Beginning Ear Inflammation — What to Do?

[hans799]

Yesterday I stupidly did a 30-minute phone call out in the cold (around 0 °C or 32 °F). My cap covered my right ear, but my left was covered only by the phone. The left ear definitely didn't like it, I had this uncomfortable feeling in the ear canal all day yesterday, and today I had some pain in it for a while.

I'm afraid it might be getting inflamed.

Is there anything I can do to prevent the inflammation?

If it does get inflamed, which carries less risk of worsening T - going to the doctor right away to get antibiotics, or the opposite, staying put and waiting for it to heal on its own without antibiotics?

 

[billie48]

Welcome to the forum. Your best bet dealing with a new tinnitus is to see a doctor/ENT first to check things out. They can't do much about your tinnitus but if they find some underlying cause from the ears such as infection, inflammation, ear fluid or wax build up, then they can treat that and hopefully will take care of T.

 

[hans799]

@billie48 thanks for your post but I think it went into the wrong thread I've been a forum member for over a year, my tinnitus is 30 years old and my current ask is not about tinnitus but about an earache.

 

[glynis]

Use your phone away from your ear on loud speaker.
Love glynis

 

[Bill Bauer]

If it does get inflamed, which carries less risk of worsening T - going to the doctor right away to get antibiotics, or the opposite, staying put and waiting for it to heal on its own without antibiotics?

I think it is a good idea to visit the doctor as soon as possible. You can ask for drugs that are not ototoxic.

You can also use the brochure below to check whether the drug you have been prescribed is ototoxic:
http://hlaa-sbc.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/11/Ototoxic_Brochure.pdf

If you live outside of U.S., and your drug is not listed, make sure you use the U.S. brand name for your drug when you search this brochure. Some drugs are listed in this brochure but they cause tinnitus in very few people. You can learn this information by going to
https://www.ehealthme.com/ds/XXXXX/tinnitus/ (replace XXXXX with the brand name of the drug, for example

https://www.ehealthme.com/ds/prednisone/tinnitus/ )

The way to interpret these is: for Prednisone, since 1998, only 720 reported getting T as a side effect. This is low - imagine how many people took prednisone in the U.S. since 1998. We also see that over 65% of the patients developed T after taking Prednisone for over a month. So this means that if you take prednisone for less than a month (as will be the case if you take it for acoustic trauma), your risk is pretty low.

You won't Have to take the drugs your doctor prescribes, and there is a chance that he or she can prescribe drugs that are safe.