medication

[tcolston]

My daughter had tubes put in her ears.  She was given eye drops instead of ear drops.  I gave her 5 drops in each ear for 5 nights before I realized that the drops were eye drops.  Will this hurt her in any way?

[Kathyjoan]

I recently read this post and felt it required further clarification. Eye drops are often used/prescribed for the ear. However, the reverse is NOT true due to the higher acidity of ear preparations. Anyone who uses an ear drop in their eyes is in for a nasty sting. Since this is common, how do you know if you've been given the right medicine?
Look and ask. Look at the directions. Are they for the right part if the body? Look at the bottle. It may have a picture of the eye or the ear to prevent confusion. Finally, ask the pharmacist. They can review the prescription and call the doctor if needed.

[greenne]

Likewise, I was given eye drops (TobraDex) after the floxin ear drops failed to clear up a resistant infection. I don't think it will hurt you, but mine burned a bit when I first put them in. My ENT said the eye drops have a steroid, so they it is more aggressive at killing infections.

Anyways, after 3 weeks of the eye drops....even the eye drops hasn't fully killed the infection, so I guess I have a particularly nasty strain. (They took cultures yesterday, so hopefully they will find out what type of infection and kill it for good!)

Better Luck to you and your daughter!

Nate