Muffled Hearing in One Ear: How It Happens

Imagine waking up one morning, finding that you are having trouble hearing out of one ear.

Everything sounds muffled in one ear.

What might be the cause?

Let’s find out.

Unexplained hearing loss can be very troubling. The following is a list of possible causes for a sudden or progressive onset of muffled hearing in one ear.

  • Ear Obstruction:
    The most common cause of muffled hearing in one ear is obstruction of the ear canal by a wax plug. There are special types of glands called sebaceous glands present in the skin of the ear canal. They produce a waxy substance called sebum. By not cleaning your ears properly, your ear can get impacted causing partial or complete obstruction of the ear canal.

    The symptom gets worse if you have taken a shower before going to bed the previous night and some water slipped into your ear. Water will help the sebum to swell up aggravating the muffled hearing. It may or may not be associated with pain.

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  • Pressure Changes:
    You may also notice muffled hearing in one year while flying. When the airplane takes off, there is sudden reduction in the pressure in the outer atmosphere. As a countermeasure, the pilot increases the pressure of the cabin. This may push the tympanic membrane inward causing hearing difficulty. Generally it is seen in both the ears, but can occur in one ear as well.

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  • Infection:
    Infection in the external ear and in the middle ear cavity always leads to muffled hearing in one ear. In case of infection of the external ear (otitis externa), there is inflammation of the ear canal. As there is swelling of the external ear skin, it results in reduced hearing. The infection of the middle ear cavity can lead to inflammation of small bones of the middle ear (maleus, incus and stapes).

    If there is any defective or reduced action of these three bones, sound waves will not be transmitted to the inner ear and through it to the brain. Therefore, infection in middle ear can also lead to muffled hearing in one ear.

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  • Trauma:
    In the case of children, muffled hearing in one ear may be a symptom of what is called glue ear or serous otitis media (accumulation of fluid in the middle ear cavity). This occurs when a sudden traumatic event occurs to a child’s ear. This can be seen in children who are abused and have recently had trauma to the ear usually by a slap to the ear. Glue ear is one of the common causes of impaired hearing in children.

 
Whatever the cause may be, make sure to have it checked out by a medical doctor if the symptom persists.

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