There are several types of tumors that grow on the auditory, vestibular or facial nerves. Although they are very rare, these tumors may cause tinnitus. When heaviness is felt in the ear area, you must see your audiologist or otolaryngologist for diagnosis and treatment as soon as possible. These tumors may cause the hearing, vestibular and/or facial dysfunction. Other complications that these tumors may cause include:
Deafness
Loss of balance
Facial paralysis
Tinnitus
Most tumors emanating from the temporal bone directly affects the internal auditory canal and may prolepses into the auditory nerve endings. When the nerve endings get affected, they can hardly transmit stimuli to the brain; the brain therefore interprets any stimuli, whether internal or external as sound.
Ear tumors are very diverse and can be called by different names:
Middle ear schwannoma
Neurinoma
Glomus tumor
Paraganglioma
Glomus jugulare
Chemodectoma
Ceruminoma
Papillary middle ear tumor
Endolymphatic sac adenoma
Papillary middle ear tumor
Parcinoid tumor
Glandular tumor of the external auditory canal
Vascular malformation
All these are various types of tumors that may directly or indirectly affect the auditory nerve, producing either hearing loss, tinnitus or both. Ear tumors may be surgically removed by an audiologist or an otolaryngologist.
