How does the ear work and what are the most frequent affections. More information for better action and prevent.

Numerous studies have sought to understand and explain the deafness of this famous composer who ended up totally deaf a decade before his death, managing to compose during this…

The absolute ear is defined by the ability to immediately associate a sound with a note without any prior reference, unlike the relative ear which recognizes the note according to a referent note heard (the "A" for example). Very few individuals have an absolute ear: it is estimated that one person in 10,000 has it. The beneficiary of an absolute ear thus possesses a sort…

There are many disorders of the ear. We will limit ourselves to mention the most important or the most annoying, even the most frequent. Tinnitus. Tinnitus is spreading like wildfire all over the world: it is the disease of the century. Tinnitus is a permanent noise that is often very unpleasant for the person who hears it and can make our daily life unbearable. Tinnitus…

The otorrhagia secondary to a traumatism of the base of the skull and in particular of the rock, at the time of an accident of the public way for example, which poses the serious problem, in this case, of a communication between the outside (which generally requires a tympanic perforation) and the brain in the event of meningeal breach, which darkens the prognosis. An otorrhagia…

Cholesteatoma is " skin misplaced in the middle ear" (Gray-1964). Most often, the tumor arises from a posterior superior invagination pocket of the tympanum to which epidermal debris from the duct is deposited by centrifugal migration due to self-cleansing. In this retraction pocket, the epidermal cells will progressively accumulate as the invagination pocket increases in volume. At this stage, the diagnosis can be made by…

On the eve of the great summer transhumance, we thought it would be interesting to remind you how to prevent or treat ENT pain, dominated by ear infections related to baths. However, the whole sphere ENT however, the whole sphere is concerned and we will insist each time on prevention, which will allow to avoid a great part of these inconveniences, particularly badly experienced far…

Vertigo is one of the most overused terms in the French language ! Everything is vertigo for the patients and it does not pass a consultation without the specialist of "vertigo" - the ENT in this case - being confronted with one or more patients, often referred by the general practitioner but not always, who suffer from vertigo... A medical definition thus deserves to be…

Word composed of the Greek -ous, ôtos which designates the ear and the suffix -ite, inflammation : otitis is thus the inflammation of the ear. What ailments are grouped together by this word, widely used and sometimes wrongly, by patients who come to see us for an ear pain and, since it is the ear, "this pain can only be an otitis"? If, for the…

To speak about dizziness is to speak about balance. The balance, at the extreme ages, is badly assured and remains stammering. In the first years of life, the balance regulation system is maturing. The child learns little by little to stand on his own, to walk, to run, to ride a bicycle or to do exercises that require a more and more advanced control of…

This article is based on an analysis and a recent bibliographic synthesis, proposed by Professor Tran Ba Huy, in the bimonthly publications " Between...O.R.L " The cell phone appeared in Japan 37 years ago. Since then, its use has spread like wildfire: 4 billion cell phones were in use in 2008 according to the International Telecommunications Union, i.e. 60% of the world's population equipped. In…

Mumps is a viral disease caused by a paramyxovirus also known as the mumps virus (from ourles, hemmed). Mumps induces an inflammation of the parotid glands (parotitis), glands which are in front of the auricular pavilion, discharging the lobe of the ear in the cases of important inflammation. The plural is appropriate because this disease affects both parotid glands and the unilateral enlargement of only…

Tinnitus is spreading like an oil stain throughout the world: it is the disease of the century. Parasitic noises, permanent and often very badly experienced by the person who hears them, they can make our daily life unbearable. Tinnitus can take any form, from high-pitched whistling to buzzing, but it can also be infinitely more complex, going so far as to say, for some patients,…

The ear is divided into three parts : the external ear, the middle ear and the inner ear. The ear perceives sounds between 20Hz and 18000Hz. Below these figures we speak of infrasound. Beyond that, ultrasound. Both are inaudible to the human ear. The human ear is tested with an audiometer for frequencies between 125Hz and 8000Hz. This device allows the detection of all types…

Secreted by glands of the external part of the ear canal, the earwax is conveyed by micro cilia towards the outside, thus evacuating the dirtiness which is deposited in the blind canal of the ear. Everyone makes earwax, but the nature of this wax is variable according to the individuals. There are all kinds : hard, soft, of all colors and quantities.