Mama Doug is visiting friends in Japan and began suffering intense pain and redness below and behind one ear. The friends took her to a local doctor and interpreted, but due to the language issue, we only know so much.
Doc said “this is something people inherit,” i.e. congenital. Apparently it is a kind of fistula (a channel created by infected matter), which required drainage and antibiotics and will require drainage again.
She has exhibited some hearing loss in the past months, but she is in her late 70s so this may be due to other causes. Lay medical sites such as WebMD do not bring up any information on fistula of the external ear. All results on Google are in technical language and deal with adjacent regions, such as the outer ear canal.
What can anyone who has had or treated a similar condition tell us about treatment and effects, especially on hearing? She will be back stateside in 3 days and consulting with a local physician. The antibiotic she is taking is Flomox, which is sold only in Asia AFAIK - are any issues with this known?
TIA.