ENT Admitted Off the Record Neomycin Ear Drops Might Have Caused My Tinnitus

I went to a practitioner about a possible ruptured eardrum. I was told I didn't have that and was given Neomycin ear drops. I used them for 10 days and followed up with my regular doctor who found a hole in my eardrum. I think the practitioner missed it due to also having psoriasis, which is in both ears.

Now after time and tests I'm told my tinnitus is permanent. I had 1 ENT admit the Neomycin ear drops could have caused this to be permanent due to the ototoxicity of Neomycin to the inner ear? But he won't go on record to say that.

Anyway, life wasn't great before this and now I feel I'm spiraling down a hole. Trying to stay up for my wife and kids but it's extremely hard. I know things could be worse but this mixed with everything else I've dealt with in life and with my health continuing to go downhill every year, I just feel lost.

That's all I have for now, hope everyone is well ❤.

 

I said this to someone else today as well - if the damage is localized to the ear, the bright side is regenerative medicine could offer a very efficacious treatment, as opposed to someone else's prospects who got tinnitus from an antidepressant or some other anomalous event. Nevertheless I'm sorry you are in this situation at all.

 

Thank you. None of the ENT doctors gave me much hope. All gave 2 options. Surgery, but the thing they place in my ear or wherever it goes (didn't go into details once they mentioned surgery and that there was no guarantee anything would be close to normal) or a device that sends sounds from my left ear to my right ear. All I keep being told is that this is permanent and those are my options. I'm having an MRI done just to rule out a tumor, but I'm fairly certain that's not the cause.

I was told to try going out of my area for another opinion in case these doctors are in network together. Could be why I'm getting nowhere about my concerns with the ear drops that I was prescribed.

Anyway, thank you again

 

It's still so new to me and so crazy to think this all started accidentally by a Q-tip. But what's crazier is knowing that had this first practitioner caught the rupture, and not prescribed those drops, I'd probably not be suffering with what seems like a wind tunnel in my ear everyday, all day. Non stop. The only sound I hear anymore is that in my left ear.

I just can't believe that there's prescription drops available that can actually make a person deaf in an ear if a hole is present in the eardrum.

I think since everything is so new to me (despite my age lol) I'm actually more angry at the practitioner that misdiagnosed me right now than the fact I'll never hear anything close to normal in my left ear again. When life piles it on its crazy the things we can think of that on a normal basis we wouldn't...

Just my thinking of today. If anyone reads this I hope things are better for you today.

 

They won't point out regenerative therapies as everything is nascent and nothing is offered on the market yet, but there is a greater than 0 chance we will have something in the next 5 years. The research section is a good place to read about these prospective treatments.

For what it's worth I'm 28, entering month 9, and have it severely in both ears. I just take it one day at a time.

 

I definitely need to research more about treatments. Just was told recently it's permanent after the initial injury from November 2020 with a damn q-tip.

Thank you for the encouraging words. Sorry you have it in both ears. I'm having a difficult transition with 1, I couldn't imagine both. Stay strong friend.

 

Hey there,

Sorry to hear about what you are going through. Maybe it's permanent, but maybe not. Doctors don't know everything.

I do have tinnitus, but your story reminds me of another situation I had that was similar... a rare blood disorder I was diagnosed with in my 20s. I was told I could do nothing to help my situation... but that was incorrect. I stepped into the world of meditation and natural healing and my blood counts came back to (close to) normal.

Not everything I tried was a slam dunk, but in the end I found what worked for my body.

Eventually, my hematologist said "I don't know what you are doing, but keep it up".

Our bodies are designed to heal themselves, and anything is possible.

S

 

That's awesome!! It's nice to hear positive news. I'm definitely trying to stay on the upside that something changes with my ear.

Thank you for sharing your story with me!

 

You're welcome!!

 

Does anyone else feel they have a significant other who seems unsympathetic to your condition?

I have a few things that have gone on with my health in the last few years besides tinnitus. I feel as time goes on she doesn't seem to care about how I'm feeling.

Maybe it's all in my head, or depression getting to me. I just feel like lately I'm the least important thing to her a lot of days.

 

It could be your imagination... But it's important to get some counseling for the two of you. The fact that you think she might be unsympathetic is a warning signal by itself, whether or not she actually is...

It's true though, obviously people without tinnitus don't usually understand the hell we live in.