# I am too old to have an ear infection **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [October 20, 2009, 8:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-am-too-old-to-have-an-ear-infection/514525 "2009-10-20T20:58:41Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![ivylass](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/9de053/32.png) [@ivylass](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ivylass)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2009, 8:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-am-too-old-to-have-an-ear-infection/514525/1 "2009-10-20T20:58:41Z")
Yes, I am seeing a doctor, yes, I have medicine, and yes, I have a follow-up appointment. It started a week ago Monday. I tried the peroxide route, but it still hurt. I think the stress of it hurting is making my hand go numb…I’ve noticed my hand gets a little wonky when my ear is hurting. I have to put these drops in four times a day, and it’s not getting better. Tomorrow will have been a week. I see the doctor again on Thursday. So, I’m feeling grouchy and pouty and ouchy. And too damn old for an ear infection! ---
**Author:** ![Jonathan\_Chance](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jonathan_chance/32/701_2.png) [@Jonathan\_Chance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jonathan_Chance)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2009, 9:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-am-too-old-to-have-an-ear-infection/514525/2 "2009-10-20T21:10:02Z")
Feh. I’m in my forties and still get them occasionally. My GP says I’m just one of those people prone to them. I could, I suppose, have surgery but have avoided it. ---
**Author:** ![Kyla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/eada6e/32.png) [@Kyla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kyla)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2009, 9:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-am-too-old-to-have-an-ear-infection/514525/3 "2009-10-20T21:15:08Z")
I have an ear infection too! That was exactly my reaction, as well - “who the hell gets ear infections at age 31?” OMG. It is excruciating. Today is the last day of my course of antibiotics, and it’s definitely better, but I really don’t feel like it’s all the way healed. I’m a little concerned. I hope you feel better, **ivylass**. ---
**Author:** ![Carol\_the\_Impaler](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Carol\_the\_Impaler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Carol_the_Impaler)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2009, 9:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-am-too-old-to-have-an-ear-infection/514525/4 "2009-10-20T21:28:23Z")
I had bad ear infections in both my ears that put me out of work for a week. I’ve never missed a whole week of work due to any illness. Soooo much pain. I don’t think my boss believed a) a grown up could get and ear infection and b) that it could require serious pain medication. Coincidentally, my sister 800 miles away was out the very same week for the very same reason. The aliens are coming for the adults. And they’re boring into our brains via our ear canals. ---
**Author:** ![Anne\_Neville](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Anne\_Neville](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anne_Neville)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2009, 9:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-am-too-old-to-have-an-ear-infection/514525/5 "2009-10-20T21:39:25Z")
I had one a couple of years ago. I was 32. ---
**Author:** ![phouka](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/c5a1d2/32.png) [@phouka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/phouka)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2009, 9:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-am-too-old-to-have-an-ear-infection/514525/6 "2009-10-20T21:39:26Z")
I finally got my tonsils out - at 32 years old! - because they had gone to the dark side and were giving me multiple ear infections a year. Didn’t help that they were also cryptic. Cryptic tonsils can be popped just like zits! Except the white stuff that comes out smells _baaaaaaad_. ---
**Author:** ![Wakinyan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wakinyan/32/352_2.png) [@Wakinyan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wakinyan)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2009, 10:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-am-too-old-to-have-an-ear-infection/514525/7 "2009-10-20T22:07:02Z")
I’m forty, I had it a couple of years ago. Man-it-hurt-so-much. I called the doctor, said this hurts so much I’m not functioning properly. She said: “We don’t give antibiotics anymore for this kind of stuff, because it will pass in a week anyways.” I went: “Ah… b’well… that’s… that’s actually kinda wise.” ---
**Author:** ![Khadaji](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Khadaji](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Khadaji)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2009, 10:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-am-too-old-to-have-an-ear-infection/514525/8 "2009-10-20T22:27:42Z")
Sending a wish for a speedy recovery. I haven’t had an ear infection since I was young and I have often wondered why. I have been sick, but no ear infections. ---
**Author:** ![ivylass](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/9de053/32.png) [@ivylass](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ivylass)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2009, 11:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-am-too-old-to-have-an-ear-infection/514525/9 "2009-10-20T23:12:02Z")
I thought tots got them because their eustachian (sp?) tubes were too short to drain properly when they got the sniffles. The only thing I can think of is I was wearing headphones for a few hours, watching TV, last Sunday. I was waiting for it to be time to wake up Ivylad to get our daughter from the airport, and he was sleeping, so I had the headphones watching TV so I wouldn’t disturb him. The next day, my ear hurt. My sister, a nurse, said Motrin and either an ice pack or moist heat. I did find the moist heat helped, so hopefully the doctor will give me something stronger than cortisone drops when I see her on Thursday. ---
**Author:** ![Ellen\_Cherry](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ellen_cherry/32/3600_2.png) [@Ellen\_Cherry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ellen_Cherry)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2009, 12:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-am-too-old-to-have-an-ear-infection/514525/10 "2009-10-21T00:08:04Z")
[Here’s a short simple explanation on the cause of ear infections](http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/ear-infections/DS00303/DSECTION=causes) from the Mayo Clinic. ---
**Author:** ![ducati](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/cc9497/32.png) [@ducati](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ducati)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2009, 1:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-am-too-old-to-have-an-ear-infection/514525/11 "2009-10-21T01:12:38Z")
At 30 I had to leave my wife with our days-old son and drive myself to the ER in the middle of the night. The pain was unbearable. Few things are more embarassing than going to the ER with an earache. I felt a little better when the doc said it’s the worst he’d ever seen. Still… ---
**Author:** ![Mama\_Zappa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/71e660/32.png) [@Mama\_Zappa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mama_Zappa)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2009, 1:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-am-too-old-to-have-an-ear-infection/514525/12 "2009-10-21T01:44:50Z")
**Typo Knig** had one a couple years back (mid-40s at the time, I think). IIRC he got oral antibiotics and drops. I have, once or twice, had a day or two where everything in that general area felt painful, but never “drive myself to the ER bad”. I distinctly remember fantasizing about having someone take a very, very fine drill bit and ventilating the ear drum. I decided this was a bad idea and fortunately things passed. ---
**Author:** ![spoike](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/da6949/32.png) [@spoike](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/spoike)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2009, 2:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-am-too-old-to-have-an-ear-infection/514525/13 "2009-10-21T02:11:17Z")
If it makes you feel any better, nearly every time I get a cold, it leads to an ear infection. I try to avoid unnecessary antibiotics, so most of the time I deal with them on my own, with the help of ibuprofen and moist heat. Sometimes, though, I’ll get one that is beyond excruciating, and I have no choice but to see a doctor. I also suffer from inner ear infections. I’m 37. I think I just have stupid ears. ---
**Author:** ![freckafree](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/freckafree/32/3050_2.png) [@freckafree](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/freckafree)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2009, 2:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-am-too-old-to-have-an-ear-infection/514525/14 "2009-10-21T02:44:42Z")
**Ivylass** , that sucks. Ear infections are one of the worst childhood illnesses I remember. Hope you kick yours soon. **phouka** , just curious. I was a teen when I had mine out, and the surgery was done with a local anesthetic. I was told that a local was safer for an older patient. Did you have a general or a local anesthetic? I’ve not encountered another person whose tonsils were removed while they were awake. Oh, and Cryptic Tonsils = band name! ---
**Author:** ![Hometownboy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/5e9695/32.png) [@Hometownboy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hometownboy)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2009, 5:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-am-too-old-to-have-an-ear-infection/514525/15 "2009-10-21T05:33:37Z")
Had them many times as a youth, but also into my 40s (I’m now 60). The last time, yes, I did drive myself to the ER. The doc said “You know, we usually don’t get these in people your age.” Thanks, doc. Give me the freakin’ tetracycline and the pain meds and do it NOW! Damn wiseass ER doctors… ---
**Author:** ![ivylass](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/9de053/32.png) [@ivylass](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ivylass)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2009, 1:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-am-too-old-to-have-an-ear-infection/514525/16 "2009-10-21T13:15:16Z")
It was funny, the doctor asked me if I wanted pain meds, and I said nah, as long as the drops cleared it up quickly, I should be fine. That will teach me. ---
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2009, 1:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-am-too-old-to-have-an-ear-infection/514525/17 "2009-10-21T13:33:10Z")
In 1996 I had a major major infection in my right ear. I took penicillin for 21 days and it didn’t make a difference. Then I poured alcohol into the ear twice a day for a month. The first week gave me a new dimension of the idea of pain, but the infection cleared up. Try it at your own risk. ---
**Author:** ![Rasa](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rasa/32/3578_2.png) [@Rasa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rasa)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2009, 1:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-am-too-old-to-have-an-ear-infection/514525/18 "2009-10-21T13:41:47Z")
Yeah, I had my first one of note at about age 30. Ugh. I feel for you. ☹ ---
**Author:** ![Muffin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/muffin/32/4341_2.png) [@Muffin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Muffin)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2009, 1:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-am-too-old-to-have-an-ear-infection/514525/19 "2009-10-21T13:48:32Z")
If I don’t use hydrogen peroxide after I get water splashed in my ear when wild water kayaking, I will get an ear infection. ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2009, 1:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-am-too-old-to-have-an-ear-infection/514525/20 "2009-10-21T13:49:43Z")
> [@ivylass](#): > > And too damn old for an ear infection! They’re not juvenile acne, you know… my grandma gets them frequently and she’s 96. I hope you get better soon. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-am-too-old-to-have-an-ear-infection/514525.md?page=2)