Psuedomonas ear infections

[adamadamum]

Hi everyone. My DD has had constant ear infections since she had grommets last summer. Before that she had had about 3 or 4, with gaps of months in between. obviously grommets were advised because she developed glue ear, but I now regret agreeing to the op'as she seems to be on antibiotics (oral or in eardrop form) for between 2 and 3 weeks out of 4! The doc' DID inform me that ear infections were slightly more common with grommets, but this increase is plainly more than slight. Almost every time the gp takes a swab it cultures psuedomonas, which I read is hard to get rid of.

I worry about her ears being so badly colonised by psuedomonas that when her grommets fall out, and her eardrums close, she will still be getting the infection regularly but this time with lots of pain (the one good thing I suppose is grommets let the goo come out, no painful pressure on the eardrum).

I also worry about whether a Psuedomonal ear infection that is oozing all this nasty pus is very infectious. No-one seems to be able to give me a clear answer! She goes to an "inclusive" nursery, lots of other "sn" kids, some with grommets so more vulnerable to ear infections as well.

I've been told that this bug is present all over the place, which makes me think it might be fine to send her in when her ear is oozing if she is fine in herself, but of course for it to get like that there must be an awful lot more of the bacteria than would be found in normal circumstances.

I have limited her baths to once a week or when really needed, as I cannot keep any kind of plug in her ear, or stop her from sticking her head in the bath water! We don't have a shower so it's just a wash at the basin most nights now, the only way to keep water out of her ears.

Anyone else have similar experiences? Please, please give me some feedback. Thanks xx

[2shoes]

sorry I don't know what psuedomonas are.
Ds(nt) has had a lot of trouble over the years with his ear(left) he had loads of ear infections. I was told that it was normal and he would grow out of it, after 6 lots of grommets they discovered something(somekind of disease) growing in there. since he has had a big op he has been fine.
I found the best thing to put in his ears when he was little was cotton wool with Vaseline on it . the only ear plugs that have worked are the boots own swimming ones.
The main thing I have found is the ears MUST be kept dry(sounds like you know this)

also what I did with dd(has cp) was after a bad spell of ear infections the ent consultant put her on a small dose of preventative antibiotics(5ml) and she took them for about a year and that seemed to do the trick.
It seemed to me she never got over the infection so we were thinking it was another one when in fact it was the same one(hope that makes sense)

[2shoes]

should have said 5ml a day

[adamadamum]

Thanks, but she won't have anything in her ears, she cries and pulls them out. One sight of cotton wool and she knows what I am planning and gets upset. That's why I have resorted to limiting baths, unless she really needs one, as she loves putting her head in the water and it's almost impossible to stop her, especially as I am on my own and she has a 2 1/2 yr old brother who would of course be in the bath with her, I have two to watch, not easy.

I does sound like your ds might have had pseudomonas though of course I am not a doctor! But it is certainly hard to get rid of.

Co I am already keeping her ears dry which means no lovely splish-splash time which is a shame, I just need this to stop. And to know if she is likely to infect her nursery friends. Any advice anyone?

[AitchTwoOh]

i can't help with regards to your daughter specifically, but i once had a pseudomonas infection in both ears and it was so sore they eventually knocked me out with morphine. absolute agony.

the hospital (i was actually admitted, much to my surprise and relief) brought the swelling down with coal tar and packing, would you believe? they couldn't get the antibiotics into me ears they were so swollen.

now, i have always been prone to ear infectiosn since so i suspect that i am still colonised. my GP says that it's somethign i'll probably just live with, the fact that my ears are always a but damp [urgh emoticon] and prone to flare-ups. in the hospital they said that they were unusually shaped inside.

anyhoo, here's the controversial bit... feel free to ignore. for years my GP gave me otimise or gentisone to keep for when i felt they were a bit itchy inside and about to flare up, but i didn't actually feel liek they did much good and didn't want to keep using antibiotics. one night, however, i'd run out of both and i was getting a bit desperate.

so... i dripped tea tree oil into my ears. wrong on so many levels, i imagine... but the next morning i woke up with no pain or swelling. i spoke to my gp about it and he just laughed and said that it was powerful stuff.

anyway, that was a few years ago and i'm afraid i've used tea tree oil ever since. heaps better than antibiotics imho. it does feel quite warm if there's any broken skin, but gentisone and otimise can sting to buggery anyway, so it's much the same. why not put it in your own ear first and see what you think, i don't think it would do any harm... you're really supposed to dilute the oil first but i don't.

please give your daughter a squeeze from me, i'd rather go through labour than have a bad ear infection again... it's that sore.

[AitchTwoOh]

oh, and the amount of doctors who have advised putting cotton wool in your ears while in the bath... countless. you try it. it actually wicks water directly into your ears, your dd is being v smart not letting you put it in.

[adamadamum]

Sorry just sending you the thanks for advice now, AitchTwoOh and 2Shoes. I'm a bit depressed at the mo, plus last night had to spend most of the evening doing a Tesco.com order so hardly spent 5 minutes on MN.

I would love to try tea tree oil but I am a bit unsure if it's a good idea to use it neat on a 4 yr old, plus of course with the grommets, if I get one myself it will be the first thing I try, I always have some in.

I am thinking about using a little, on damp cotton wool, when I clean the gunge from her ears though, I can't see the harm in that.

[AitchTwoOh]

just stick it in your ear and use yourself as a human guinea pig, as it were. it's not going to harm a healthy ear and you'll see what it feels like. i flipping love it, works a treat. and if you're too scared, then wiping the ear sounds like a good place to start. i wasn't kidding about the labour by the way.

[adamadamum]

AitchTwoOh, I used myself as a guinea pig last night with the tea tree oil. Several drops went in so quickly, I only meant to use one, and I am still in some discomfort! I know tee tree oil is fantastic stuff for all kinds of conditions but I would have to be in a really bad way already to put it in my ear again! I'd be even less likely to use it on dd after that experience! I'm glad it worked for you though.

[AitchTwoOh]

oh shit... i only put one drop onto a cotton wool bud and then pop that into the ear at the beginning of an infection. it's only if my ear is completely closed over (it does get that way during a bad infection) that i would drip it in, so that i know some will get to the source of the swelling etc. nightmare... sory about that, i didn't explain it very well...

what does your ear feel like, then?

[adamadamum]

Aitch - It's still slightly uncomfortable but much better than it was! I think with dd's grommets I would be wary anyway as anything that goes into her ear will go right into her eardrum, have to be really careful obviously. I know how brilliant tee tree oil can be for lots of things, have used it myself several times in the past, but sadly I think for my dd, even in careful, small amounts, it might not be suitable.

I did a search on tee tree and psuedomonas and results seemed to be that it can knock out quite a few ear infection bugs, except pseudomonas sadly! Maybe your ears were or are colonised with another nasty bug? I might still try a little diluted oil on cotton wool to clean the outside of her ears as I said before, but probably just that for now!

[AitchTwoOh]

oh it was most definitely pseudomonas. i was admitted to hospital for four days, both ears completely closed up... absolute agony. the reason it had got so bad was cos the doc had given me normal antibiotics which wouldn't touch the pseudomonas.

interestingly, the only way they could get the swelling down was by giving me morphine (which i HATE)so they could pack out my ears with coal tar, so even the hospital were saying that the old-fashioned ways are the best. it worked amazingly. anyway, sorry again about not explaining that properly... when i said 'stick it in' i was referring to a cotton wool bud but of course when i scrolled down i realised that i hadn't actually mentioned it.
you can dilute the stronger oil away by dipping a cotton wool bud in olive, almond or some veg oil and that should take the edge off...

[AitchTwoOh]

how's your ear today? [guilt emoticon]

[adamadamum]

Fine now Aitch!

I think I may do some more searching for info on Tee tree for Pseudomonas after what you've told me, if it works for you then maybe the research I saw was wrong, must find out more!

[AitchTwoOh]

oh thank goodness. had been worried that my sloppy posting had done you some damage...