Hi I currently have an ear infection and I’m never to sure how long after it’s cleared up to wait before safely wearing my hearing aids again? Has anyone ever been told how long to wait after an ear infection before wearing their hearing aids again. Would be grateful if anyone can help me with this info I’m on my last day of antibiotics and don’t when after i should start rewearing my hearing aids?
Yeeeesh. You have my sympathy & empathy here. I’ve gone through 2 spells of otitis that lasted maybe 7-10 days. It was AWFUL with my complete lack of hearing without aids, but luckily I was retired and didn’t have to answer any phones or drive anywhere.
You can pop in to the doc after 5 days and see how things look. If your ear infection is on the surface, it tends to heal faster than say INNER ear infections. That’s an area I’m unfamiliar with, cuz my last inner ear infection was as a kid - way before I had aids.
@1Bluejay thanks for that unfortunately the way my doctors surgery works you can’t just pop in and make an appointment anymore. They either do telephone appointments were if you are displaying symptoms they feel they need to look at like say I said I was still getting earache after finishing my antibiotics they will ask me to come in so they can look. Or if someone was having a medical emergency they book you straight in otherwise it’s all done on the phone and they send any prescriptions needed over to your nearest pharmacy.
That’s why I was asking if there is any general advice on how long after an ear infection it’s safe to start wearing hearing aids again?
AH! That is the operative word here. Sounds like the ear ache + antibiotics may be inner ear infection? Not topical. I would not want to put aids into an ear that is already aching. Is there anyone close to you who could take a flashlight to look in that ear for good measure? My husband does that for me now and then.
But ear ACHE sounds exactly what I had many times as a kid - and that was the inner ear that would fill with fluid. Well, I’m sure no doc, but can only share my own symptoms. My inner ear ache would make it sound like that ear was under water - very stopped up, basically no sound going in that ear.
Not all antibiotics are effective against the newer bacteria out there either, and if this is a fungus infection, that’s a whole 'nuther thing. GOOD LUCK getting this treated and resolved. Let us know the outcome.
I’ve worn my Aids when I’ve had middle ear or inner ear infections.
Outer ear infections, I can’t wear my Aids.
So it all depends!
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Thanks @Zebras @1Bluejay I think i might wait a couple of days after finishing my antibiotics today. To make sure it has fully gone before trying to wear my hearing aids again just in case it decides to flare up again
@Zebras They didn’t actually say they just said my ear canals where red and very swollen and that i need a course of antibiotics and an ear spray to deal with it
@zebras i think it was a bit of both because he couldn’t see the ear drum fully and it was hurting my ears a lot when he was looking in them so he gave both oral antibiotics and a spray to cover all areas
YIPES that sounds painful! When I had otitis, the very outer part of my ears was lobster red (almost more like an allergic reaction to the custom molded “hypo-allergenic” ear molds I’d been fitted with. Only a bit of the fluffy stuff in the canals, but where they were red it itched and burned.
I sure hope you can resolve this painful condition you have.
I have literally dozens of outer ear infections, so much so, my doctor would give me a “Steroid” ear spray called Otomize, prior to infections, so I always had a new ear spray on tap, it was the only thing that worked… They obviously tried other sprays, and antibiotics, with nil results… Some Doctors we’re reluctant to dish out Otomize, because of the Steroid aspect, but I was always very careful, and used it very sparingly, it isn’t fun when you have a raging ear infection, you have my sympathy @LRav… Otomize would clear my infection within 3 or 4 days, it wasn’t instantaneous, but it was fairly rapid… Nowadays, ear infections are rare, but I still insist on Otomize, and I won’t leave the surgery until I am given the prescription! I hope you are on the mend…
Simple answer from my most recent experience. 4-5 days after treatment ended.
If you can, when you start wear them for a couple of hours then remove them from a couple.
You want to keep the canal moisture as dry as possible b
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I have a hole in one ear drum. 2 surgical attempts have not closed it.
I have ongoing infection issues. I have learned the you have an outer and inner ear, both on the outside of the ear drum. Then you have the middle ear, on the inside of the ear drums.
For what ever reason I am prone to middle ear fungal infections.
Sux.
I work hard to keep my ears dry.
@6b7958d1addc9d4c3949 i started re wearing my hearing aids yesterday and only wore them for a couple of hours today I wore them for a bit longer and plan to slowly increase how long I wear them for over the next week
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I have both ears with fluid behind the ear drum! could not hear a thing,it was terrible feeling,lasted about 2 months,but,still the right ear did not want to clear up,put in ear tubes which for me was a terrible mistake!,