fungal ear infection

[mc1124]

I was diagnosed with a fungal ear infection (tropical ear) today - I have had repeatedly dealt with 'swimmers ear' over the past 3 years, sometimes as often as 3 times per year.  I have had severe pain in the affected ear, as well as pain in the temple on the affected side.  Starting 2 days ago, the lymph node behind that ear (which has been swollen since Nov. 07) became extremely painful.  It's like having cramps in the side of your neck at times.  My ENT prescribed ZOTO-HC OTIC SOL.  My question:  Is or has anyone else dealt with this type of infection - and how long does the pain last?  I have been in pain since New Year's Eve, and used three different types of drops, along with Zithromax.  The only thing that seems to help is piggy-backing Aleve and Ibuprofen (2 Aleve, 2 Ibuprofen three hours later - repeating evey 6 six hours).  I know that is twice the recommended amount of Aleve you should take in a day, and you shouldn't combine the two - but I am at my wits end - I have to be able to function to work and take care of my kids!  Tylenol is useless.  Any suggestions??

[Fromonetofour]

KIM  WHAT ADVICE WOULD YOU SAY TO SOMEONE WHO HAS BEEN TO THE ENT  FOR 6 VISITS  AND  IT  KEEPS ON COMING BACK LIKE THE ENERGIZER BATTERIE???  THAT'S WHAT  GOING ON W/ME' I'D LIKE A DR TO ANWSER ONE OF MY POST. A SIMPLE INFECTION IS COSTING ME ' MONEY PAIN ETC... I CAN DEAL WITH IT , I JUST WANT IT OVER... I LOVE MY ENT AND I TRUST HIM , I JUST DON'T UNDERSTAND THIS.




















HI

[cat857]

I had an infection like this one time and I put antifungal cream in my ear a couple of times a day, but also I took a swimmers ear bottle from wally world and put half peroxide and half alchohol in the bottle. Every time I took a shower, I would put the swimmers ear bottle in a cup of warm water and warm it up, testing it on my wrist like a baby bottle so it would not be too hot and I put enough in my ear, tilting my head so it would not run out for a minute or so. I could hear the peroxide boiling. I did this everytime I got water in my ear in the shower or swimming. Initially I did it several times a day, even laying on the bed letting it set for seval minutes. 6wks later or so, my ear popped open and I could hear. ***@****

[cat857]

The cream I put in my ear was nystatin cream and I applied it all the way to the ear drum very carefully with a q-tip. Additionally I used the 1/2 peroxide, 1/2 alcohol in my ear to boil it out several times a day for 6 wks or so and any time I took a shower and got water in my ears or swam and got water in my ears. 3 Doctors (one was an ENT) had given my three different antibiotics and steroid drops for my ears nothing worked. Hello.....antibiotics do not work on fungus, which is what I had in my ear was a fungal infcection. I remember exactly when my ear popped open and I could hear. I continued the peroxide alcohol mixture for several years after every shower or swim. I still have itchy ears but have not had to use the stuff anymore for. Try this also: hold your breath and swallow forcing air into the eustacian tube. The air will help fight the infection. hope you are all better. God bless!

[motheratwitsend]

My daughter is dealing with the same thing. We have been to the dr. 2 to 3 times a week for 4 weeks now and still going strong. She had an ear infection for 2 weeks had oral, ear and injectable antibiotics and her ear drum ruptured 3 times and then she got a fungal infection. They have painted it and tried lotrim drops which are used for athletes foot. Well it cleared up for 1 day and the dr. said stop all treatments and now it is back and she has a perforated(hole) in her eardrum. I am at my wits end. She has had an infection in her ear for 4 weeks now and she is only 3 yrs old.

[urbanvegan]

I know this might sound wacky, and this is not intended to be medical advice or to replace a doctor, but when I had what I think to be recurring ear infections what helped to knock them down more than anything else was putting a piece of garlic in my ear (not inside it just gently at the base of the canal).  Garlic is a powerful natural antibacterial and antifungal.  There are more reports about this and ideas about how to do it on the web if you search "garlic ear infection" though I don't know if any specifically refer to *fungal* ear infection.  But there is more "home cure" advice if you are interested in reading it.  Of course you do want to have a doctor help you if possible but I personally needed to explore other options for several reasons.

[keOcoco]

i had this problem for about 2 months now and i have to say its absolutly draining on me ive been in and out of doctors and in the emergency room twice because the pain was so bad ... my advice to anyone is to NOT stick q tips in your ear thats what caused the first hole in my ear and i kept getting built up upon built up of stuff and the doctor kept sucking stuff out of it... i was on just about any kind of drop there is to prescribe some of them worked but went down my throat and caused a servere pain and others made the infection grow even more .. i had the purple dye stuff in my ear as well i didnt notice any difference in my pain or the fact that i can barely hear .. recently my doctors sent me to another doctor that speicalizes in just the ears and it turned out that i had fungus growing in my ear which caused a second hole in my ear he put a microscope in my ear and had a tv so that i can finally see what was going on in there and it was a mess.. he prescribed me a antifungal pill and this is going to sound crazy but a nail laquear that kills fungus so far he said that the fungus is gone and now im just waiting on the holes to close which he said might close on its own or give me a "paper patch" to help it along and if they still dont close it will result in surgery ... my biggest fear now is just not being able to get my hearing back.