ear

Eva Rudolf-Müller is a freelance writer in the medical team. She studied human medicine and newspaper sciences and has repeatedly worked in both areas - as a doctor in the clinic, as a reviewer, and as a medical journalist for various specialist journals. She is currently working in online journalism, where a wide range of medicine is offered to everyone.

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The ear is the organ in our body with which we pick up sound, i.e. tones, sounds and noises. The sound waves are picked up by the auricle, pass through the ear canal to the eardrum and through the three ossicles to the inner ear. This is where the receptors for hearing and also the organ of equilibrium (vestibular apparatus) are located. Find out everything you need to know about the ear: structure and function as well as important diseases and injuries!

What is the ear

The human ear is an organ that combines two functions: the sense of hearing and the sense of balance.

The ear anatomy

The ear is divided into three anatomical areas:

• the outer ear (auris externa)
• the middle ear (auris media)
• the inner ear (auris interna)

The outer ear

These include the auricle (Auricula auris), the external auditory canal (Meatus acousticus externus) and the eardrum (Membrana tympani).

The auricle

You can find out more about this in the auricle article.

The external auditory canal (Meatus acousticus externus) consists of a cartilaginous section at the beginning, which then merges into a bony section. It is about three to three and a half centimeters long, half a centimeter wide and slightly curved. Hair follicles, sebum and sweat glands are located in the skin of the ear canal. The latter excrete the ear wax (cerumen). This sticky, yellowish secretion cleans the ear canal and prevents the ingress of water, dust and dirt.

The eardrum (Membrana tympani) is a membrane that separates the ear canal from the middle ear. It is about 0.1 millimeters thick and nine to eleven millimeters in diameter. The eardrum is gray-white, usually transparent, and under tension. It is not completely flat, because the first ossicle, the hammer (malleus) on the side of the middle ear, is fused with the middle of the eardrum membrane and gives it its shape.

The middle ear

You can find out more about the structure and function as well as common diseases of this airy middle section in the article Middle ear.

The ossicles

You can find out everything you need to know about the three tiny, movable bones that are important for sound transmission (hammer, anvil and stapes) in the article auditory ossicles.

Eustachian tube

There is a connection from the middle ear to the throat, the so-called Eustachian tube (Tuba auditiva). You can read more about them in the article Eustachian tube.

The inner ear (labyrinth)

This is where the actual hearing organ (organ of Corti) and the organ of equilibrium are located. You can read everything you need to know about the hearing organ in the article Inner ear.

Balance organ

You can find out everything you need to know about how the sense of balance works and how dizziness can develop in the article Balance Organ.

What is the function of the ear?

The functions of the ear are in hearing, i.e. in auditory perception, as well as in the sense of balance - without these functions the human being would not be able to perceive tones, sounds and noises and he would be constantly dizzy.

Auditory perception

How the sound is captured, passed on by the ossicles and conducted in the form of a traveling wave in the fluid-filled inner ear to the sensory cells, you can read in the article Auditory Perception.

Where is the ear located?

Everyone has two ears - one on each side of the head. It ranges from the externally visible mussel and the auditory canal to the eardrum and ossicles to the cochlea with the sensory cells for sound perception.

What problems can the ear cause?

Inflammation of the external ear canal (for example, an abscess or furuncle) is known as otitis externa. It causes pain and itching in the external ear canal. The ear canal inflammation is often caused by bacteria that can be “caught” especially when swimming. Doctors therefore also speak of bath otitis.

A middle ear infection (otitis media) usually develops as a result of a runny nose or a sore throat when the pathogens rise through the Eustachian tube. Children are particularly susceptible to the disease because their Eustachian tube is shorter than that of adults. The most common inflammation occurs between the ages of 6 and 18 months. The main symptoms are throbbing pain and a feeling of pressure in the ear. Often there are also other symptoms such as decreased hearing, fever and headache.

Sudden and persistent hissing, whistling, ringing, buzzing or humming in the ear - without an external sound source - is known as tinnitus. It can be triggered, for example, by a sudden hearing loss, various illnesses, stress or certain medications. If no cause can be determined, doctors speak of idiopathic tinnitus.

If someone is hypersensitive to sounds of all frequencies, although the hearing organ is healthy, there is hyperacusis (hypersensitivity to noise). It affects many people with tinnitus.

Hearing function can be impaired on one or both sides for various congenital or acquired reasons. Doctors differentiate between different forms of hearing loss, conductive hearing loss and sensorineural hearing loss. In addition, in old age almost everyone develops old-age hearing loss (presbycusis). A hearing loss can take on different degrees. Some people have only mild hearing impairment, others are completely deaf (deaf). Children born with hearing loss or deafness often have trouble learning to speak.

In otosclerosis, the otherwise mobile ossicles stiffen. The reason for this has not yet been clarified. The consequence of otosclerosis is hearing loss.

The eardrum can tear through direct or indirect violence, for example through the improper use of cotton swabs when cleaning the ear canal or when there are rapid changes in air pressure (explosion, etc.). Such an eardrum injury (tympanic membrane rupture) manifests itself in stabbing pain and a sudden hearing loss. Sometimes blood also leaks from the ear canal and people feel dizzy. In most cases, a tear in the eardrum will heal on its own and without any consequences.

Small children often stick a foreign body (marble, small toy parts, etc.) in their ears, which then have to be removed by the doctor. Otherwise, ear canal inflammation may develop.

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