Expert: Harriet B Jacobster, Au.D. - 1/9/2009

Question
hi,

about a month ago i was washing my hair in the bathtub faucet, i was tired(newborn in the house) and mistakenly used lotion instead of shampoo. anyways, some lotion got in my ear and i panicked trying to get it out but ended up getting pushed in by running water. a little bit also got up my nose. immediatley following this my left ear had immense pressure like it was going to burst. ringing in my ear, its very loud and extremely annoying. i went to a family practioner who prescribed azthromycin, nasonex, robitussin, and claritin d. these did nothing. everyday this was constant pressure and ringing in my ears, sometimes dizziness and nausea.  i ended up going to the er a week later and they said i had an ear infection. gave me prednisone, ceftin, and told me to keep using the nasal spary. this did nothing. i ended up back in the er where they did a cat scan of my brain to check for tumors even though this ear pressure and tinnitis happened immediatley after the incident with the lotion. it was negative for tumors. they told me to keep taking the meds i was on. now, by this point i had lost a good half my hearing, and high tones are like knives in my ear. i drove a 4 hour trip(i live in the keys, and the only ent wasnt available) 2 days before christmas. he could find nothing physically wrong with my ear. this was extremely frustrating because im suffering and crying everyday feeling like this pressure tinnitis and hearing loss will never go away. it never ever lets up, its constant. he ordered an mri to make sure i had no slipped disks in my neck. it was negative except for a small tear in a tendon. about a week ago the pressure in my ear went from ''i think my ear drum is going to bust'' to moderate pressure, but since then i havent noticed any improvement. my hearing has not improved either, and ive ended up seeing a therapist because this situation has me feeling hopeless.

so my question is:

could there be lotion way way deep inside my ear that the ent couldnt see?

have you ever heard of someone expieriencing these problems that has never had a solution?

what should be my next course of action?

this has honestly ruined my quality of life. i would love love love to have this problem gone, and to never think about it again. any help would be greatly appreciated!

Answer
Hi Holly,
 In all honesty, the lotion itself probably would have not caused any problems as it would have been absorbed by the skin in your ear...but you may have done the damage in removing it. It is very possible that you may have punctured your eardrum when you tried to remove the lotion using running water.  This would cause an infection and all the symptoms you are experiencing. An infection would not show up on an MRI. I think your next step would be to follow-up with your local ENT and get a second opinion as to what is happening. You should also have a complete audiological workup.
Hope this helps.
Harriet B. Jacobster, AuD
Board Certified in Audiology