Do not ignore ear infections

[jmowreader]

Today we are running an obit for a 19-year-old man who died of "a severe ear infection that caused a blood clot in his brain."

I had no idea you can die from an ear infection, but obviously you can. Be careful out there.

[gateley]

1. Wow -- I just got over an ear infection that lasted a month and for the first two

weeks rendered me almost totally deaf. It took three doctors and three different antibiotics to finally start getting over it. My hearing is stil severely impacted and I'm not sure it will ever get back to normal.

I wonder if the blod clot is a rare occurrence. What a sad story.

[Poll_Blind]

2. Ear infections, infected teeth. Seriously bad news if you do not get them treated. nt

PB

[loli phabay]

4. abcesses in the jaw swwm to be a common killer if not treated

with all the new superbugs its getting scary out there, we need pharma to start working on lots of new antibiotics as we seem to be running out.

[pinboy3niner]

16. I had half my jaw and teeth blown away in Vietnam

I'm especially mindful about oral health care, though I've never had a problem.

But I think all of us who pay attention to the news are concerned about the superbugs--and the prospect that going into the hospital may endanger us.

[Bernardo de La Paz]

18. Those superbugs are there because pharma oversold to farmers & doctors who overprescribed to

Those superbugs are there because pharma oversold antibiotic to doctors who overprescribed to patients who demanded them when they were not necessary and others who didn't follow through a full course.

Also, they oversold to the meat industry which pumps animals full of antibiotics which get into the food supply and into the environment.

I'm not sure pharma is the key solution, though of course, even now, they still have a role in the solution.

[Nay]

19. Yep. Young guy came into the hospital--tooth infection was eating a hole in his cheek-- and he

was dead within the week. It had gone on so long (and I'm sure he didn't have dental insurance to correct the problem when it was treatable) that we couldn't save him. Septicemia.

[cynatnite]

3. I wonder if this was something he neglected to have cared for...

He was either ignoring it or perhaps he had no insurance. He hoped it would go away.

Infections can be very deadly no matter how minor they may seem.

[loli phabay]

5. when your 19 youthink you are invincible so he probuably just thought it would go away.

[Fridays Child]

6. Strange, and undoubtedly uncommon, but it just goes to show you.

The problem, too, for a lot of us is that we have to pick and choose what illnesses we can address. I might, for example, be inclined to opt for trying to let an earache resolve itself--my finances being what they are.

It enrages me that so many of us have to make potentially deadly decisions about otherwise run-of-the-mill health problems. Anything less than single-payer coverage for Americans is shameful. Having said that, I cling to the hope that the ACA survives intact, for the sake of my adult son who is completely disabled and on Medicare and for my chronically ill adult daughter. I pay for her ridiculously expensive individual policy because, at this point, she wouldn't qualify for a new policy. Income-wise, we fall through the cracks and don't qualify for Medicaid.

Merely discussing this topic makes me feel ill, Ironic, huh? Ugh.

[Kurovski]

7. Yep, decisions, decisions.

Same here. can't take care of them all, just hope for the best and haul the old carcass in when the funds permit.

[pinboy3niner]

8. Another testimonial to Obamacare's preventive screenings

People who otherwise would put off medical visits because of cost can be seen and treated.

[pnwmom]

9. It can lead to mastoiditis, which can kill. I know because a relative died of it. n/t

[Suich]

10. I'm really sorry, pnwmom...

I had no idea.

[pnwmom]

13. Thanks, Suich -- this was long ago, but I heard about it many times

from older family members. Antibiotics changed everything.

[Warpy]

12. Mastoiditis, and yes it can.

[pnwmom]

14. Thanks for the correction. Yup, that's what I meant to say. n/t

[Warpy]

23. I can usually figger it out

but I know civilians would have trouble with their Google-Fu without the correct spelling.

[Warpy]

11. Usually they go into the blood

and hit the heart before they hit the brain and it's with bacteria that cause abscesses.

I'm afraid that was kind of a "struck by lightning under a bridge" type of phenomenon, very rare.

Anybody who develops severe ear pain during or just after a cold needs to be seen and given antibiotics definitely and strong painkillers with luck.

The same things can happen with infected teeth, so don't ignore them, either. Get antibiotics and then get those puppies pulled.

[sakabatou]

15. Yes, you can die from an ear infection, depending where it spreads

I'll tell you, the medicine sucks since the ear canal connects to the mouth, you taste it. Bleagh.

[Ken Burch]

17. Holy shit, that is terrible.

But I can understand how this could happen. The auditory canal is very, very close to the brain, and it's easy to see how an infection in that area could affect the brain in a very short time.

Did he ignore the infection, or was he simply unable to afford treatment?

It's also possible that, if the infection came on suddenly and severely, the man could have been too disoriented to be able to seek medical attention on his own.

[NotThisTime]

20. OMG that's awful... I had one that ruptured my ear drum and left me with hearing loss for a month

but I had absolutely no idea it could cause blood clots, that is crazy, my thoughts go out to the young mans family... truly awful.

My ear infection came on suddenly, within 10 hours the ear drum had burst and I passed out. My Husband brought me to the doctor to find I had a double ear infection that was very severe. Ten hours earlier I had been in the ER, they said it was mild. I could not even function on my own for the first two days. If the young man was alone, the same thing might have happened and he had no help.

[GusFring]

21. Well you have scared the hell out of me. I woke up after Labor day

With a swooshing sound like something had crawled in my ear. I put a qtip down there, got nothing. Poured water down there, and the swooshing hasnt returned. I think I killed whatever it was. It was a lil sore, but now its not. I've been wondering if I should just go to the do ctor and make sure everything is fine. No health coverage, so I'll have to sit in the er all day. Then I have 4 wisdom teeth that need to come out.

[Carly]

22. A lot of people don't know this

I didn't either until my oldest daughter had an ear infection when she was 5. It spread which caused Mastoiditis (which I had never even heard of) and then spread and caused Meningitis. We are very, very lucky that a nurse at our Pediatrician's office (this was after we had been send home from a local urgent care who said she just had a stomach virus) took one look at her, called 911, and had her rushed to Children's hospital. Had we waited a few more hours- well, I can't even imagine. We spent a week in the hospital and a month at home with a PICC line giving her strong antibiotics every few hours. She pulled through with no complications and she's now a healthy 14 year old.