Swimmers ear/ear infection

[kirstynic]

Hi

Well I can safely say I have never been in as much pain as I have the last few days.

It started the beginning of the week with an itchy mildly blocked ear. Saw the doctor who gave me 250mg of amoxicillin. Unfortunately the next day the ear was much worse. And continued to get worse prompting another visit to the doctor yesterday. This time I was given antibiotic/steroid ear drops and told to continue on the amoxicillin.

The pain really is unbearable, paracetamol relieves it a little but the fullness never subsides. It feels as if I have a thousand cotton wall balls in there, I also can't hear properly.

A sleepless night of crying in pain made me visit the out of hours doctors today, also my good ear has began feeling full itchy and a little painful- not a lot the doctor could do- gave me more amoxicillin as course is nearly finished, also told me to take codeine. I was sobbing in her office as was in pain - she told me not to put drops in the good ear even though when she looked at it was starting to swell.

My issues are that the drops hardly go in- my ear canal is so swollen the drops just sit there. The pain is unbearable both in the ear and to touch on the outside.
The out of hours doctor told me to visit my doctor again Monday and may be referred to net to have ear suctioned- but I really can't bear this any longer- we go away next Friday and if I feel like this I won't be able to go.

I feel at breaking point- despite medication the infection is getting worse and it leaves me feeling like it's never going to go. I would rather give birth 10 times over then have this pain. And if my other ear gets as bad as my left ear well that is just a scary scary thought :(

Anyone got any rays of hope? Or advice to offer?

[Daisy Sue]

Hi - I had the exact same thing last year, twice in fact. The second time my ear drum perforated (probably hadn't got rid of the infection fully first time round) so when I put the eardrops in, I felt them run down the back of my throat... so, if you can grit your teeth for a few seconds, it's worth going back to the gp and ask them to have a really good look at your eardrum despite all the swelling, as using eardrops with a perforated eardrum can be dangerous.

The infection and swelling will go, you may have to change antibiotics (I did), and keep your ears dry (be careful in the shower or bath). You can put a little vaseline on a blob of cotton wool to put in each ear when you're washing your hair - it'll act as a barrier.

Pain-wise, I took brufen and paracetamol together, 4 hourly, and when it was really bad, co-codamol instead of paracetamol.

Good luck, I hope it starts to heal soon!

[swgrl09]

Ibuprofen might help take the swelling down a little too, as it is an anti-inflammatory.

[RoseEve]

I've had this too. It's very painful. It will pass. I always use ear plugs now. Feel better :hugs: