The influence of pregnancy on sensation of ear problems – ear problems associated with healthy pregnancy

Abstract

We wondered how many women had experienced a sensation of fullness in the ear during pregnancy. To address this question, data were obtained from a group of healthy women who attended the gynaecology clinic in our hospital as pregnancy cases between February 1995 and January 1998 and who volunteered to participate in our study. A control group was drawn from healthy female co-medical staff members of our hospital who had never been pregnant. The data used for comparing the two groups were taken from a questionnaire about ear problems that was presented to all subjects. The results suggest that ear problems may be increased in pregnancy, particularly for hypotensive pregnant women. However, even for pregnant women complaining of ear problems, pure-tone audiometry and impedance audiometry showed normal hearing in all cases. Furthermore, these women's complaints resolved completely on delivery of their babies.

Estrogenic modulation of auditory processing: A vertebrate comparison

“…For example, throughout pregnancy, low-frequency audiometric thresholds significantly worsen, and during the third trimester, women perceive lower levels of sound as uncomfortably loud (Sennaroglu and Belgin, 2001). Self-reports and case studies indicate that other auditory symptoms, such as fullness in the ear, tinnitus, and autophonia, are more prevalent during pregnancy and symptoms resolve after giving birth (Gurr et al, 1993; Mukhophadhyay et al, 2007; Schmidt et al, 2010; Tsunoda et al, 1999). Physiological findings support these claims: Tandon et al (1990) found that ABR inter-peak intervals are prolonged during pregnancy.…”

Evaluation of Audio-Rhinological Changes During Pregnancy

“…Tsunoda et al [9] investigated ear problems in a group of pregnant women and found that pure tone audiometry and impedance audiometry showed normal hearing in all cases. However, they did not mention the finding in different frequencies and also did not take into account the different stages of pregnancy.…”

The effect of sex hormones on bone metabolism of the otic capsule – an overview

“…Changes in otoacoustic emissions and auditory evoked potentials in women using oral contraceptives suggest that the auditory system may become more masculine (McFadden, 2000). Hormone level variations that occur in pregnancy can provoke the feeling of fullness of the ear (Tsunoda et al, 1999) and low frequency hearing loss (Sennaroglu and Belgin, 2001) which resolves after delivery (Tsunoda et al, 1999). Also, the menstrual cycle seems to be reflected in changes in postural stability (Darlington et al, 2001) or brainstem evoked auditory responses Elkind-Hirsch et al, 1992a, b;Serra et al, 2003) or hearing thresholds (Swanson and Dengerink, 1988).…”