Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-g8jcs Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-24T07:55:58.435Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

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

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  29 June 2007

Koichi Tsunoda ,
Shizue Takahashi ,
Minako Takanosawa  and
Yoshitaka Shimoji
Koichi Tsunoda*
Affiliation:
Department of Otolaryngology, Nissan Tamagawa Hospital, Tokyo, Japan.
Shizue Takahashi
Affiliation:
Department of Otolaryngology, Nissan Tamagawa Hospital, Tokyo, Japan.
Minako Takanosawa
Affiliation:
Department of Otolaryngology, Nissan Tamagawa Hospital, Tokyo, Japan.
Yoshitaka Shimoji
Affiliation:
Department of Gynaecology, Nissan Tamagawa Hospital, Tokyo, Japan.
*
Address for correspondence: Koichi Tsunoda, M.D., Chief, Department of Otolaryngology, Nissan Tamagawa Hospital, 4-8-1 Seta, Setagaya-ku, Tokyo 158, Japan. Fax: +81 3 3700 2090
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

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.

Keywords

PregnancyHearing disordersTinnitus
Type
Main Articles
Information
The Journal of Laryngology & Otology , Volume 113 , Issue 4 , April 1999 , pp. 318 - 320
Copyright
Copyright © JLO (1984) Limited 1999

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Baker, M. A., Weiler, E. M. (1977) Sex of listener and hormonal correlates of auditory thresholds. British Journal of Audiology 11: 65–68.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Barton, T. R. (1945) The influence of pregnancy on otosclerosis. New England Journal of Medicine 233: 433–436.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gurr, P., Owen, G., Reid, A., Canter, R. (1993) Tinnitus in pregnancy. Clinical Otolaryngology 18: 294–297.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Malm, L. (1987) The influence of pregnancy on the eustachian tube function in rats. Acta Otolaryngologica (Stockh) 104: 251–254.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Oraig, S. Derkay (1988) Eustachian tube and nasal function during pregnancy: A prospective study. Otolaryngology – Head and Neck Surgery 99: 558–566.Google Scholar
Tandon, O. P., Misra, R., Tandon, I. (1990) Brainstem auditory evoked potentials (BAEPs) in pregnant women. Indian Journal of Physiology and Pharmacology 34(1): 42–44.Google ScholarPubMed
Uchide, K., Suzuki, N., Takiguchi, T., Terada, S., Inoue, M. (1997) The possible effect of pregnancy on Ménière's disease. ORL 59: 292–295.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Weissman, A., Nir, D., Shenhav, R., Zeimmer, E. Z., Joachims, Z. H., Danino, J. (1993) Eustachian tube function during pregnancy. Clinical Otolaryngology 18: 212–214.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed