ear, nose, and throat disorders
Otitis Media (Chronic Suppurative)
Introduction
Chronic suppurative otitis media is a long-standing, persistently draining perforation of the eardrum (tympanic membrane). Causes of chronic suppurative otitis media include acute otitis media and blockage of a eustachian tube. A flare-up may occur after a cold, an ear infection or after water enters the middle ear. People usually have hearing loss and persistent drainage from the ear. Doctors clean the ear canal and give ear drops. Antibiotics and surgery may be used for severe cases. Chronic suppurative otitis media is usually caused by Otitis Media (Acute) , blockage of the Chronic suppurative otitis media may flare up after an infection of the nose and throat, such as the common cold, or after water enters the middle ear through a hole (perforation) in the eardrum during bathing or swimming. Usually, flare-ups result in a painless, sometimes very foul-smelling discharge of pus from the ear. Persistent flare-ups may result in the formation of protruding growths called polyps, which extend from the middle ear through the perforation and into the ear canal. Persistent infection can destroy parts of the ossicles—the small bones in the middle ear that connect the eardrum to the inner ear and conduct sounds from the outer ear to the inner ear—causing Causes (hearing loss that occurs when sound is blocked from reaching the sensory structures in the inner ear). Often, chronic suppurative otitis media is painless. Some people with chronic suppurative otitis media develop a cholesteatoma in the middle ear. A cholesteatoma is a noncancerous (benign) growth of white skinlike material. People with a cholesteatoma may have a fever, vertigo, and/or an earache. A cholesteatoma, which destroys bone, greatly increases the likelihood of other serious complications such as Purulent Labyrinthitis , facial paralysis, and 