Ear Infection

[irish80122]

I really could use some advice on this one, and I will appreciate any help I can get! I am a future premed so I really don't have the answer to this one yet, but maybe you do?

I have an ear infection which is driving me nuts partially because my ear is completely blocked. I think part of the problem is that I pushed wax in too far by trying to clean the ear out with the dreaded q-tip (I know, I know). I am stuck at the point of what to do now. Will the wax naturally clear out, is there some kind of drop I can make to help clear it out, or do I have to make the I am an idiot type of appointment at my doctor's office and hopefully they can clear it out? Thanks for your time, I really appreciate it!

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[md_student10021]

it's tough to say what you can do on your own since your description is not so clear.

just keep in mind that you'll need to see an ENT, since internists don't have the equipment to go into the ear.

 

[painres]

There are some wax removal drops at most pharmacies, although they may not work that well, they are worth a try🙂

 

[Scrubbs]

When you say "ear infection" what do you mean? Any pain? Discharge from your ear? Itching? Dizziness? Ringing?

If your ear just feels blocked, you can try Debrex drops... they are OTC at any pharmacy.

If you have any of the other symptoms, you should see your doc, b/c you may need antibiotics.

Good luck!

 

[irish80122]

Sorry for not being clear. I did have the itching, some pain and discharge so I went to the doctor and am on antibiotics right now. Since then my ear has gotten clogged, and I am just wondering if it will clear out on it's own or if I need to take some action on it. Sorry about that, thanks for your help!!!

 

[dankatzzz]

Ear infections are toughies... in children. An acute one can become chronic. If it feels clogged, sometimes a decongestant helps. As for the wax in your ears, debrex, or even hot (but not scalding) water can help (assuming you didn't perforate your ear drum). In any case, the usuall trial course of Abx is amocycillin, followed by augumentin or suprex. If it doesn't go away by the 4-5th day on Abx talk to your doctor.
Dani

 

[OwlMyste]

I would recommend an alternative treatment. Why dont ya ear candle your ears? your first thought is 'wtf is ear candling?!' but it really works, I have tried it myself. go to the URL i have pasted on this page and you'll find out more info. I have used them when my ear was way clogged, and after i was done with ear candling my ears, it got a ****load of earwax out of my ear and not to mention, made my hearing a whole lot better. I know you as doctors may scoff at the idea of alternative medicine, but for an ear infection, i tried those drops and kept getting more ear infections.....
leading me to have surgery to have tubes put in my ears. so my advice to you is don't knock it [the idea of ear candling your ears] till you've tried it yourself and seen how it works...

hope this helps.......

oh by the way...the link to the website is below....

http://www.wallysnatural.com/index.htm

 

[irish80122]

Thanks for this information. I looked up some stuff and it looked promising. Is this something I could do at home, preferably on my own? Also, where could I find these candles locally, do you know of any stores that may be in Denver? Thanks

 

[OwlMyste]

just go to your local herb shop or GNC (General Nutrition Center) and you should find some there. just follow the directions on the packaging and you should be just fine.

 

[mudphud1]

Before you try ear-candling, please read the following link:

http://www.quackwatch.org/01QuackeryRelatedTopics/candling.html

 

[Scrubbs]

You beat me to it mudphud... I have a friend who has been ear-candling for the past few weeks. I found the same site for her and, needless to say, she's stopped. For those who have tried this, I know that the schmutz in the candle looks like it would be ear wax, but please read the website...

 

[samenewme]

What if you simply call the doctor's office where you got the antibiotics, offer an update on the situation, and ask what you should do? That's much smarter than asking a bunch of med students who never saw your ear. You probably won't have to go back in for another appointment (and if you can't afford to, just tell them that) but you can get appropriate advice to your own personal ear infection.

Failing that, a hot compress applied to the OUTSIDE of your ear can't hurt and might help.

(not a doctor, not a med student, just a middle-aged lady with a small amount of common sense).

 

[OwlMyste]

Originally posted by Scrubbs
You beat me to it mudphud... I have a friend who has been ear-candling for the past few weeks. I found the same site for her and, needless to say, she's stopped. For those who have tried this, I know that the schmutz in the candle looks like it would be ear wax, but please read the website...

All I said is that it could remove earwax--I've had clogged ears before and have been ear candled and it has worked for me, so i'm not going on blind heresay. I never said it could do all that other stuff like clear the mind. We use ear candling on my father (we know he needs it when he turns up the volume on the TV....he turns the volume back to normal after he's been candled...)...so I know it works.

 

[cecilia]

HI,

I worked for a family practice office for 4 years as a medical assistant (long time ago). The way we cleaned the patient's ears was placing them laying down on one side, filling the ear canal with hydrogen peroxide and waiting about 10 to 15 minutes (depending on how much stuff there was in there), then..shooting warm water into the ear with a syring to push out the wax. The hydrogen peroxide softens the wax and also brings it up towards the canal entrance because the liquid bubbles when it comes in contact with your cells. You will hear fixx/bubbles when you place the liquid inside. This is something you can do on your own (you can insert the hydrogen peroxide into your ear with a dropper). Hope that helps.

 

[kcrd]

sorry to jump in on the residency forum, but I can't help myself sometimes!

irish, ask your doctor if he/she will irrigate your ear after the infection has cleared. I've had this done a few times to disimpact cerumen. they'll take a large syringe (no needle) filled with warm water and flush out whatever is lodged in your ear. feels great, too 🙂

 

[kcrd]

ahh, cecilia beat me to it.

 

[jawurheemd]

Please refer to the following link regarding Otitis Externa. I imagine that this is the ear infection you are referring to.

Otitis Externa


And please refer to the following link regarding cerumen disimpaction.

Ear Wax Removal

Hope this helps.

-James

 

[Idiopathic]

Be careful that you don't have a 'foreign' body in your ear canal (bug?). As gross as that sounds, any H20 substance will cause said foreign body to swell and become ridiculously difficult to remove. If you have lots of ear wax, it is possible that this could happen. Not likely though. Mineral oils are good in cases where there are foreign bodies and I would recommend peroxide also for cerumen removal.

 

[Scrubbs]

Originally posted by OwlMyste
All I said is that it could remove earwax--I've had clogged ears before and have been ear candled and it has worked for me, so i'm not going on blind heresay. I never said it could do all that other stuff like clear the mind. We use ear candling on my father (we know he needs it when he turns up the volume on the TV....he turns the volume back to normal after he's been candled...)...so I know it works.

I did not think that you believed it could clear the mind 🙂... the parts I thought were important in this site are:

1. "More recently, two investigators tested candles to see whether the wax accumulated after burning came entirely from the candle or included wax that came from the ear. To do this they burned candles with the tip (a) inside the ear, (b) outside the ear, so the wax dripped into a bowl of water, and (c) inside the ear but with a tube in place that would permit ear wax to move into the tube but would block candle wax from moving downward. They demonstrated that all residue originated from the candle and that no ear wax was removed from the ear [2]."

2. "A 1996 survey of 144 ear, nose, and throat physicians, found that 14 had seen patients who had been harmed by ear candling, including at least 13 cases of external burns, 7 cases of ear canal obstruction with candle wax, and 1 perforated eardrum [3]. Another case was reported by The London Free Press, a Canadian newspaper. A woman who experienced stuffiness in the nose and ear pains while scuba diving went to a local health-food store and was referred to a "qualified" candler. During the "treatment," she felt an intense burning in her ear. At the emergency room, attempts to remove wax that had dripped from the candle onto her eardrum failed. Surgery was required, and a hole in her eardrum was discovered, which presumably was caused by the procedure. She recovered fully, and luckily her hearing was not affected. The practitioner apologized, compensated the woman, and stopped performing ear coning [4]."

When my friend starting doing it, I thought it was crazy, but she raved about it. I watched her do it once, and thought the schmutz in the candle afterwards was amazing... so I considered trying it. I decided to research it a little more though, and came across this site...