Microbiome in the External Auditory Canal of Hearing Aided Patients with Pruritis

Hearing aids are the most common conventional devices used to manage sensorineural hearing loss. Although safe and reliable methods, Hearing aids have some minor or moderate side effects that may be inconvenient for those patients and may result in patient non-compliance or even abandonment of their usage. One of the most common is ear irritation and itching. Although itching is attributed to several causes including athetosis and skin allergy, however, Both Bacterial and fungal infections are considered the major leading cause. This study aims to determine the microbiological profile of the external ear in hearing-aided patients presented with itching.

150 hearing-aided patients presented with itching were recruited for the study all underwent history taking, full clinical examination, and external canal swabs were taken. Then swabs were cultivated for both bacterial and fungal growth.

15 samples (8.6%) were free from infection while 159 samples (91.4%) were positive for infection. There was a statistically significant difference between the free and infected samples (either bacterial or fungal). Out of the infected samples, 135 samples (77.6%) had a bacterial infection and 24 samples (13.8%) had a fungal infection.

Microbial growth is the major factor in the development of external ear itching and pruritis, being mainly staphylococcal infection either staphylococcus Aureus or coagulase-negative species, however, gram-negative bacteria and fungal infection are not considered uncommon. The duration of hearing aid usage was found significant in the development of such infection. These findings shed light on the importance of frequent cleaning of both the external ear molds and proper hygiene of the external canal.