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What Causes Foul Dark Discharge From Ear?
My son had tubes put in his ear a little over a year ago due to lots of infections and fluid in the ears. He hasn t had any problems with his ears since but lately I ve noticed some smelly, dark brown discharge in his right ear. I clean it really good and it comes back at night. What is this?
Mon, 12 Oct 2020
Hi,
The most common causes I can think about are one of the following:
- Redevelopment of infection in ears
- Grommets being a foreign body can also act as a nidus for infection
- Infection from outside as grommets can allow
- Infection from nose through Eustachian tube
- The smelly and dark brown discharge is most probably due to a typical bacterial infection caused by streptococcus hemolyticus
Hence I would advise the following:
- Request a doctor to send the sample of the discharge for lab - gram staining, culture and sensitivity so that a proper antibiotic can be given as per the reports
- May be this is an indication to change the tubes
Take care. Hope I have answered your question. Let me know if I can assist you further.
Regards,
Dr. T. Chandrakant, General Surgeon
The most common causes I can think about are one of the following:
- Redevelopment of infection in ears
- Grommets being a foreign body can also act as a nidus for infection
- Infection from outside as grommets can allow
- Infection from nose through Eustachian tube
- The smelly and dark brown discharge is most probably due to a typical bacterial infection caused by streptococcus hemolyticus
Hence I would advise the following:
- Request a doctor to send the sample of the discharge for lab - gram staining, culture and sensitivity so that a proper antibiotic can be given as per the reports
- May be this is an indication to change the tubes
Take care. Hope I have answered your question. Let me know if I can assist you further.
Regards,
Dr. T. Chandrakant, General Surgeon
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