Health Assessment: Ears Flashcards
What are the ears?
The sensory organ for hearing and equilibrium
What are the three parts of the ear?
External ear
Middle ear
Inner ear
What is the external ear called?
The Auricle or Pinna and it consists of movable cartilage and skin
What is the external ear?
The external ear has a characteric shape and serves to funnel sound waves into its opening which is the external auditory canal
What does the auditory canal do
Its lined with glands that secret cerumen which is a yellow waxy material that lubricates and protect the ear
What does wax do?
It forms a sticky barrier that helps keep foreign bodies from entering and reaching the sensitive tympanic membrane
What does the typmanic membrane or eardrum separate?
It separates the external and middle ear
What is the tympanic membrane?
It is a translucent membrane of a pearly gray color and a prominent cone of light in the anteriorinferior quandrant
Describe the drum
It is oval and slightly concave, it is pulled in at its center by one of the middle ear ossicles called the malleus
What are parts of the malleus that show through the translucent drum?
the umbo, manubrium, and the short process
What is the Pars Flaccida?
the small slack superior section of the tympanic membrane
What is Paars Tensa
Part of drum which is thicker and more taut
What does the binaural interaction at the level of the brainstem permits?
Identification and location of the direction of the sound
What does the first episode of Otitis Media that occurs within three months increase
It increase the risk of recurrent OM- three episodes in the past three months or four episondes in the past year
What does the labyrinth maintain
The body’s equilibrium
When an otoscope examiniation is performed on an older adult the tympanic membrane may be?
Whiter than that of a younger adult. It may also appear more opaque and dull
Why is it more difficult to see the eardrum in a neonate?
The position of the eardrum is more horozontal making it more difficult to see completly and harder to differentiate from the canal wall
If the tympanic membrane has whhite dense areas, the examiner suspects?
Scarring from recurrent ear infections
What is the annulus?
Outer fibrous rim of the drum
What is the middle ear?
A tiny air filled cavity inside the temporal bone, it contains the malleus, incus, and stapes
What are the openings of the middle ear?
The outer ear is covered by the tympanic membrane.
The inner ear are the oval windowns at the end of the stapes and round window.
Eustachian tube which connects the middles ear with nasopharynx and allows passage of air
What are the three functions of the the middles ear
conducts sound vibration from outer ear to central hearing apparatus in the inner ear.
Protects the inner ear by reducing the amplitude of loud sounds
eustachian tube allows equalization of air pressure on each side of tympanic membrane
What does the inner ear contain?
It contains the bony labyrinth- which holds the sensory organs for equilibrium and hearing
What are the functions of hearing?
It involves the auditory systme at three levels; the peripheral, brainstem, and cerebral cortex
the peripheral level
Ear transmit sound and converts its vibration into electrical impulses; which can be analyzed by the brain
Brains stem level
Is the binaural interaction -which permit locating the directio of a sound in space as well as identifying the sound
Where does cranial nerve viii sends signals to
From each ear to both sides of the brainstem
What are the pathways of hearing
Normal pathway of hearing is air conduction which is the most efficient, and an alternate route of hearing is by bone conduction- bones skull vibrate
What is conductive hearing loss
Involves a mechanical dysfuntion of the external or middle ear, may be caused by impacted cerumen, foreign bodies, a perforated tympanic membrane, pus or serum in the middle ear
What is sensorineural loss
signifies pathology of inner ear, cranial nerve viii or the auditory areas of the cerebral cortex
Sensorineural loss may be caused by
prebycusis a gradual nerve degeneration that occurs with aging and by ototoxic drugs
what is a mixed loss
combination of conductive and sensorineural types in the same ear
Equilibrium
the labyrinth in the inner ear constantly feeds information to your brain about your body’s position, if the labyrinth becomes inflammed vertigo occurs
Infants eustachian tube
Is relatively shorter and wider and its position is more horozontal than that of the adults, so its easier for pathogens from naspharynx to migrate through to middle ear
Ostosclerosis in adults
common cause of conductive hearing loss in young adults btw the ages of 20-40
a gradual hardening that cause the footplate of the stapes to become fixed in the oval window
Darwins tuberacle
A small painless nodule at the helix
What is microtia
ears smaller than 4 cm vertically
what is macrotia
ears larger than 10 centimeters vertically
Inspection with the otoscope
Pull the pinna up and and back on and adult or older child; pull the pinna down on infant and child younger than 3
Cone shaped light reflex
Is prominent in the anteriornferior quadrant at the five olclock position in the right drum; and the seven oclock position in the left drum
Pathway of hearing
AC is usually greater that BC
air conduction
bone conduction
