Middle Ear Infection

• Although infections in the middle ear (otitis media) are rare in adults, they can still happen. A middle ear infection will plug up your ears, causing dizziness and pain in your ear canal. A fever of 101 degrees is not uncommon. Infections of this type can be caused by the cold virus, which can build fluids up behind your eardrum. A middle ear infection will generally resolve on its own in 3-4 days. Although this is not ordinarily a medical emergency, the experts at the Mayo Clinic do advise you to contact your family doctor if the symptoms last more than 3-4 days, or if there is blood or pus in your ear. This could be a sign that you could have ruptured an eardrum.
  
  

Meniere's Disease

• Named for the French doctor who first described the disease in 1861 (Prosper Meniere), Meniere's is a disorder of the inner ear, which causes sudden vertigo, pain and pressure in the ear and tinnitus (a ringing or roaring sound in the ear) along some loss of hearing. The symptoms are the due to a change in the amount of fluid (endolymph) in your inner ear, which governs balance. It works a lot like a level: tilt your head to one side, and the fluid tilts so that you don't feel off balance.
  
  When the fluid pressure increases, the endolymph sends the wrong signals to your brain, and you feel dizzy. The attacks can happen once a year, or they can continue to occur at varying intervals. The National Institute of Health indicates that there is currently no cure for Meniere's Disease, but states with dietary changes (less sodium) and cessation of smoking, the disease can be effectively managed.
  
  

Barotrauma

• If you have ever been scuba diving or flown in an airplane, you may have experienced barotrauma (BT). Characterized by intense pressure and pain in the ear with dizziness and tinnitus, BTis a disorder that occurs when there are different pressures between your ear and the environment. Failure to clear this built-up pressure can result in hemorrhage from the ear and potentially, substantial hearing loss. Barotrauma can affect all the pressurized parts of your ear: inner, middle and outer ear. More serious cases tend to result from diving rather than flying, although both are possible.
  
  Treatment varies depending on which part of the ear the disorder occurs in. In the outer ear, often there will be an obstruction (ear wax, ear plugs) that, once the obstruction is cleared away, will allow the pressure to equalize naturally. In the middle ear, BT can cause the eardrum to rupture due to increased pressure on the eustachian tubes, forcing them closed. Keeping the middle ear dry and taking a course of antibiotics can help and infection; usually, the middle ear will heal on its own.
  
  If you cannot equalize the pressure in the middle ear, according to the American Hearing Research Foundation, the pressure can continue to build in the inner ear as well, exacerbating the symptoms. Treatment for inner ear BT is hospitalization and rest with the head inclined at a 40-degree angle in the symptoms have abated.