Ear Aches and High Pressure

Hi Everyone

Been awhile since I have put up a thread but I wanted to relate my experience here with pressure and ears. When i was younger and more healthy, I loved swimming and diving. At one point I impacted my left ear while cliff diving and it's given me issue's ever since. Well, I am into my second year using Cpap/Apap, with a pressure of 16.5 when my Ear starts hurting things go down hill fast. I have had repeated Ear infections over course of this last year. I did the normal thing and ran in to the Doc and they put the wick in my Ear and gave me Antibiotics, Ear drops, and Vicodine. The thing I found weird was the infection kept moving from Ear to Ear and at one point both my Ears were in pain and was it very difficult to use my machine. As told by my Doctor 2 drops in each ear before bed and well I can tell you its a strange feeling to put in the drops and then put on the mask and feel both Ears bubble from the pressure and the drops.

I was finally able to kill the infections but my Ears stayed sore and given time they would get reinfected or what I think more likely that the cpap pressure was erritating my inner ear and making it easier for me to get infection. Anyway after 3 rounds of Doctor visits over the summer I was getting really discouraged. So one day I don't remember why or what for but I was looking at the ingredients in the Ear drops and a tube of Walgreens Antibiotic Cream for a cut I had, and realized that the Ear drops and the Cream had exactly the same Antibiotic ingredients. The main thing that was keeping my Ears from getting infected was using the drops but the Floxin needs a Doc visit, a prescription and without medical insurance coverage the meds came to 250$. So looking over the 5 dollar tube of Multi Antibiotic cream from Walgreens and the empty bottle of Ear drops I gave the cream a try in my Ear and guess what????

It worked.

I went to walgreens to get more and found a 2 fer deal on the cream AND its a new Plus cream with pain relief that cost me a total of 5 bucks for both tubes. After the first day the pain was gone and now when ever the pressure starts getting to me a li'l cream in the ear and all is good. No vicodine needed, no wick, no doc visit, no script, no ears bubbling, I only wish I would have found the cream sooner. So if your like me with sensitive ears and have a higher pressure Walgreens Multi Antibiotic PLUS cream works great and for a TON less money / hassle.

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Well, depends on how open the Ear canal is. If it's swelled shut and plugged, I put in 2 drops or so of hydrogen peroxide wait 10 minutes wipe and put a hot water bottle on the ear or heating pad and normally the swelling goes down or the ear becomes unplugged enough to squirt the cream up into the ear filling the canal. It will plug the canal for a time but when the ear is no longer tender rub it a little till the canal opens up and then leave it be. The peroxide kills infection and breaks open the ear but will sting and leave the ear dry and very tender, as soon as the cream hits it though the pain and tenderness goes away and continues to kill any infection. If it's way too plugged or swollen shut, having heavy pain down into your jaw, making you talk funny you will need to have a wick put in for the drops to get down in if you can't get it to open up. I have had soo many ear aches in the past I can now tell when I am going to get one and head it off with the cream before it gets even close to that bad. Between the hot water bottle and the peroxide though, I normally can get the ear open enough even if plugged or swollen tightly shut. Getting a wick put in the ear with an infection feels like a hot nail being pushed into your skull. (well, not that bad but you get the idea)

Keep in mind though, that not all ear infections are the same. It is still best to check with a Doc if you can't get it under control in a day or two. There are inner, outer, and middle ear infections as well and you need to keep using the cream / drops for a week to 10 days after. Stopping use of the drops or cream after the pain has faded doesn't mean the infection isn't still lurking around. For pain, normally the hot water bottle does more for me then the vicodine ever really did, mainly the vicodine just let me sleep a little here and there by making me drowsy. After the first day I was able to use my machine again and get true sleep not little naps propped up, siting on my couch. I normally can't sleep with a headache or ear ache at all and with my pressure beating on the ear ache there was no way I could use my Cpap / Apap at all. Also for me I put it in BOTH ears now if one gets cranky. I never had an infection move like that until I had one and was using Cpap/Apap, so now I leave nothing open to attack.

The cream will work well for outer and middle infections I think, but not once it's way into the inner ear, also if the ear drum is ruptured you will need to see a Doc and get the pills as well. If you see any blood dried or other wise come out of the ear go to a Doc ASAP. Also if you do go to the doc and he gives you pills for 10 days take those till gone too. I have made the mistake of thinking the darn infection was gone and stopped to soon in the past, only to have it spring up yet again. This is one of those things you hammer down hard.

Good Luck and I hope ya feel better soon.