MRSA in the ears
Discussion
I've been struggling with this for 25 years or so... i keep getting recurring ear infections. I have tried a variety of treatments (locorten, otomise, others), all of which only ever manage to get the infections to stay away for a few months or so, then it starts to recur. I have never actually been told what it is, and despite various swabs and ENT referrals, they have been unable to nail it down.
In the last few years I have had staph infections in my nose too, and the treatments i was given by the doc never managed to shift that long term either. I ended up taking matters into my own hands, and following a MRSA decolonisation regime i found on the internet, and using bactroban (which the doc had never prescribed, i just found in at an online pharmacy and they approved it). The nose infections have now seemingly cleared, but the ears remain.
I am pretty damn sure it was MRSA, and was likely down to cross-contamination or something at some point a long time ago. I can't find any decolonisation information that relates specifically to ears. Literally at my wits end with it.
Anything anyone can offer as ideas please?
In the last few years I have had staph infections in my nose too, and the treatments i was given by the doc never managed to shift that long term either. I ended up taking matters into my own hands, and following a MRSA decolonisation regime i found on the internet, and using bactroban (which the doc had never prescribed, i just found in at an online pharmacy and they approved it). The nose infections have now seemingly cleared, but the ears remain.
I am pretty damn sure it was MRSA, and was likely down to cross-contamination or something at some point a long time ago. I can't find any decolonisation information that relates specifically to ears. Literally at my wits end with it.
Anything anyone can offer as ideas please?
If you're talking otitis externa not otitis media, so just infection around the outer ear and a bit into the ear canal, then just rub a small amount of 70% alcohol hand gel over your ears and ear canal after you shower.
If you get problems with that (allergy, skin breakdown, excess reddening) then stop using it.
Using alcohol gel on your hands several times a day will decrease your spread of MRSA to other body sites (and people) as well.
If you get problems with that (allergy, skin breakdown, excess reddening) then stop using it.
Using alcohol gel on your hands several times a day will decrease your spread of MRSA to other body sites (and people) as well.
OIC said:
If you're talking otitis externa not otitis media, so just infection around the outer ear and a bit into the ear canal, then just rub a small amount of 70% alcohol hand gel over your ears and ear canal after you shower.
If you get problems with that (allergy, skin breakdown, excess reddening) then stop using it.
Using alcohol gel on your hands several times a day will decrease your spread of MRSA to other body sites (and people) as well.
good shout thanks. If you get problems with that (allergy, skin breakdown, excess reddening) then stop using it.
Using alcohol gel on your hands several times a day will decrease your spread of MRSA to other body sites (and people) as well.
I have suffered with ear problems for years.
I get itchy blisters. Hellish itchy. Then scabs and then dry flakey bits which are itchy. Sometimes it feels like I have a thousand insects in my ears.
Apparently it's eczema.
I go swimming a lot and apparently my ears don't produce ear wax.
I use Swim Ear and ear plugs when I swim and also coat my ears with vaseline each night before I go to bed.
It helps, but is not a total cure.
Swimming probably doesn't help, but I need to swim due to spine issues.
NB I forgot to take the vaseline on holiday once and found athlete's foot creme a good alternative.
I get itchy blisters. Hellish itchy. Then scabs and then dry flakey bits which are itchy. Sometimes it feels like I have a thousand insects in my ears.
Apparently it's eczema.
I go swimming a lot and apparently my ears don't produce ear wax.
I use Swim Ear and ear plugs when I swim and also coat my ears with vaseline each night before I go to bed.
It helps, but is not a total cure.
Swimming probably doesn't help, but I need to swim due to spine issues.
NB I forgot to take the vaseline on holiday once and found athlete's foot creme a good alternative.
mine produce a reasonable amount of wax, so i have to go and have them microsuctioned every 6 months. I also have a ton of scar tissue in the right ear over the drum due to some kind of infection that I got whilst travelling in SE Asia, which i think is around when this all started. I could have the scar tissue removed, but it would mean something like 3 months off work and not able to really move very much for 2 of those. I've never been arsed to do it. Having a deaf ear can actually be an advantage sometimes!
looking back it does say staph but it doesn't mention MRSA... however it does seem to be in some way treatment resistant as it isn't being sorted out long term by the treatments given, over a long long period of time.
In me treating the nose as MRSA, it was eradicated.
I am not a medical pro, it's more sort of connecting dots.
In me treating the nose as MRSA, it was eradicated.
I am not a medical pro, it's more sort of connecting dots.
Had it pretty bad recently, started in my nose but had a flu and it spread to my hands and chest. Started as a small itchy spot scratch it and it becomes a larger, red, wet patch.
Couldn't be bothered messing with the doctors, got a weeks worth of doxycycline online (easy to order as an antimalarial). Noticed improvements within a day and now completely gone.
FYI, I have zero medical qualifications, but it worked for me.
Couldn't be bothered messing with the doctors, got a weeks worth of doxycycline online (easy to order as an antimalarial). Noticed improvements within a day and now completely gone.
FYI, I have zero medical qualifications, but it worked for me.
isn't it mad that the NHS has got to a point where we can now just order medicine online and cut them out the loop. We're basically the same as america now.
NHS is incentivised less and less to tackle health issues, and more just to get people off waiting lists, away from referrals and out of the system.
NHS is incentivised less and less to tackle health issues, and more just to get people off waiting lists, away from referrals and out of the system.
Blown2CV said:
not quite. The swab tell the doc and it's up to the doc whether they tell me or not. NHS seems incentivised to hide things these days.
Why do you think they wouldn't tell you??Staph is normal, it's the skin condition that allows it to become an issue so that's where the fix lies. If anything the failure of your eradication emphasises that it's not MRSA.
Blown2CV said:
isn't it mad that the NHS has got to a point where we can now just order medicine online and cut them out the loop. We're basically the same as america now.
NHS is incentivised less and less to tackle health issues, and more just to get people off waiting lists, away from referrals and out of the system.
Once you're paying £250+ a month for limited healthcare then you're just like America.NHS is incentivised less and less to tackle health issues, and more just to get people off waiting lists, away from referrals and out of the system.
And I don't know where that second nugget of wisdom came from, but it wasn't from anyone who works in the NHS.
Bill said:
Blown2CV said:
not quite. The swab tell the doc and it's up to the doc whether they tell me or not. NHS seems incentivised to hide things these days.
Why do you think they wouldn't tell you??Staph is normal, it's the skin condition that allows it to become an issue so that's where the fix lies. If anything the failure of your eradication emphasises that it's not MRSA.
Steve_H80 said:
Blown2CV said:
isn't it mad that the NHS has got to a point where we can now just order medicine online and cut them out the loop. We're basically the same as america now.
NHS is incentivised less and less to tackle health issues, and more just to get people off waiting lists, away from referrals and out of the system.
Once you're paying £250+ a month for limited healthcare then you're just like America.NHS is incentivised less and less to tackle health issues, and more just to get people off waiting lists, away from referrals and out of the system.
And I don't know where that second nugget of wisdom came from, but it wasn't from anyone who works in the NHS.
Bill said:
Blown2CV said:
not quite. The swab tell the doc and it's up to the doc whether they tell me or not. NHS seems incentivised to hide things these days.
Why do you think they wouldn't tell you??Staph is normal, it's the skin condition that allows it to become an issue so that's where the fix lies. If anything the failure of your eradication emphasises that it's not MRSA.
Bill said:
Blown2CV said:
the failure to be treated is evidence that it is not treatment resistant? What?
The treatment failed. So was the treatment inadequate or the wrong one?Gassing Station | Health Matters | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff