the affected area, which results from nasal congestion. This compelling need to scratch the outer or inner ear can foster bacterial or viral contamination in the area and lead to otitis.
Even the most classic flu, if not treated properly, can lead to complications such as ear bleeding. There are a variety of causes, from the formation of small sores inside the ear canal, to increased sensitivity due to the inflammation of the tissue, and even a change in pressure.
An inflammatory condition that persists can lead to the presence of fluid in the ears during a cold or flu. The fluid may be watery or purulent in nature, depending on the nature of the condition. When it is watery, it is generally an external agent becomes trapped in the ear canal and contributes to the inflammatory process. However, if it is a purulent fluid, there is likely and ongoing infectious condition in the middle or outer ear.
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