can ear infections cause damage?

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amanda

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Hi ,
I don't know if any of you know the answer to what I'm going to ask . But I've been hard of hearing since I had menagitist at 1 month of age . I am completly deaf in my left ear but only had 30% hearing loss in my right . Two years ago I had a terrible ear infection in my right ear . Now I have a 90% hearing loss in my right the only way I hear is with hearing aides . I started to loss more of my hearing after the ear infection . Could it have caused damage ? I have a long history with ear infections including tubes twice . My ears are horribly scarred and the doctor can't get over it . If the ear infection did cause my hearing to get worse can I correct it or is it permenent . Any advice ? amanda
 
yes it can

i have long history of ear infections since i was baby it won't stop the infections i still get them

i am having it right now
 
Yes, ear infections can cause hearing loss. That is how I lost my hearing, I had recurrent ear infections and no one realized I was deaf until I was a year or so old. I am looking into getting cochlear implants.
 
yes ear infections are known to cause hearing losses.. TJ failed his hearing tests few times and kept getting ear infections alots of times.. so dr suggested to put tubes in and now he can hear since.. no plm.. Tubes does help! whew! :)

I got alots of ear infections due to smoking.. im allergic to smoking.. go figures! sigh
 
I had my ear infections rarely. I use a Q-tip with very warm water on the cotton. I rinse in my ear slowly about three times. It helped me to feel better.

Someday, I might buy a WelchAllyn Ear Wash System to clean my ears, but it is probably not a good idea to use it all the times because I think it is nature to leave my ears alone unless my ear bothers me. Welch Allyn Ear Wash System
 
Wow, sorry to hear about that.

I don't really know exactly how infections play a role with deafness.

Sometimes, it may cause deafness. Sometimes, it may not.

I guess it depends on the severity of the infection and prolonged exposure to infections. :dunno:
 
Not only can ear infections play havoc with hearing but people have also lost their hearing when they were given otoxic drugs for infections. I have met some late deafened folks online who have told me this and that's really sad....
 
What kind of ear infection do you have? Is it water-related? Could it maybe be from water entering your ears from daily showering or swimming?

I had persistent swimmer's ear for over a year while on the HS swim team, and applied a few drops of rubbing alcohol into the infected ear. Rubbing alcohol is known to kill germs and cause water inside the ear to evaporate.

The problem was that rubbing alcohol didn't entirely remove the infection, it just kept coming back. But at the time, I lived at the "swimming capital of Texas", and doctors were very knowledgeable with swimmer's ear. At the doctor's office, he had a special tool that jet-sprayed water or some kind of clear liquid into my ear. It felt like a whoosh inside the ear, and the entire infection came out.

It's been 8 years and not a single infection has occurred. Maybe you could ask your doctor about such a tool, to see if it will help you at all.
 
Tousi said:
Not only can ear infections play havoc with hearing but people have also lost their hearing when they were given otoxic drugs for infections. I have met some late deafened folks online who have told me this and that's really sad....
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That's true, Tousi. Last year, I had two life threatening infections. I was given two antibiotics that are known to be ototoxic. Thankfully, my hearing wasn't damaged, but it can happen.

I also would avoid ototoxic drugs for this reason, but the situation I was in last year forced me to choose between losing my life or possibly losing my hearing. I let them treat me with the drugs, but I would've gladly avoided the meds if I was able to.

Btw, while under treatment with the meds, I experienced the worst case of tinnitus I think I've ever experienced in my life! It wasn't fun. :eek:
 
Tousi said:
Not only can ear infections play havoc with hearing but people have also lost their hearing when they were given otoxic drugs for infections. I have met some late deafened folks online who have told me this and that's really sad....
Click to expand...

Er...if this is a known fact (I believe it is as I heard enough about it), then why do doctors subscribe this stuff? I sure wouldn't want to be taking chances with my hearing assuming I had any? The logic escapes me here... The only thing I can think of it is either stop the infection (assuming no other antibiotic will do) or keep your hearing...bizarre.
 
sr171soars said:
Er...if this is a known fact (I believe it is as I heard enough about it), then why do doctors subscribe this stuff? I sure wouldn't want to be taking chances with my hearing assuming I had any? The logic escapes me here... The only thing I can think of it is either stop the infection (assuming no other antibiotic will do) or keep your hearing...bizarre.
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This was true in my situation. I contracted two very bad infections. The second infection ended up being resistant to most antibiotics, and was in my blood stream. I had no choice but to let them give me the drugs, because, my life was in danger.

But, you're right. It's a helluva choice. I suffered no ill effects from the drugs besides awful tinnitus while I was being treated. When the meds were discontinued, the tinnitus largely went away. It's been nearly a year since the drugs were given to me, and every now and then, I can hear a slight ringing in my left ear, but my hearing seems to be unaffected.
 
Oceanbreeze said:
I suffered no ill effects from the drugs besides awful tinnitus while I was being treated. When the meds were discontinued, the tinnitus largely went away. It's been nearly a year since the drugs were given to me, and every now and then, I can hear a slight ringing in my left ear, but my hearing seems to be unaffected.
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I believe that you have sinus infection since it interferes with your ear. Most ear doctors only focus on ear issues for their work, and they never mention about the nasal at all because they do not know anything about it so you might need to see a nose doctor. (I cannot believe it.) I hope that your problem will be last to solve it.
 
amanda said:
Hi ,
I don't know if any of you know the answer to what I'm going to ask . But I've been hard of hearing since I had menagitist at 1 month of age . I am completly deaf in my left ear but only had 30% hearing loss in my right . Two years ago I had a terrible ear infection in my right ear . Now I have a 90% hearing loss in my right the only way I hear is with hearing aides . I started to loss more of my hearing after the ear infection . Could it have caused damage ? I have a long history with ear infections including tubes twice . My ears are horribly scarred and the doctor can't get over it . If the ear infection did cause my hearing to get worse can I correct it or is it permenent . Any advice ? amanda
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Sigh - I believe that a doctor tube in your ear that can give you more damage than the infection, but it is hard to say because of the infection situation. I read about the tubes a few years ago on the internet. I also think that it has to do with your gene - it is a common.

Of course, the ear infection can lose your hearing if prolong for not using a treatment. If you have another infection, you should try to use the Q-tip that I wrote my post - see my post above somewhere... After you use the Q-tip, it takes 10 minutes (or 30 minutes) for you to find out if the infection is gone.
 
My brother has tube in his both ears because of water in his ears and recurrent infections. My mom didn't want him to turn out deaf so that's why there's tubes. My brother is like dang it because he rather be deaf and wear HA or CI.. hehe!
 
webexplorer said:
I believe that you have sinus infection since it interferes with your ear. Most ear doctors only focus on ear issues for their work, and they never mention about the nasal at all because they do not know anything about it so you might need to see a nose doctor. (I cannot believe it.) I hope that your problem will be last to solve it.
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:ugh:
 
I suffer from chronic ear infections and yes, it has done tremendous damage to both my ears. I just suffered recently with one that was the worst I've had in years, couldn't hear anything for 2 weeks. Also, having tubes in and out all of my life hasn't help any either.
 
when i was growing-up girls and i have ear infection whatever i have as left and right ear makes me so killed for that!

so my mom took me to dr's office for ear infection and get that medicine also to help stop pains for that
 
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