Narrow ear canal: can this lead to deafness?

Archie my 14 week CKCS, was back at the vet's again last night, for the third week in a row. He's had an ear infection, which is now in both ears. The vet mentioned that the ear canal in his left ear is very narrow. I was just wondering can this lead to deafness?

Nikki x

One of my pups was the same, but as he got older the ear canal got bigger, so I shouldn't worry to much just yet.

Thank you, he has to go back to the vets when he's 6 months for a check up, hopefully he'll be okay.

Hi Nikkiflynn I would have thought the main concern was getting excess wax and debris trapped in there, you will need keep a check that the ears are clean and may need drops from the vet to help with this.

Deaf no, prone to infection yes, dogs with earflaps that cover the entrance to the ear are prone to problems and if the ear canal is narrow that increases the problem. There are products that can be used during normal grooming to help avoid the build up of debris or wax.

Thanks guys, Archie has been getting drops now for three weeks and the infection seems to be clearing The vet mentioned that having a narrow ear canal could cause deafness in later life, which made me slightly worried.

Thanks again
Nikki x

Well far be it for me to argue with your vet but I can accept that continuing infection may but just the fact of a narrow canal I would be surprised but then what would I know, what do others think.

...I think that as with a child continuing infections can ultimately damage the ear/create scar tissue and this in turn can lead to deafness, but the narrow canal itself doesn't lead to deafness . Therefore as I said above every effort should be made to keep the ear clean and this means checking it regularly to make sure it looks and smells clean and if need be under the directions of a vet (no powders or poking things the ear) occasionally putting drops into loosen any debris and wax.

If this is done I think all should be well