Tinnitus from Topical Antibiotics?

Hello all,

Around November last year I fell and severely scrapped my knuckles. I had a large open wound that I dutifully put antibiotic ointment on for the best part of two weeks. The area was about the size of an American nickel coin. At the end of November, I realized that my tinnitus was roaring. What had been a minor noise I lived with for many years was a full on buzz between my ears. Needless to say, that led to my first tinnitus melt down.

In looking up the ingredients of the antibiotic, I see NOW that they were all strongly ototoxic. I wonder if the ototoxicity refers to use as an intravenous drug, or as a topical ointment, or both?

Has anyone else encountered severe tinnitus after using topical antibiotics? Did it go away with time?

Thanks for any info.

Dan

 

Hi Dan - I know this is an old thread but i am wondering if you recovered and how long it took? I was on an eye drop for 2 days and got tinnitus. I'm guessing that the antibiotic ointment you were on is one of the "mycin" ones like neomycin, etc. I was on tobramycin. The dr of course has never heard of such a thing but if you google, there it is. I've never had tinnitus until now. Did yours get better? How are you coping? Thanks

 

Neomycin is an aminoglycoside antibiotic, highly ototoxic, which is found in the brand name Neosporin. Even in a topical solution it is ototoxic. How likely it is to harm, depends on the amount used for length of time. 2 weeks is a long time to be using an otc antibiotic.

https://www.drugs.com/disease-interactions/bacitracin-neomycin-polymyxin-b-topical.html

Bacitracin by itself is a safer alternative sold right next to neosporin at the drug store. Though, whether it is without risks is something I've been trying to look into myself.

 

I know this is an older thread, but the month before my tinnitus I was using topical Clindamycin for a bacterial infection on my neck. I used this for about two weeks, twice a day. Hard to recall, but I believe I had a few signs of tinnitus onset earlier than when I was taking this drug.

Tinnitus from a topical seems really extreme but I wanted to at least consider the possibility.

I believe the usage of earbuds at high levels over time (a few years) is the likely cause of my tinnitus, but my healthy audiograms leave me in a mysterious place. Hidden hearing loss is a possibility although I don’t seem to struggle with speech in noise.

@FGG curious as to your thoughts on this one as you have one of the most comprehensive view of ototoxic meds.

 

If you didn't have an open wound or weren't using a lot, I doubt you'd have reached high enough blood concentrations but maybe with broken skin? My hunch says it was probably something else, especially with Clindamycin which isn't especially ototoxic.

 

Thanks FGG for your comment. I had some razor burn that got infected. It wasn’t bleeding out, just ugly and red. I’d say it was fairly superficial. I agree that this drug isn’t super ototoxic, this delivery method is not potent enough to create high concentrations, and this duration just seems short.

I was reading your comment about Thanos Tzounopoulos' Tinnitus Talk Podcast and his comments on potassium ion channels. Another member asked for an explanation and you broke it down for him. It was very interesting - either the channels are blocked, or don’t exist any more due to extensive damage. I’d love to know the prevalence of those channels being so damaged for a case like mine, which remains without a clear cause. The crystal ball for tinnitus has yet to emerge.

 

Per Dr. Tzounopoulos', he has observed essentially "closed" ion channels in regards to noise injury. His drug seeks to re-open those channels. He said he has not observed those channels missing in noise injury in his rodent studies but hasn't looked for other causes.

He was listing damaged/missing as a hypothetical, I wouldn't assume you have that unless proven otherwise.

 

Thanks for your thoughts FGG. You’re right. I appreciate your view very much. And the follow-up session you did on the FX-322 in the Tinnitus Talk Podcast was awesome.