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I Went To Urgent Care Where They Found A Blood Clot In My Ear Along
Posted on
Sat, 26 Sep 2020
Medically reviewed by
Ask A Doctor - 24x7 Medical Review Team
Sat, 26 Sep 2020
Answered on
Tue, 10 Jun 2025
Last reviewed on
Question : Recently I went to urgent care where they found a blood clot in my ear along with a 3rd infection in 3 months, leading to the believe that my tympanic membrane is perforated. The doctor at urgent care prescribed me cipro hc otic, which i recently read is non sterile and should not be used for ruptured ear drums. Ive used 2 doses already. What is the best course of action?
Brief Answer:
Ciprofloxacin ear drops is the safest in the middle ear infections
Detailed Answer:
Hi
Thanks for posting the query
The presence of blood clots could be due to the acute middle ear infection followed by the perforation of the eardrum. Occasionally, the damage to external ear skin can leave some clots in the canal.
In either of these conditions, the safest ear drops one can use is of ciprofloxacin. There are other group of antibiotics which are notorious to cause damage to the inner ear nerves, hence, otologists prefer ciprofloxacin over other antibiotics.
Do not worry! Most of the ear/eye drops are unsterile. That doesn’t mean that they are contaminated with microorganisms. Any drops we use inside the ear has to go through the external ear skin, which is totally unsterile. Hence, it doesn’t really matter when you use ear drops to treat middle ear infections.
Secondly, most of the middle ear infections are secondary to infections in the nose or the Eustachian tube (the tube connecting the nose and the ear). It has to be treated along with the middle ear infections.
1. Steam inhalation through the nose 3-4 times a day, to help in opening of the Eustachian tube.
2. Xylometazoline or Oxymetazoline also helps in relieving the nasal congestion and opening up of the Eustachian tube.
3. Avoid water getting into the affected ear.
Hope this answers your query; I will be available for the follow-up queries.
Regards
Dr. Naveen Kumar N
ENT and Head & Neck Surgeon
Ciprofloxacin ear drops is the safest in the middle ear infections
Detailed Answer:
Hi
Thanks for posting the query
The presence of blood clots could be due to the acute middle ear infection followed by the perforation of the eardrum. Occasionally, the damage to external ear skin can leave some clots in the canal.
In either of these conditions, the safest ear drops one can use is of ciprofloxacin. There are other group of antibiotics which are notorious to cause damage to the inner ear nerves, hence, otologists prefer ciprofloxacin over other antibiotics.
Do not worry! Most of the ear/eye drops are unsterile. That doesn’t mean that they are contaminated with microorganisms. Any drops we use inside the ear has to go through the external ear skin, which is totally unsterile. Hence, it doesn’t really matter when you use ear drops to treat middle ear infections.
Secondly, most of the middle ear infections are secondary to infections in the nose or the Eustachian tube (the tube connecting the nose and the ear). It has to be treated along with the middle ear infections.
1. Steam inhalation through the nose 3-4 times a day, to help in opening of the Eustachian tube.
2. Xylometazoline or Oxymetazoline also helps in relieving the nasal congestion and opening up of the Eustachian tube.
3. Avoid water getting into the affected ear.
Hope this answers your query; I will be available for the follow-up queries.
Regards
Dr. Naveen Kumar N
ENT and Head & Neck Surgeon
Above answer was peer-reviewed by :
Dr. Chakravarthy Mazumdar
Answered by
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