Symptoms:

A chronic, long-term infection in the ear may have less severe symptoms than an acute infection. It may go unnoticed and untreated for a long time.

Symptoms may include:

• Ear pain or discomfort that is usually mild and feels like pressure in the ear
• Fever, usually low-grade
• Fussiness in young infants
• Pus-like drainage from the ear
• Hearing loss

Note: Symptoms may persists or come and go, and may occur in one or both ears.

Signs and tests:

The health care provider will examine the ears. This may reveal:

• Dullness, redness in the middle ear
• Air bubbles in the middle ear
• Thick fluid in the middle ear
• Eardrum may stick to the bones in the middle ear
• Draining fluid from the eardrum
• A hole (perforation) in the eardrum
• The eardrum bulges out or pulls back inward (collapses)

Tests may include:

• Cultures of the fluid may show bacteria, and these bacteria may be resistant or harder to treat than the bacteria commonly involved in an acute ear infection.
• A CT scan of the head or mastoids may show that the infection has spread beyond the middle ear.
• Hearing tests may be needed.