I went to the doctor who said I have an ear infection, when will the ear drops start working?

Question

On Saturday night, I got out of the shower and cleaned my ears with Q-Tips as normal. A few hours later, my right ear started hurting, but only just a little bit. So I went on as normal and went to sleep.

On Sunday, the pain in my ear was a little more intense. It hurt when I tugged on my ear lobe and my hearing felt fuzzy. I read online that ear infections normally clear themselves up, so I did everything normal that day and went to go to sleep. When I laid down, all of a sudden, my infected ear lost hearing and I panicked. I rubbed and the hearing came back, then went away again. I told my mother and she said she'd take me to the doctors tomorrow.

On Monday, I went to the doctor who said I had an outer ear infection (swimmers ear) and prescribed me ear drop medication called Ciprodex. He advised me not to use Q-Tips ever again, and to put 3 drops in my ear 3x a day for one week, and to re-visit him on Saturday.

I was relieved so I went home and used the medicine right away (6pm) and then again before I went to bed (12am).

This morning, I used it when I woke up (10am).

However, I'm not feeling any different - if anything, I feel slightly worse. I have this constant pressure in my ear that wasn't there before, plus constant ringing and occasional cracking. I absolutely cannot hear at all - not even muffled.

My 18th birthday is this Thursday, and I am off to college on Monday.

When will this medicine start to work?

Answer 1

My kids have had swimmers ear a lot in their life times.  But the doctor always gave us drops plus antibiotics to take.  It is possible to get swimmers ear from swimming, showering, and even sweating, if the sweat runs into the ear.  Any time moisture gets into the ear and sits for a few hours, it can develop into swimmers ear.  My doctor suggested that I put a few drops of alcohol into each ear after they showered or did anything where they would get water in their ears.  I made them lay down with their head turned and I would put a few drops of alcohol in the ear, pull lightly on the ear lobe so it could go further down the ear, let it sit for about 15 seconds, then turn the head so the drops would drain out.  Do the other side.  The doctor said that alcohol displaces any water or fluid that is in the ear.  I still keep alcohol in a little squeeze bottle (or any bottle with dropper) and use it on my own ears when I swim in a pool or at the beach, or even if I get water in my ear after a shower.  The medication will start to work soon, but you will have some discomfort for a little while....