The majority (98%) of people with<unk>  have ear discharge or conductive hearing loss, or both, in the affected ear. Other more common conditions (e.g. otitis externa) may also present with these symptoms, but<unk>  is much more serious and should not be overlooked. If a patient presents to a doctor with ear discharge and hearing loss, the doctor should consider<unk>  until the disease is definitely excluded. Other less common symptoms (all less than 15%) of<unk>  may include pain, balance disruption, tinnitus, earache, headaches and bleeding from the ear. There can also be facial nerve weakness. Balance symptoms in the presence of a<unk>  raise the possibility that the<unk>  is eroding the balance organs in the inner ear. Doctors' initial inspections may only reveal an ear canal full of discharge. Until the doctor has cleaned the ear and inspected the entire tympanic membrane,<unk>  cannot be diagnosed. Once the debris is cleared,<unk>  can give rise to a number of appearances. If there is significant inflammation, the tympanic membrane may be partially obscured by an aural polyp. If there is less inflammation, the<unk>  may present the appearance of 'semolina' discharging from a defect in the tympanic membrane. The posterior and superior parts of the tympanic membrane are most commonly affected. If the<unk>  has been dry, the<unk>  may present the appearance of 'wax over the attic'. The attic is just above the eardrum. If untreated, a<unk>  can eat into the three small bones located in the middle ear (the malleus, incus and stapes, collectively called ossicles), which can result in nerve deterioration, deafness, imbalance and vertigo. It can also affect and erode, through the enzymes it produces, the thin bone structure that isolates the top of the ear from the brain, as well as lay the covering of the brain open to infection with serious complications (rarely even death due to brain abscess and sepsis). Both the acquired as well as the congenital types of the disease can affect the facial nerve that extends from the brain to the face and passes through the inner and middle ear and leaves at the anterior tip of the mastoid bone, and then rises to the front of the ear and extends into the upper and lower face.
Cholesteatoma
Orbital cellulitis
Orbital lymphoma
Odontogenic keratocyst
Tympanosclerosis
Pseudolymphoma
Periorbital cellulitis
Rectovestibular fistula