Question: Hey doctor,

About 4 or so years ago I developed an ear infection in my right ear which I caught off of my mum who had just come back from overseas in Bali and I live in Australia. When I had that ear infection I had to go on about 3 or 4 different antibiotics to actually clear it up and I feel as if they never quite did the job.

The same ear infection seems to come back at least once a year along with a cold and my eustachian tubes seem to block up completely to the point where I can not hear our of my right year and i'd have to sometimes use antibiotic ear drops for it depending on if it was in my middle or outer ear but it seems to usually be the middle ear infected.

I seem to have developed some permanent ringing in my right ear (tinnitus) as well from the initial infection that seems to come and go or at least go down to the point I don't notice it, but colds usually seem to trigger it and it would lasts from weeks to months after the initial trigger before going back down to a less noticeable ringing tone.

Is there much I can really do for this or is it something I will have to live with can that bacteria possibly never have been destroyed by the AB's and it keeps coming back when my immune system is fighting other things like a cold and could that mean over time it would cause more and more damage to my right ear or is it something to do with my Eustachian tubes not regulating pressure properly?

My mums brother also had a similar problem in his late 20's and had to have adult grommets would that be worth looking into or would the risk outweigh the benefits or would there be anyways to possibly clear out that bacteria naturally?


Another thing I forgot to mention is that my right ear also seems to generate a lot of earwax compared to my left and sometimes gets blocked because of that and I have had it cleaned a few times with ear syringing.

I also do wear ear plus as I shoot live music events about 3-4 times a month and I have custom fitted ones.

Is it common to develop tinnitus at a young age by cause a viral ear infection that becomes permanent and is really anything you can do to cure it? It seems to be something that comes and goes for me and I have learned to just not worry about it and channel it out is that a bad thing to do that or is their a way to cure it? My ear isn't blocked at the moment it is fine but it was about a week ago when I had my cold I can now hear fine out of it I just have the ringing in my ear again that is more prominent, but mainly only when I am going to bed or in a quite room if there is sound going I don't even notice it.