Ear drop

Form of medication placed in ears

Ear drops are a form of topical medication for the ears used to treat infection, inflammation, impacted ear wax and local anesthesia. They are commonly used for short term treatment and can be purchased with or without a prescription. Before using ear drops, refer to the package insert or consult a health professional for the amount of drops to use and the duration of treatment.

Side effects from using ear drops used to remove ear wax are uncommon, but may result in discomfort, irritation, or pain. Antibiotic ear drops may cause ear discomfort, pain, or itching. When cold ear drops are used, it may cause brief but severe dizziness and/or vertigo. Ear drops should not be used after the expiration date.

If a dose is missed, do not double up at the next administration to catch up and the dose can be administered when recalled. Additionally if it is close to the next dose, skip that missed dose and resume as normal.

Although ear drops typically contain preservatives that slow the growth of bacteria and other microorganisms, this does not offer long term protection from contamination. The shelf life of ear drops varies with products generally needing to be discarded within 4 weeks after opening. With proper use and storage, ear drops should remain effective and safe until the expiration date printed in the medication package insert.

Otic analgestic anesthetic are drops that can help alleviate swelling, pain and congestion caused by middle ear inflammation. However, these ear drops do not treat the infections because they do not contain any antibiotic properties. A common over the counter product sold as Auralgan contained antipyrine (analgesic) and benzocaine (anesthetic). It was prescribed alone or with an antibiotic ear drop to help manage an ear infection. However, Auralgran was reformulated without meeting the FDA requirements to be reapproved and was removed from the market in July 2, 2015. There is some literature to suggest that anesthetic ear drops helped with acute pain. This study was conducted in Australia in 2008 in a hospital emergency room. It included 63 children who were between the ages of 3 and 17 who presented to the emergency department reporting of ear pain. Children were randomized such that 32 received placebo and 31 children received topical lignocaine prior to being offered an oral pain medication. The study showed that a topical pain medication was helpful while waiting for an oral pain medication to be effective. There is another small study conducted in England and Wales that reported that an analgestic anesthetics could reduce the amount of antibiotics being used in children. While the study did show evidence of less antibiotic use, it did not meet the sample size goal of 96 participants. Additionally did not evaluate if pain relief was linked to reduced antibiotic use.