I HATE this Doctor! Caution: vent inside!

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Ok- So I have been having a terrible earache for the past week. I'm short on cash, cant really afford to pay the money for an appointment, so have been trying some over the counter meds. Eventually I get swelling on my face by my ear and decide that the pain is TOO MUCH, no sleep, 2 kids, hubby, trying to study up for my program, I am MISERABLE, crying....So I go to urgent care. I had been popping tylenol like candy and still no relief. Well, he looks in my ear and then proceeds to say "Looks like you've got an ear infection." He goes on to prescribe me some ear drops and then says that he would have prescribed me some pain meds but I am not on birth control, so isn't going to give me anything for pain. I am horrified! If I had broken my leg, would they just let me sit there with a broken leg b/c Im not on the pill? ( not saying an earache is comparable to a broken leg.) But, I am in SO much pain and Im irritated b/c I haven't had a missed period and its not even time for one. I think that its stupid! I shouldn't have to take flippin birth control to get pain relief..... ugh!!!!!!!!!!!:angryfire

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Wow! I've never heard of a Doc with holding narcotics for pain relief on the outside chance the patient was pregnant.

Can anyone else speak to whether this is a common practice?

OP: sorry you're hurting so bad....earaches really do hurt :-(

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Thanks for your comment. I was hoping that he would at least give me some prescription tylenol, anything that would block some of the pain out- but nope! I have never heard of anything like this either.

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Specializes in med/surg, telemetry, IV therapy, mgmt.

i am an rn who was a telephonic nurse and earache was a common type of call that we got and i also suffered a lot of earaches in my younger days. i understand your anger at this doctor for not prescribing something stronger than otc pain meds for your earache. however, i would like to challenge you to do some research about your problem of ear pain and or do some problem solving here.

infections cause the body to put the inflammatory response into action. for the pathophysiology of this, see https://allnurses.com/general-nursing-student/histamine-effect-244836.html. the symptoms that the inflammatory response is occurring in order of their appearance are redness, heat, swelling and pain. i thought it admirable that you described your own symptoms as "eventually i get swelling on my face by my ear and decide that the pain is too much". the swelling which is a result of the histamine response (you have a whopper of an infection that your body is trying to fight off!) is pushing against nearby pain receptors which is what is actually setting off your pain. those "ear drops" that the doctor prescribed for you i am guessing were an antibiotic. their purpose is to do something about the infecting microbe. as they annihilate the bacteria, the inflammatory response that has been going on will abate, histamine will stop being secreted, swelling will go down, pressure will let off the pain receptors in the area around your ear, jaw and face and the pain will improve.

now, some things that you can do for this earache are:

from personal experience i can report that a heating pad held against the side of my head really helped.

p.s. i never had a doctor prescribe narcotics for my ear infections either. they treat the underlying problem which is the infection. once the infection is gone, so will be the pain.

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i am an rn who was a telephonic nurse and earache was a common type of call that we got and i also suffered a lot of earaches in my younger days. i understand your anger at this doctor for not prescribing something stronger than otc pain meds for your earache. however, i would like to challenge you to do some research about your problem of ear pain and or do some problem solving here.

infections cause the body to put the inflammatory response into action. for the pathophysiology of this, see https://allnurses.com/general-nursing-student/histamine-effect-244836.html. the symptoms that the inflammatory response is occurring in order of their appearance are redness, heat, swelling and pain. i thought it admirable that you described your own symptoms as "eventually i get swelling on my face by my ear and decide that the pain is too much". the swelling which is a result of the histamine response (you have a whopper of an infection that your body is trying to fight off!) is pushing against nearby pain receptors which is what is actually setting off your pain. those "ear drops" that the doctor prescribed for you i am guessing were an antibiotic. their purpose is to do something about the infecting microbe. as they annihilate the bacteria, the inflammatory response that has been going on will abate, histamine will stop being secreted, swelling will go down, pressure will let off the pain receptors in the area around your ear, jaw and face and the pain will improve.

now, some things that you can do for this earache are:

from personal experience i can report that a heating pad held against the side of my head really helped.

p.s. i never had a doctor prescribe narcotics for my ear infections either.

great info on the patho of what's happening daytonite. it totally makes sense to me that she wouldn't be given narcotics instead of an antibiotic, but as you said, the pain is caused by the inflamatory response to the infection....even with topical antibiotics, that's not going to subside immediately....i would think that pain meds at least to get to sleep that night could be appropriate.

i'm curious though, have you found it to be common practice to not prescribe a narcotic on the outside chance that a a patient could be pregnant?

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Daytonite- You always see a window to educate in every situation- I love that- You are such an awesome nurse!:nurse:

I started taking the drops yesterday and no relief yet, the pain is actually worsening a bit and now I am getting "shooting pains" that feel like they go right up into my brain! lol I know that sounds silly, but I feel like I am going to go cRaZy :bugeyes: from lack of sleep and dealing with the pain. I havent had to do any pharm yet so Im not really sure what type of pain meds exist but isnt there any type of pain meds that are safe for pregnant women that he could have given to me (if thats what he's worried about). Anyhow, I think I will take your advice and try to scare up a heating pad- at this point, any relief is good relief. Thanks for your post and for the heating pad info!

Curious Me- I am also curious if it is common practice. I also wonder if they ever prescribe meds for an earache at all. It is extremely painful, they should :mad:

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My heat source of choice is actually a sock with uncooked rice in it warmed in the microwave for a minute. It conforms to the shape of the painful body part better than a heating pad and it holds it's heat for a long time but doesn't get hotter like a pad can. Plus you can lay it on your pillow at night and safely fall asleep on it w/o worrying about scalding your skin! Hope you feel better soon, earaches are horrid!

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Specializes in ER.

Ummm, I would have given you painkillers. The A&P of the situation is interesting, but it still hurts.

Try OTC Auralgan eardrops, they will numb your ear, not interfere with healing, and don't interfere with pregnancy, so long as you don't put them in your belly button.

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Specializes in med/surg, telemetry, IV therapy, mgmt.

If the swelling and pain aren't better by tomorrow morning, go back to the clinic and take the bottle of ear drops with you so they can see what you have been taking. Consider seeing an ENT doc. They keep time available for patients who need to be seen that day. Also, and I am sure they told you this, nothing other than the drops and a small plug of cotton should be going in your ear. Do not rub or in any way do anything to irritate the skin or tissues on that side of your face as it will only increase what is going on. With one of my worst ear infections I had to have injections of Decadron to help bring the swelling down because my ear canal was swollen shut and we couldn't even get ear drops in.

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Daytonite- WOW. Hard to feature the ear canal being swollen shut. Ouch! The doc didnt really tell me anything about the drops he just told me he was prescribing me some ear drops & no pain meds etc. A few weeks ago I had dug out some ATI dvds to watch, and remembered how to put the drops in my ear from watching the dvds. I feel like the drops just sit there though in a puddle and aren't really going anywhere, but I am sure I am doing it correctly. I wouldn't wish the pain on someone but it's nice to talk to someone who has gone through the same thing (worse actually) and can say "yeaaah it hurts but you'll be fine" :lol2: But I had been rubbing the swollen spot so Im glad you just told me thats not good!

Canoehead- Thanks for the post! Could I take those drops in conjunction with the antibiotics?

Beth66335- YES! I haven't been able to find a heating pad, was using a warm washcloth. But I swear I was thinking the same thing! The hubby just got new socks too :D

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Specializes in med/surg, telemetry, IV therapy, mgmt.
http://www.peacehealth.org/kbase/mm-doc/zm616/zm6165.htm - inserting eardrops safely
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