Is this actually an Ear Infection? (WARNING - gross description of bodily fluids)

[Thunderpunt]

Firstly I will start by apologising for the possible overuse of the word pus

DS12 came down with what we thought was an ear infection / perforated eardrum about 2 and half weeks ago. GP couldn’t see eardrum but lots of pus and blood (sorry if TMI) so prescribed 5 days Amoxicillin. 5 days later more blood and pus so being the weekend went to out of hours GP - same thing couldn’t see ear drum due to pus so gave another 5 days of Amoxicillin. 5 days later, still more pus so back to GP. Gave clarithromycin which DS has an allergic reaction to, so we are now coming to the end of 7 days of Doxycycline and he still has loads of visible pus in his ear.

Apart from at the very start he really hasn’t had much of a temperature, and not much ear ache recently - although he did for the first 10 days. Unfortunately there is so much pus it’s blocked his ear it’s left him completely deaf (he normally wears hearing aids but can’t due to the muck in his ear, and it’s his better ear affected!)

So am I right to start wondering if this isn’t actually an infection?? In which case, what the bloody hell is causing all this pus?? ( and on 2 occasions blood)

We are waiting on results of ear swabs, hopefully tomorrow. I’m getting to the end of my tether, we fly next week and I could do with it being sorted by then.

Has anyone had anything similar that antibiotics haven’t touched and can shed light on what it could be?

I keep telling him his brain is melting out of his ear from playing too much Fortnite but he’s not falling for it.

Any ideas anyone?

Yes my daughter has experienced this a few times. Usually after an acute ear infection like you describe, another more chronic infection sets in. Cultures usually grow pseudonomous and anaerobes, for which amoxicillin or penicillin based antibiotics won’t help. Ask your gp to send off an ear swab, I am sure it sounds like this. Hope it’s resolved soon.

Forgot to add...Ciprofloxacin has usually worked well.

Hi @Utis thanks for the reassurance.

He finished the Doxycyline today and spoke to GP this morning who said that as swabs aren't back and he wasn't happy to prescribe a fourth course of antibiotics we should go to A&E (I think he was hoping A&E would be able to get us into ENT faster than a referral from him) He also said he suspected he could be a fungal infection which would need clearing out.

Sat in A&E for a couple of hours and although the doc there referred to ENT as an emergency referral we didn't get seen by them today. Instead we got sent on our way with yet another type of antibiotic (Amoxicillin and Clauvonic acid) and should expect a call from ENT in the next day or so.

Swabs still not back tonight, and I'm loathe to start him on the new antibiotics, but as we fly next weekend I'm thinking we should, really want it cleared up before we go away.

Thanks again for sharing your experience, much appreciated

My little chickpea (3) has this currently. He had gromits fitted a year ago and the drs said to expect all the funk and pus in the first few weeks , but we actually ended up rushing him to hospital yesterday morning due to the amount of pus and pain it caused him. One of the drs thinks he's actually burst his eardrum? I hope you get your answers and wish you good health x

@Utis sorry to come back to you on this but we are still waiting on swab results and coming to end of 4th course of antibiotics. I'm not sure what the terminology you used means but have spoke to the GP today again to chase the swab results, been told they're still not ready and he kept mentioning the 'sensitivities' but I didn't really understand (kind of presumed they have cultured the swab and are now bombarding with various drugs to see which one kills them??)
Any idea if it's normal for swab results to take this long? (12 days today)

We have a lot of experience of this unfortunately. ENT always give ciprofloxacin drops. We had resistance to several oral antibiotics too. Once when it lasted a very long time they had to suck out pus with micro suction.

Just saw your update. A swab should not take that long. Ask if any results have come back, they may be trying to find something that works if a few things are resistant . I would ring Dr in morning and ask for ciprofloxacin drops and start them immediately

CottonSock we had the same last year. DD has a lot of prior history with ear infections but had been pretty clear for quite a few years after having grommets aged 4 (we too, found only ear drops worked, I can't remember the name of the ones she used to get now). She then suddenly got a very persistent ear infection that just wouldn't clear up and she was referred to ENT and had microsuction. She's been clear for quite a few months now, but has perforated ear drums that won't heal, so we go back in May and will almost certainly be booked in for an ear drum repair operation after she's finished her GCSE's

I suspect your swabs have been lost.

@CottonSock thanks for your input.

Are ciprofloxacin for bacterial infections or fungal infection. I'm wondering if it's resistant to all the antibiotics because it's possibly not a bacterial infection. He wears hearing aids, and from what I've read on a couple of deaf related websites, it's not uncommon for hearing aid wearers to get fungal infections due to the warm , moist conditions caused by the hearing aid moulds.

Coincidentally he has an audiology appointment tomorrow to be fitted for more moulds so I'm hoping they might be better equipped to suggest, and they can microsuction if needed as he's had it done before for stubborn wax.

I've also (rightly or wrongly) got the number of Addenbrooks microbiology Dept... just wondering if I'm brave enough to call them myself tomorrow.

Thanks again, will certainly push for the ear drops. Poor boy is so pumped full of drugs he should be able to fight off the plague at this rate!

We have way too much experience of this sadly. So yes, it's still infected and could well be pseudomonas, staphylococcus or something fungal. We have had ears cleaned out by ENT surgeons, packed with antibiotic covered swabs and then replaced daily. Drops can work well if they can get to the site of the infection but inner ear infections can be more difficult to treat. Sometimes after several antibiotics, several bacteria are present. We don't live in the UK and swabs come back pretty quickly matched for the correct antibiotics.

Shapes that was my worry too. And I voiced it to the GP, who reassured me they hadn't..... I will be so furious if they have. We fly on Saturday and I'm more than a little concerned it won't be better by then

Dolly bird that's sounds horrible for your DD, and not what she should be looking forward to after her exams.
Thanks Forgiveness, I wish we lived where you live so our swabs cams back that quick!
I guess more than anything I'm worried about him losing any more hearing.

@dollybird, I'm worried we are heading down same route. ENT don't want to do grommets yet as she's 2.5 and they want to see if improves (not yet). Last year they tried a low dose antibiotic prevention treatment for 2 months. That did work so if she gets another infection this month I will enquire again. She's had two this month, although thankfully both responded quickly to an oral and cipro combination.

Sometimes as it gets better we get a second flush of pus. I thought trearment not working, but now believe that as she heals the ear canal opens up again and allows gunk out. It noticeably narrows during infection. I give ibuprofen for the pain and also as anti inflammatory.

I hope audiology can sort out something tomorrow.

Thunderpunt No, it's not ideal, but we have held off since last May because we didn't want her needing two weeks off school in her final GCSE year. Fingers crossed it can be fitted in in the summer holidays this year (we go away in July so can't be done before then) so she doesn't need to miss any college.

CottonSock it is horrible when they are so little and get so many infections. DD was getting about 6 per year till she was 4 and had her grommets, although the drops did always work. She had grommets as I was concerned about her hearing, and they did the trick. She had maybe one infection a year for a few years afterwards, and then none for a few years till she was nearly 13. I suspect one reason this last one didn't go away is because she used to use ear plugs in the shower as she was understandable terrified of getting water in her ears (nearly always used to get an infection afterwards). She now uses vaseline and a clean bit of cotton wool.

Does your DD swim much? MIne didn't as she became scared of the water, but when we did go, she wore one of these which gave her a little more confidence: www.amazon.co.uk/Ear-Band-Neoprene-Headband-Medium/dp/B001J8VSBM/ref=sr_1_1?keywords=ear+band+it&tag=mumsnetforum-21&ie=UTF8&qid=1549913821&sr=8-1 She still wears hers now, although doesn't swim much

I mean nearly 14

@dollybird, ditto, no swimming and has become fearful. I'm worried if she will learn to swim ever

DD learnt to swim in year 4 when she had the school lessons. She would never let go of us in the pool! She's still not a strong swimmer, and it's only a very splashy doggy paddle, but she can manage 25m, and can have fun at eg Center Parcs - goes on the rapids and the slides

OP is your son having impressions tomorrow or moulds fitted? If its impressions they wont be abke to do ot if he has an active infection and they cant view his eardrum. Just to save you a journey if nothing else. Does your sone have sensorineural or conductive hearing loss?

@Chocolatepeanuts he's supposed to be having impressions.
But like you say - I don't think they will do them.

However- cheeky though it is, I'm taking him anyway in the hope they can microsuction him and enable him to hear a bit better, possibly prescribe relevant ear drops (ones mentioned above?!) and/or sneak us into the ENT clinic which runs next door normally - if only for some reassurance that it's not doing more damage to his hearing and we will be ok to fly later this week.
He has bilateral sensorineural deafness (moderate)

Fingers crossed they can get him slipped onto a clinic!

Ask them to check on the hospital system for your swab results.

Nothing helpful to add re ear infections, but you are right with this... kind of presumed they have cultured the swab and are now bombarding with various drugs to see which one kills them?

They put the swab onto growing plates then after a few days they look at it under the microscope to see what has grown - they have various ways of determining which organism it is. They also grow them on plates with different antibiotics/antifungals on to see which ones it doesn't grow on, if that makes sense. So it can take a good few days, but I would be asking the GP to call the microbiology department tomorrow.

Why are ears to bloody tricky! I swear if you have a slight problem with your ears then it just sort of snowballs with other problems.

DD had grommets fitted as her hearing was only 15% she was 3 when they fitted them. She never had an ear infection before gets just awful blocked ears with a huge hearing loss but by God now does she have problems with infections!

I hope you get it sorted. DD had a recurring infection for a few.months and the only thing that worked was antibiotic ear drops and they had to suction the pus out. It also smells so bad? Poor kids.