Tinnitus & Hearing Safe Antibiotic Ear Drops for Ear Infection? Worried About Neomycin and Ciprodex

I think I may have an ear infection and worry about taking drops with Cipro or Neomycin in them because both are known to be ototoxic. I also read about Acetasol which seems to be much milder. Will see a doctor in a few days if the ear pain persists or gets worse.

Anyone have an ear infection? What did you take for it and did it change your hearing or your tinnitus?

 

Where did you see that Cipro (I imagine it's Ciprodex drops that you'd be getting) was ototoxic?

Also, is your ear drum perforated?

 

I developed a worsening of my tinnitus and ear fullness the last time I took Cipro among other fun side effects.

Ear drum as far as I know isn't perforated, and pain is very mild.

 

Are you talking about Ciprodex drops that you took? or oral pills?

Also, how do you know it's Cipro that was responsible for worsening your condition rather than your initial condition (ie your infection)? Remember that correlation doesn't mean causation.

 

The time I took Cipro when my tinnitus increased it was for UTI, not an ear infection. My tinnitus was constant for nearly 10 years and about 3 hours after taking Cipro, my tinnitus was through the roof.

 

Did it go back down?

Also these weren't drops right? Systemic medications are much more likely to bring in side effects by their very nature. Since your ear drum isn't perforated, I'm not sure how the drops would make it to the middle ear (and the inner ear afterwards). Isn't that your concern?

Also do you have a middle ear infection or outer ear infection? For a middle ear infection without a perforated ear drum I'm not sure you'd be prescribed drops: I imagine you'd be prescribed oral antibiotics.

It's up to you of course, but there is quite a lot of medical studies done on Ciprodex after tympanostomy tube surgery done on kids available on PubMed that you could peruse. I remember researching it and finding out that they are now the drops of choice after such surgery, in particular because of the potentially dangerous pathway to the inner ear created by the tubes.

I did that research when my daughter had tube surgery. So far (it's anecdotal of course) she's had 2 treatment windows with them: once right after the surgery, and once for a middle ear infection a few months later. The drops do hurt when they make it to the middle ear though (due to the low pH), but my research and discussions with my own neurotologist (who did my own surgery) and her surgeon didn't seem to point fingers at it in terms of ototoxicity.

Good luck!

 

There's also good information here: https://www.dizziness-and-balance.com/disorders/bilat/ototoxic_drops.htm along with a bunch of references.

 

Thanks very much for the information. Very helpful!

 

No, that was almost 2 years ago now and it never went back down. And yes, the Cipro was the oral kind, not the drops. In fact, the tinnitus got even worse when I was switched to another oral antibiotic.

As for the kind of ear infection, I'm in wait and see mode at the moment but want to prepare myself for when I go in to see the ENT. I always like to go in armed with info so I can make informed decisions and ask the right questions.

 

That's good because most ear infections resolve on their own.

 

I may need ear drops for an ear infection. It's my understanding that antibiotic ear drops just stay in the outer part of the ear and don't even enter your bloodstream.

So in that case, would normally harmful and ototoxic antibiotics like Neomycin and Cipro be okay if taken in ear drop form?

Anyone have their tinnitus worsen from taking these meds using ear drops instead of orally? Or has anyone tried just the hydrocortisone drops alone with success?