Now I know...

[KrisM]

how much an ear infection hurts! Ow! My right ear is infected and it hurts more than I ever imagined. It hurts down my jaw. It's nearly brought me to tears a few times. I have drops and I hope they start working quickly.

[Wife_and_mommy]

Ouch! So sorry.

I hope your drops work quickly. Can you take ibuprofen for pain?

[TwinFoxes]

I had them as a child. They hurt so, so bad. I'm sorry you're going through it. :(

[KrisM]

Ouch! So sorry.

I hope your drops work quickly. Can you take ibuprofen for pain?

Yes, I'm taking as much ibuprofen as I can, but they wear off a couple hours before I can take more :(.

[lowrioh]

I had my first ear infection that I can remember this past winter and it was really, really painful. I went to the Minute Clinic at CVS and said I thought I had and ear infection and needed antibiotics and the nurse looked at me sceptically until she looked inside my ear. I ended up needing 2 courses of Amoxil to get rid of it.
My DD had her first one last month and I could really empathize.
You should be able to take both Ibuprofen and Tylenol if the Ibuprofen isn't cutting it.

[BabyMine]

:hug: I had them a lot as a child. I always had relief by laying that side on a heatng pad.

[boogiemomz]

I had them as a kid too... I dread the day DD gets one. So sorry you're in pain!

[WatchingThemGrow]

Oh no! On your workday??? Clear up, Kris' ear! NO fair. Sorry you're in pain.

[HannaAddict]

If it is an external ear infection (ie not in the middle ear) and that's what it sounds like if you have drops (CiproDex?), then the pain is unreal. I know this after my first and hopefully last one last winter while pregnant. They prescribed Percoset until the drops kicked in and said Tylenol alone wouldn't do anything, I knew this from experience, and Ibuprofen wasn't much better and not allowed during last part of pregnancy. If you have any Percoset or similar meds from c-section, I would take one if you don't have to drive. Take care and feel better soon.

[pantone292]

When my DC had an ear infection the doctor gave us numbing drops as well as abx. Maybe you could call and ask if this exists for adults?

[BelleoftheBallFlagstaff]

A heating pad might help, too. Try to sleep with your head elevated a bit, too.

[arivecchi]

Hope you are feeling better already!

[KrisM]

If it is an external ear infection (ie not in the middle ear) and that's what it sounds like if you have drops (CiproDex?), then the pain is unreal. I know this after my first and hopefully last one last winter while pregnant. They prescribed Percoset until the drops kicked in and said Tylenol alone wouldn't do anything, I knew this from experience, and Ibuprofen wasn't much better and not allowed during last part of pregnancy. If you have any Percoset or similar meds from c-section, I would take one if you don't have to drive. Take care and feel better soon.

The drops are Neomycin and Polymyxin B Sulfates and Hydrocortisone Otic Suspension. The diagnosis is Otitis Externa, which is the ear canal, ?I gather. I will check, but I think my c-sec stuff is long gone.

[KrisM]

Oh no! On your workday??? Clear up, Kris' ear! NO fair. Sorry you're in pain.

Work starts Friday. It had better be better by then!

[GaPeach_in_Ca]

Ugh, I am sorry.

I had an outer ear infection last year and it was awful. I think it was Swimmer's ear, they said. I went to the doctor three times in one week because it was just hurting so much.

Hope you feel better soon!

[HannaAddict]

The drops are Neomycin and Polymyxin B Sulfates and Hydrocortisone Otic Suspension. The diagnosis is Otitis Externa, which is the ear canal, ?I gather. I will check, but I think my c-sec stuff is long gone.

Yup, that is the incredibly painful external ear infection (of the ear canal). It is way more painful than middle ear infections. The drops you have are one down from the Cipro drops. The steroid in them is to reduce the swelling so the drops can actually get in the ear canal to work. They started me on the lower level drops and I had some relief but not total relief and they had to clean it out some more (tiny vacuum) and then prescribed the Cipro drops. The Cipro drops knocked it out, my ENT doctor said if I wasn't pregnant, they would have used Cipro first. She also said it was standard to prescribe stronger meds than Tylenol for pain at first. Did they clean out your ear? If you only saw a GP and they didn't clean out your ear, it is hard to fully resolve this type of infection. I would try and get in to see an ENT person if you are not way better in the next day or two, so they can clean out your ear. It made a huge difference. (The ear canal has junk in it that provides a perfect breeding ground and if not removed, it won't resolve or can come back quickly.)

I used a heating pad on my ear too (the kind that heat up in microwave) and just tried to sleep as much as possible because it hurt so much. Sorry you are going through this!

[KrisM]

Yup, that is the incredibly painful external ear infection (of the ear canal). It is way more painful than middle ear infections. The drops you have are one down from the Cipro drops. The steroid in them is to reduce the swelling so the drops can actually get in the ear canal to work. They started me on the lower level drops and I had some relief but not total relief and they had to clean it out some more (tiny vacuum) and then prescribed the Cipro drops. The Cipro drops knocked it out, my ENT doctor said if I wasn't pregnant, they would have used Cipro first. She also said it was standard to prescribe stronger meds than Tylenol for pain at first. Did they clean out your ear? If you only saw a GP and they didn't clean out your ear, it is hard to fully resolve this type of infection. I would try and get in to see an ENT person if you are not way better in the next day or two, so they can clean out your ear. It made a huge difference. (The ear canal has junk in it that provides a perfect breeding ground and if not removed, it won't resolve or can come back quickly.)

I used a heating pad on my ear too (the kind that heat up in microwave) and just tried to sleep as much as possible because it hurt so much. Sorry you are going through this!

Thanks for the info. I just saw our family doc. If it's not a lot better tomorrow, I'll call first thing and get into an ENT. Right now, it's as bad as it was yesterday. It kept me up most of the night and I can sleep through a lot. They did not clean the ear out and I'll ask about that.

DS1 had swimmer's ear 2 weeks ago and didn't complain as much as he should have, if this is how it felt!

[KrisM]

It's a bit better this morning, I think. I managed to sleep until 4am on drugs I took at 9:30, so a big improvement over the day before. And I'm at 5 hours of a 6 hour repeat and it still feels fine. I'm hopeful that I'm past the worst!