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Ear Infections

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I’m a “newbie” only two months on my first ’s. I have developed two ear infections over that time, one in each ear a month apart. After the first one I went to my and he prescribed antibiotic ear drops. It cleared it up in about a week. After the first infection I cleaned the domes with OtoVita spray daily before putting the HA"s on. I believe OtoVita is an antibacterial. However I got another infection about a month later. Has anyone had this problem and if so what are you doing to prevent more infections. Thanks for any input.

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Three recommendations:*

  1. Hydrogen Peroxide. Use a dropper bottle. Lie on your bed on one side, and have some tissues handy. Use the dropper to fill your ear canal. (Make sure your aids are out. ;)) You should hear a lot of bubbling, especially if there is infection. Leave for at least 10 minutes, until the bubbling stops, up to 20 minutes. Using the tissues to catch the Hydrogen Peroxide, roll over to your other side and repeat with the other ear. For active infection, do this once per day for three days. As a preventative measure do this once a month. Make sure your ears are dry before putting the aids back in.

  2. Olive leaf extract. Either capsules or liquid. For active infection the liquid is better, you just put a dropper full in a small glass of water and drink two to four times day.

  3. I would recommend Colloidal Silver for cleaning your aids.

You should be able to get all of these items at Sprouts, Whole Foods, Vitamin Shoppe or any other health food or vitamin store.

*I am not a doctor, and not qualified to give medical advice. You are responsible for doing your own research, and for your own health decisions.

Thank you doubledown and bluecrab for your inputs. I’ve been treating my left ear with antibiotic with cortisone drops for about a week and the infection has eased however I have developed another infection in the right ear again (twice in two months). Headed to the on Monday and see what he comes up with. Haven’t worn the ’s in 4 0r 5 weeks so I can’t be recontaminating that way. Frustrating.

I have had only one ear infection in my life and it came with or maybe from a severe throat infection, so I’m not posting from any knowledge of human ear infections.

However, the OP’s post makes me wonder if these recent infections are the first he’s ever had or if this has been a problem all his life. If they only started with the aids, then this thought is irrelevant - except maybe as to dome material? If your ears have always been inclined to infection, have you considered an allergic cause? I ask this because strange as it may sound I’ve known several dogs that had chronic ear infection problems that were finally solved by diet changes. It seems human ears could also be a place where allergic outbreaks occur. It seems to me if you have not been wearing the aids for 4-5 weeks and have a new infection in the right ear, either the first infection was never completely cleared up or something other than the aids is causing this.

Caveat: I too am not a medical Dr…I am however a scientist working with infectious disease (be worried!! :wink: ), for what it is worth. Alcohol is virus static…no question…but if antibiotics are working, viruses are not your worry. Alcohol doesn’t kill many bacteria (especially Gram positive) on contact, due to the cell wall. A soft cloth, slightly damped with a mild, soapy water would be more effective…emphasize SLIGHTLY. With repeated exposure, alcohol will also dry the skin in your ear, which could cause the skin to split, leaving you more open to discomfort and a potential Staph infection in the open wound. Also, most hearing aid companies don’t want you to use alcohol on your aids as it will degrade and discolour plastics with time, so be cautious.

The idea of hydrogen peroxide to clean your ears is a good one. The oils are good for reducing wax build-up, but I would not recommend it for treating an infection, as it will not kill an infection and could make it worse. There are hearing aid dryers (Dry and Store) that actually have a germicidal UV light in them (UV-C that doesn’t penetrate the surface of plastic, so as not to degrade plastic). I’ve never felt the need for one, but if you susceptible to bacterial infections, this may be helpful for you. UV radiation kills bacteria…period.

Finally, you should dry your hearing aids in a dryer to dry the wax and THEN wipe them down, that way, the wax will be brittle and flake off easily.

Good luck.

Evil.

I would definitely get some guidance from the . I don’t know if this is good information or not, but a vet told me using cortisone on an active infection is a bad idea (my dog had chronic outer ear infections). But you’re not a dog (or if you are, you type really well). The ENT and your audiologist will have the answers, I expect.

@doubledown said:

I am sure you have good intentions. but suddenly after almost 2 centuries of alcohol use the industry thinks soap and water is what we need to go back to?

there are domes that are replaced every 3 months. discolouration should not be an issue. even with custom molds they should be replaced every few years so discolouration should not be a big deal. I’ve been reading time and time again about the industry against alcohol but I suspect a lot of their cleaning products contains it.

I’ve had a lot of ear infection. but all that stopped once I started cleaning my aids with alcohol.

OP you can check if alcohol is in your cleaning product by putting some in the freezer.

Nothing wrong with good old soap and water to remove bacteria. That is why hand hygiene is the most important thing to stop the spread of bacteria in hospitals. It is cheaper too. ( Don’t put any of the electronics in water - just the domes or molds once you remove them.)

Anyone experiencing recurrent skin infections should also be checked for Diabetes Mellitus. Also bacteria love moist environments so avoiding getting water in ears and allowing time for them to dry, eg. after washing hair, before insertion of is also important.

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