Reaching out you all here since ENT specialists in my city are all unavailable for another 6+ weeks..plus i dont trust them anymore really
4 year old who had ear tubes when she was younger and dont know if both fell out or not
Went to swimming park a few weeks ago
Now she has occasional drainage that is bloody and waxy looking. Every few days we have to clean her ear. No pain complaints, no fever, no appetite issues. No head trauma that we know of.
Anyone have any advice? We did amoxicillin and ear cleaning with peroxide and otc oil cleaner for ears...really frustrating as its been a few weeks now.
Thanks to anyone in advance.
EDIT: THANK YOU SO MUCH for the incredible advice all of you! You guys are incredible and I got all the help I needed. Thank you Thank you!
I think there is a chance the ear tube is “retained” Vast majority “fall out” spontaneously however rarely the tube just stays in place. Over time they get crusted and the tissue next to tube becomes inflamed leading to drainage, foul smell and bloody discharge Worsened by water exposure.
I would recommend getting some prescription topical antibiotic steroid ear drops. Should clear temporarily issue. Unfortunately if the tube is retained likely will need a quick procedure to remove it.
This is what I think it may be. I guess do some kind of telehealth appointment for the prescription. Do you recommend any websites? Im going to get a scope to look i there myself as well
Amazon sells a cheap otoscope for looking in ear. A photo if you see something will be helpful of course. Often there will be granulation tissue which will be a soft moist appearance sometimes with blood. Does not look like typical ear canal or drum or wax. Usually granulation means the tube has not come out or is wedged in skin and the granulation tissue is the bodies response.
If you could get a photo and send to MD you should be able to get the prescription. Sometimes it can take a few weeks to clear granulation instead of the usual 3-5 days on drops for infection.
This is some solid advice thank you. Can you recommend me an otoscope to get please?
https://smile.amazon.com/Otoscope-Teslong-Microscope-Inspection-Adjustable/dp/B07PHLG4C2/ref=mp_s_a_1_2_sspa?crid=12YGTVE1ZNWG5&keywords=otoscope&qid=1654789742&sprefix=otoscop%2Caps%2C320&sr=8-2-spons&psc=1&spLa=ZW5jcnlwdGVkUXVhbGlmaWVyPUFUQVRJTzQxR1JUWU8mZW5jcnlwdGVkSWQ9QTAwODAyOTVHOUdJUk5DOTA1SyZlbmNyeXB0ZWRBZElkPUEwMzE5MjA5MVFHTEtQNjVFT0dGTCZ3aWRnZXROYW1lPXNwX3Bob25lX3NlYXJjaF9hdGYmYWN0aW9uPWNsaWNrUmVkaXJlY3QmZG9Ob3RMb2dDbGljaz10cnVl
Something like this is better because you can capture images rather than directly looking in like a traditional type otoscope. Helps a lot for documentation especially in telehealth.
The difficulty is a 4 year old may have pretty small ear canal. Not sure about the wax removing tools.
I was in health care and we were exploring using these devices and I was impressed with the images. Of course officially medically approved devices cost way more but image quality similar. To be honest if you called any doctor or went to urgent care you should be able to get the prescription because a history of tubes and swimming and drainage will often be enough to prescribe drops.
Is there pain or discomfort? If so any doc in the box or nurse practitioner can get things started.