Anyone ever have an ear infection that won't go away?

[always quiet]

DH went to the doctor's 2 weeks ago. His ear had been bothering him and when I looked inside, his ear drum looked more like a HUGE puss pocket! The doctor flushed it out, gave him a 10 day antibiotic and antibiotic ear drops. He has taken all the med and used the drops faithfully. The pain never went away and we weren't surprised when the doctor said the infection was just as bad as it was 2 weeks ago! He gave him another prescription for the ear and advised him to see a specialist!

I've never come across an ear infection like this, even with 3 kids!! Is this common?? What would a specialist do??

Thanks for any help!!

 

[CEDmom]

DD went through a bad winter of ear infections when she was a toddler. We were at the doctors at least once a week for about 5 months. No sooner would she finish the antibiotic then she'd have another infection or sometimes that infection would lead to something worse like bronchitis. What our doctor explained to us was that the antibiotic killed off 95% of the bacteria but if the environment was good the remaining 5% would multiply and cause another infection. Since she never had fluid we didn't need to go to an ENT but in your DH's case it might be warranted. If nothing else a specialist is going to be up to date on the latest treatment. A GP just can't possible know the latest about everything.

Hope your DH is better.

Forgot one thing, I had read that some people with recurrent infections are put on an extended course of a low dose antibiotic. Our doctor didn't feel this was a good idea for DD since she was so young and too much antibiotic could compromise her immune system so we didn't do it. It might however be something to ask about for your DH.

 

[CindysGusGus]

I had one last summer that refused to go away. I think I let it go too long before I went to the dr. He gave me amoxicillin(SP) and I was on that for 10 days. By the time the 10 days was up I couldnt hear a thing out of that ear. So I ended up getting the strong Z-Pak. I was on that for 5 days and it finally started to clear. I go to the DR faster now.

 

[Tony-NJ]

the Dr. I had both ears and my sinus' infected a couple of weeks ago and the ear infections are back and this time traveled into my eyes. Yuck! Back on the antibiotics with eye drops now. Hope dh is feeling better soon.

 

[mtblujeans]

My daughter went from one ear infection to another when she was little. They were NEVER cleared up with just one course of antibiotics! She always had to be on the meds for more than a month. Some doctors figure this out....some don't.