Someone close to me had otitis media pretty badly a few weeks ago. Pretty painful, caused dizziness, very poor hearing. She was traveling and got a script for antibiotics from an urgent care place while out there. She has had poor hearing in one ear as long as she can remember. This was in her “good” ear. Her PCP told her that the hearing should recover in time. Her balance and pain issues are completely gone, but she still has difficulty hearing. Her PCP didn’t give her a time frame and she seems to think the thing to do is bide her time and just wait. Should she be seeking specialist care? Or would the PCP be right. I’m just uneasy about it. Thanks in advance!
WH
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Probably OK if the infection has been properly cleared - still needs to drain/aerate the middle ear. Good decongenstants and fluids etc.
Personal favourite of mine are Wrigleys Airwaves Menthol - Chewing gum. Get a few pairs chewed sequentially with water and ‘feel the burn’…
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Will pass that along. Thanks so much!
WH
@Um_bongo Was this the product you meant? I think this is what she tried. She tried two pieces and it made her nauseous. I doubt she’ll give it a second try. I don’t think it affected her hearing.
WH
Yeah, that’s the stuff. Try levelling up slowly: it’s a bit like curry, you don’t start on a Jalfrezi on day one.
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Hi WhiteHat,
maybe too late, but here is my answer to your question.
I had an ottitis media a few weeks ago, unilateral. aural fullness, trouble hearing, first thought it was only due to the middle-ear congestion. 4 days in I went to ENT who made an audiogram, which showed a moderate to severe (non-conductive) loss over all frequencise and diagnosed a sensineural hearing loss due to viral ottitis media (which also infected/affected/damaged the inner ear/cochlea). I was put on high dose prednisolone and antibiotics, first i.v., then switched to oral (13 days). most of my hearing recovered, esspecially in the lower frequencies, but I kept a mild to moderate high frequency loss, which my ENT said will most probably be permanent :(.
My suggestion is, that you recommend your friend to see a specialist soon. Not all ottitis-related hearing problems are reversible. There are a few treatment options available if the inner ear is affected, but timing is an important factor here.
Martin
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I asked her this afternoon how the hearing is doing. She says most of her hearing is back. This is subjective, of course. I thought mine was OK, too, until tinnitus led me to realize I had a bigger problem than just the ringing.
We’ll see, I guess.
WH