Honey May Help With Chronic Eczema of the Ear Canal

Image from Amazon . Please note that this honey was NOT used in the study described There was an interesting paper from the Netherlands regarding treatment of chronic recurrent eczematous otitis externa (ear canal skin inflammation) with honey ear drops with good success in 15 patients. Although it did not cure the problem, it did improve symptoms without the use of "medications." Eczematous otitis externa (which should NOT be confused with acute otitis externa or swimmer…

7/19/2017 0

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Molecular Diagnostic Testing of Infections of the Ears, Nose, or Throat

Our office has recently incorporated molecular diagnostic testing in order to identify and treat stubborn infections of the ear , sinuses , and/or throat. Traditionally, germ identification is determined by cultures whereby a swab of pus is plated on a growth medium. A microbiologist than evaluates these plates and provides a report of what germ has grown out visually. In other situations like strep or mono , the test specifically looks for unique proteins that identify the germ (and ignores…

5/02/2017 0

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How Much Better are Antibiotic Ear Drops Compared to Oral Antibiotics?

Antibiotic ear drops deliver vastly higher amounts of antibiotics compared to oral and even IV antibiotics. There is no comparison. It is literally 300 times better than oral antibiotics. The catch is that the ear drops need to get down to where the infection is in order to work, whether into the ear canal (if dealing with otitis externa or swimmer's ear ) or through a hole or tube in the eardrum (if dealing with otitis media ). ( Watch video below to see how to properly administer e…

4/24/2017 0

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Can Ear Drops Increase Risk of Eardrum Perforation?

With ear tube placement, there is a baseline 2-10% risk that a persistent hole in the eardrum will occur after the tubes come out. However, a study came out in April 2017 suggesting that commonly used antibiotic ear drops to treat ear infections when ear tubes are present may increase the risk of such persistent eardrum perforations after the tubes come out (post-TT TMP). Specifically, antibiotic ear drops belonging to the fluoroquinolone class is associated with an increased risk of per…

4/20/2017 0

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Watch Antibiotic Resistant Bacteria Develop Over Time

Watch this powerful time-lapse  video demonstrating the development of antibiotic resistance in E. coli bacteria over time. E. coli starts out at the edges of the petri dish where no antibiotics are present. Over time, mutations develop allowing E. coli to not only resist the antibiotics, but to thrive allowing it to grow towards the center where antibiotics are present at 1000x the concentration of the minimal amount initially required to kill E. coli bacteria. Scared? You should be..…

9/14/2016 1

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MRSA Ear Drainage or Ear Infection

It has been with increased frequency that I have been encountering children and even some adults with persistent ear drainage due to ear infections caused by MRSA . MRSA is basically a multi-drug resistant ear infection for which only a few antibiotics can kill the germ. (MRSA stands for M ethicillin R esistant S taphylococcus A ureus.) Typically this situation is encountered after ear tubes have been placed allowing for any pus from an ear infection to come out. Normally, antibiotic ear d…

9/08/2016 0

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