PROHIERAN Blog

Chronic ear infections can sometimes lead to permanent hearing loss. Many treatments of generations past are what have resulted in today’s seniors with scarring and hearing impairments from childhood ailments and resulting remedies. Until recently, doctors aggressively treated ear infections with antibiotics, hoping to lessen the impact of repeat infections or resulting hearing loss. But no longer.

Today, doctors are cautious about giving antibiotics. Often, a doctor will try and first determine whether an infection is viral or bacterial before deciding a course of treatment, as antibiotics are ineffective against most viral infections. But, according to a recent study, bacterial infections should only be cautiously treated with antibiotics as wellóat least in children. A study involving 168 children with ear infections randomly provided patients with either antibiotics or a placebo as treatment. Three years later, researchers asked parents how many more ear infections the children had suffered. If children had taken antibiotics, there was 63 percent chance they’d had at least one subsequent infection vs. 43 percent of children who had been given a placebo.

Why? Researchers theorize that antibiotics might kill off some of the weaker bacteria that cause the infection, leaving more space for tougher and antibiotic-resistant bacteria to grow. Another possibility is that killing bacteria means less work for a childís immune system, leading to a weaker protection from infections in the future.

The study doesn’t ask parents to not seek treatment for ear infections or for doctors to not provide antibiotics when warranted. However, since most ear infections go away without treatment, consideration should be given whether treating ear infections with over-the-counter painkillers, such as acetaminophen, is a preferred option for children over age 2. For children under age 2 or for ones with more serious infections, antibiotics are typically still recommended.

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