There are treatments that can help clear your infection and dry up your ear. Treatment can also heal the hole in your eardrum. But without the right treatment, you risk having your hearing damaged by the infection. Unfortunately, this kind of long-term ear infection is not always simple to treat.

• If you have an ear infection with discharge, you'll probably first have your ear cleaned by a specialist doctor or a nurse. Cleaning your ears helps clear out the pus.

• You're likely to be treated with ear drops. Ear drops containing antibiotics called quinolones seem to work best. Taking antibiotics as tablets is unlikely to help.

• Sometimes the hole in your eardrum might not heal up, even with antibiotics. If this happens, you can have an operation to fix your eardrum.

Which treatments work best? We've looked at the research and given each treatment a rating according to how well it works.

Treatments for ear infection with discharge

• Antibiotic ear drops

• Antibiotic ear drops plus steroid ear drops

• Ear cleaning

• Antiseptic ear drops

• Antibiotic tablets or injections

• Myringoplasty (tympanoplasty)

Glossary

antibiotics

These medicines are used to help your immune system fight infection. There are a number of different types of antibiotics that work in different ways to get rid of bacteria, parasites, and other infectious agents. Antibiotics do not work against viruses.

For more terms related to Ear infection with discharge

Citations