Chronic Ear Infection/Fungus

[SusanDY]

I am a 59 year old female, every other year or so have had to have my GP clean out and unclog my ear - use some antibiotic drops and clears up right away. Last November (2007) I was experiencing the familiar pain but had moved to another city an hour away from my GP, and on a weekend, so went to an ER where they gave me a few names of ENTs in the area and prescribed something to ease the pain til I could see him. Got in to see  an ENT the next week and he started the process of cleaning out my ear (very painful) - gave me a script for steriod and antibiotic - went back every 2 weeks for unclogging (every visit was torture - I would flinch involuntarily and he would scold me saying I'd basically have to suck it up). The pain and infection did not clear up and on one of my visits he was unclogging the canal and said there was someting deep in the canal he couldn't reach so he decided to irrigate the ear canal (I've had this done in the past, a gentle procedure that usually worked). However, when he started irrigating it felt like a high pressure fire hose in my ear and then (boom) the room started spinning, he mumbled something about a hole in the eardrum and grabbed some kind of drops to put in my ear. He obviously was flustered. I thought I was going to fall out of the chair because of the dizziness. I was so flustered I didn't think to ask him why this happened or should this have happened. He told me to (twice a day) flush the ear out with peroxide and then a mixture of vinegar and alcohol. It was painful to do this procedure with any force so I would gently flush it. At my next visit he told me I had to flush it with enough force so the fluid would wind up going down my throat and I should taste it, and, again, suck up the pain. After this I decided I'd had enough and found another ENT who told me to stop the flushing and he (gently) cleaned it out and tried antibiotic drops again. By this time the bacterial infection was gone but I had a nasty fungal infection with a lot of drainage. The second ENT realized my problem was beyond his scope and referred me to a neurotologist (the closest one is 1 1/2 hours away). Since I started seeing the neurotologist I've been treated with gentian violet which will clear up the fungus for a couple of weeks then it comes back. This specialist is very gentle - never any pain - and finally last week he said the perforation has healed. At that point the canal was dry and looked like all I had to do was wait to get my hearing back. He told me to call him back in a month to let him know if I could hear again. Well, that was a week ago and these past two days it feels like drainage is starting again. If it doesn't stop on its own I'll be back to see him next week.

I apologize for the length of this posting but it's been a 9 month ordeal and I feel like I'm still at square one. I have great confidence in the neurotologist and he's trying his best to fix a problem that, I feel, was started when the first ENT perforated my eardrum. At this point I'm looking for any other recommendations or comments on my situation. I am also seriously considering suing the first ENT for the reckless way he treating me. I would appreciate any comments on this area, also. I realize I shouldn't be asking doctors questions about suing another doctor but I honestly feel he was responsible for negligence and I've been paying for it for almost a year now. I'm also worried about not getting my full hearing back. An early audiology test showed the hearing loss was conductive but that was back in December. Now I fear there has been permanent damage. I'm at my wits end and invite any comments.

[SusanDY]

The fungus is back and the ear is draining again. My neurotologist told me weeks back that he couldn't use anything stronger than gentian violet since the eardrum was performated. Now that it has healed it's possible he'll use something stronger to get rid of it. Has anyone else experienced such a stubborn fungus?

[msgewb]

Hi, this is an old post but wondering how you're doing with your ear fungus?? I've had chronic ear problems since I can remember, and I am almost your age.  What has never happened to me before is a black discharge in my ear which I can only assume is a fungus.  I saw my GP today but obviously need to see an ENT asap. Did you ever find a remedy that got rid of the fungus, for once and for all??

Thanks, Gwyn