“Why was I prescribed an antibiotic for an ear infection? Don't I need drops?”

Antibiotic ear drops work better for outer ear infection and by-mouth antibiotics work better for middle ear infection. I would recommend that you take the prescribed medicine and then followup with your doctor.

If your provider gave you antibiotics, then he/she thinks you have a bacterial infection. You should give the antibiotics a trial.

...Sorry for the late response.

Good Afternoon
yes you should take the antibiotic
when you have recurrent ear infection the best way to treat them is by systemic antibiotics ear drops can help but if you have a perforated ear drum, the ear drops are contraindicated

If you were diagnosed with "swimmer's ear", which is an infection of the outer ear canal, then topical antibiotics are the treatment. If you were diagnosed with a bacterial middle ear infection (space behind the ear drum), then oral antibiotics are prescribed since the topical antibiotics would not be able to penetrate the eardrum (unless the ear drum is ruptured or perforated).

Many ear infections go away on their own. Antibiotics are recommended when the risk of injury from the condition is greater than the risk of taking the antibiotic. There are guidelines, but they are only guidelines. If you believe you are being offered a treatment that you feel is not necessary, you need to get a second opinion.

Without knowing if you had a middle ear infection (what we usually call an "ear infection") or an outer ear infection (often called "swimmers ear"), I can't give you a single answer to this. Swimmer's ear is often treated with drops, though you might also be prescribed an oral antibiotic, if the symptoms are severe. A middle ear infection is behind the eardrum, so drops won't really help here - when it's causing symptoms, these are usually treated with oral antibiotics.

I think you should adhere to your doctors recommendations. Your doctor probably decided through an assessment that your ear infection was baccterial and maybe thought the drops were starting to create resistance so he/she wants to try an oral antibiotic.

If the infection is in the middle ear, it is behind the tympanic membrane (eardrum) and drops will not get to the site of the infection, if the eardrum is intact. Antibiotics by mouth are necessary for a severe middle ear infection.

Hello.

If you have had an ear infection in the past, and was prescribed "drops", then that was to treat an external ear infection, commonly called "swimmer's ear", although you do not have to swim to get it. It can occur any time your ear canals are left wet, such as after a shower or hot tub. Oral antibiotics do not penetrate the ear canal well, which is why drops are used. Antibiotics taken by mouth are used to treat middle ear infections, otherwise known as otitis media, because drops are ineffective. That being said, most cases of otitis media can self-resolve in about a week or so. Sometimes, a great deal of fluid (effusion) can back up behind the ear drum (tympanic membrane) and rupture, causing a hole in the ear drum (perforation) which would then leak fluid out into your ear canal.

Sometimes, a physician will prescribe an antibiotic because the patient either demands it or expects it, and they are afraid that the patient will drop them, and go to a different physician. You are right, you should not take antibiotics if not needed, and if you expressed your desire to not take antibiotics, and the doctor gave them to you anyway, they most likely were needed. Since I did not examine your ears, I don't know what that doctor saw.

If the ear drum looks really bad (like raw hamburger), I tell my patient that they must take the antibiotics. If it doesn't look too bad, I ask the patient to wait 3-4 days, and if it still hurts, then I will call them in and prescribe some antibiotics. I also give them some numbing drops to put in their ear, if needed for pain. The overuse of antibiotics is causing a problem in this country with the creation of "super bugs", which are becoming resistant to multiple medications, so thank you for being careful. You should call your doctor to ask why the oral antibiotics were prescribed.

Hope you feel better soon!

Regards,

Elizabeth M. Pepe, DO, FACOFP

It has been reasonably established that the majority of middle ear infections are viral in origin though the more severe infections can be bacterial in origin. Never the less, it is my custom to treat middle ear infections with ear drops alone unless severe in which case I would also give an oral antibiotic.

You have described Otitis Externa (infection of the ear canal). Unless there is associated middle ear infection there should be no need for antibiotics.

Great question! There are two types of ear infections: Otitis Media (inner ear) and Otitis External (swimmer's ear). If it's the latter, drops work. If it's an inner ear infection, meaning behind the ear drum, drops won't be able to get to the bacteria, which is why you were given an oral antibiotic.

With that said, the majority of these ear infections are viral. Antibiotics don't work on viruses, unfortunately. If your symptoms have been present for less than a week, you can safely wait to take the antibiotics as long as you're not running high fevers (>102F) or having tenderness on the bone directly behind your ear (mastoid).

I hope you feel better soon!

Middle ear infections often need an oral antibiotic. Drops are more for outer ear infections or "swimmers ear"

It depends on the type of ear infection

The antibiotic may have been tailor made to cover not just an ear infection, but an associated upper respiratory tract infection.

As long as you're not allergic to the medication, and that there are no other interactions or contra-indications, it should be safe. Of course, all of this is according to the physical findings from your doctor.

I hope this helps.

Good luck

The ear is divided into outer ear, middle ear and inner ear.

The outer ear consists of the pinna and the ear canal . The infection of the outer ear is called Otitis Externa and can present as sores of the pinna and/or sores in the ear canal. This is treated with ear drops.

The middle ear consists of the inner part of the ear drum, 3 small bones, Eustachian tubes, round window and oval window. The infection of these structures is called Otitis Media. Usually, it presents as a discharge (pus) through the ear .The gold standard treatment for Otitis Media is antibiotics.

Most likely, this time you have otitis media.

Typically I employ a watch-and-wait period of 72 hrs for any suspected otitis media infection before considering anti biotics. 

If after 72 hours the patient is improving, then antibiotics are not necessary. 

If after 72 hours they are not improving then an antibiotic can be considered following reassessment. 

It is dependent on what type of ear infection you have. Otitis externa is treated with drops and otitis media is treated with oral antibiotics.