Swimmers ear while on antibiotics???

[Tracyree]

My son had a tonsillectomy 3 weeks ago. Friday he came down with a major earache. Took him to the ent yesterday and he thinks it's swimmers ear. I'm confused as my son is on antibiotics and has been for months. It doesn't make sense that he'd get swimmers ear....right? I mean, antibiotics would prevent an external infection, wouldn't they??

 

[turney31]

Sounds silly I know, I often get other infections while taking antibiotics. Hope your son feels better.

 

[Godsgrl]

Different antibiotics treat different things. So say you're on antibiotics for pneumonia, they won't keep you from getting (or treat) a bladder infection. So it's still possible you could get an ear infection while on meds for something else. Hope your son heals up soon.

 

[Tracyree]

Thanks. Edited my ridiculous autocorrected post.

Glad to hear it could just be swimmers ear.

 

[TouchO'Lass]

Swimmer's ear can be bacterial or fungal, and since the wee-beasties are normally sitting in a little drop of trapped water in the ear canal and not circulating thru the body, they aren't affected by antibiotics taken by mouth, and as Godsgrl mentioned, not all anti-bugs treat all bacteria.

We grew up in Florida so we lived in the water; ocean, pools, rivers. Whenever we got home, Mom would put drops in our ears to help dry up the moisture. Back then (60's) it was her own mix of alcohol and apple cider vinegar. Now you can find an over the counter version at the drug store, but if the infection is already full blown, be very careful because you wouldn't want to use it with a ruptured ear drum!

I imagine your ENT gave you some topical drops? Hope the little guy gets well soon! It's enough to recover from a tonsillectomy without that added misery...

 

[CityGirlintheCountry]

I am in the pool every day for swim team. First thing I do when I get in the car is put drops of alcohol in my ears (the kind you get at the pharmacy, not the liquor store!). It dries up the water and helps keep you from swimmers ear. The store bought things are pretty much alcohol and vinegar. The alcohol dries it out and the vinegar helps kill all the buggies. Just don't use this if you already have an infection. It has the potential to hurt like CRAZY!!!!

The ear drops the doctor prescribed should help soon. In the meantime a warm, moist washcloth might help his ears feel better. I dampen a washcloth and then microwave it for a few seconds. Make sure you feel it first. It can get HOT in the middle.

Hope he feels better soon!

 

[Tracyree]

Thanks all. Doc said use vinegar/ alcohol. If it doesn't get better by Friday he'll prescribed antibiotic drops. I'm thinking I may gonahead and ask for those as he's waking in the night asking for pain medicine every night.

I'll try the washcloth, thanks!

 

[P-Funk]

This works for me. I was a diver through high school and college. The only thing I would change about this is to replace the mineral oil with a 50/50 mix of hydrogen peroxide and WARM water. Wait 'till the fizzy noise stops before you rinse. It does the trick in 3 days. http://www.getridofthings.com/get-rid-of-ear-wax.htm You may have to copy and past this link, but it does work.