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Suggest Treatment For Ear Infection And Hearing Loss

Posted on Thu, 30 Jun 2016

Question: My daughter has an ear infection - for 5 days now. She already has hearing loss (unilateral, sensorineural mild to moderately severe sloping in higher frequencies). She has been prescribed amoxicillin and now Augmentin (since it's not resolving). We have also been giving her ibuprofen 1-2 times/day for the pain. Is any of this ototoxic at proper dosage? Of course I want her ear infection to resolve, however I'm so scared of causing extra damage to her hair cells.

Answered by Dr. Sumit Bhatti (5 hours later)

Brief Answer:
These drugs are not ototoxic.

Detailed Answer:
Hi,

Thank you for your query.

1. None of these medications are ototoxic.

2. If you can upload the PTA ( Pure Tone Audiometry ) and in addition, get an Impedance Audiometry ( Tympanometry ) done, it will help in deciding further treatment.

3. Request you doctor to add an anti allergic, mucolytic medication, steam inhalation and nasal decongestant drops.

4. If the sensorineural hearing loss is recent, it should be treated within 4-6 weeks. How old is your daughter? If she is very young, rule out adenoid hypertrophy with an X-ray skull lateral view for adenoids. Upload the images.

I hope that I have answered your query. If you have any more questions I will be available to answer them.

Regards.

Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Chakravarthy Mazumdar

Follow up: Dr. Sumit Bhatti (17 hours later)

Thanks so much for your response! I appreciate the reassurance that this regimen of medication should not cause or worsen my daughter's hearing loss. She was born with hearing loss (picked up by newborn hearing screening), so it is nothing new. She is followed by an audiologist (whom I could not contact with my questions due to the holiday weekend). The suggestion for use of a decongestant has seemed to provide us with the most improvement. Thank you again. My daughter is feeling much better this morning. I do not have any further questions, just wanted to thank you for your response!

Answered by Dr. Sumit Bhatti (6 hours later)

Brief Answer:
Wishing her a speedy recovery.

Detailed Answer:
Hi,

Thank you for writing back.

Good to hear that the decongestant drops helped. Avoid using the decongestant drops regularly. They are helpful only on short term or sporadic / occasional use.

Wishing her a speedy recovery and good health,

Regards.

Note: Consult an experienced Otolaryngologist / ENT Specialist online for further follow up on ear, nose, and throat issues - Book a Call now.

Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Raju A.T