How Can Otowick Help Treat Ear Infections?
Do you suffer from an ear infection? The Otowick placement treatment may be the ideal cure for you.
In severe cases where the ear canal becomes swollen, a wick (sponge) is used to administer antibiotic drops deep into the ear canal. This treatment is known as the Otowick placement treatment and is extremely effective in curing ear infections.
Ear infections can develop a number of ways, but usually all have some relation to the amount of earwax in one’s ear. Earwax has properties that help prevent fungal and bacterial infections. Removal of the protective substance by cotton swabs or excessive showering or swimming is one of the primary triggers for the onset of outer ear infections. This can lead to external and internal ear infections.
Common causes of ear infection include:
- Swimming
- Hearing aids obstructing the ear canal, which leads to sweating and prevention of earwax (cerumen) to extrude
- Ear plugs for those that work around noise
- Manipulating the ear with Q-tips (and similar tools) that can cause a scratch in ear canal skin allowing bacteria and fungus to get deeper into the skin and cause infection
- Allergy or eczema of the ear canal
Benefits of the Otowick Placement Treatment
Otowick is a special tiny sponge that is inserted into the ear canal when it is swollen. This is extremely effective because it can deliver the antibiotic medicine deeper within the canal and will hold it where it can work for longer. Many patients that have undergone this treatment find significant improvement of swelling in just a few days.
Dr. Nguyen has practiced many treatments of the sinuses, ear, thyroid, head and neck for over a decade and is very familiar with the advantages associated with the Otowick placement treatment. If you think this may be the right treatment for you, he can certainly help.
What To Expect With the Otowick Placement Treatment
Otowick placement involves placing a small “wick” into the ear canal in order to “stent open” an ear canal which has become significantly swollen due to otitis externa or “swimmer’s ear”. Often, this is necessary in order to allow drops to adequately reach the surface of the ear canal and get to the site of this very painful type of ear infection. The procedure take minutes to administer and the patient can begin to feel relief as early as a day or so.
Where Can Houston Residents Get Relief?
Make an appointment with Dr. Nguyen today to determine if the otowick placement treatment is right for you, and get the relief you need. So book an assessment, or get in touch with our Houston clinic, and treat your ear infection today!
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Very good way to keep med there in ear.
The wick they inserted I was informed would fall out of my ear itself within the same day of insertion by medical professional. I have an inner ear infection, and the canal itself is swollen and inflamed still. I am being treated with drops and antibiotics- but the wick itself has not fallen out and my appointment was days ago. My next isn’t for another couple days and I’m concerned – can I potentially remove myself somehow??