Q:
I visited the Student Health Center today and I tested negative for Strep and was assumed to have an upper respiratory viral infection. I was also given drops for my ear to use before bed. However, I cannot remember the instructions for the ear drops! How many days do I put them in my ear? After how many days do I wash it out? How many drops do I put in? If you could give me a step by step, that would be great! Thank you.
A:
First, there was no way to address this question over the weekend to you directly because you used the anonymous Ask The Doc service which is only available on weekdays. You can use the Virtual Visit form and you will receive a direct answer to your question by email the same day, even on weekends.
Ear drops, depending on what was given to you, may be just for discomfort, so are only as needed for pain up to four times a day and may not be needed at all. The instructions are usually with the medication, but if that was not provided to you by the nurse, that was an oversight.
If the ear drops are for infection in the ear canal (swimmers' ear) then it is 2 drops four times a day for 5 days.
~The Doc
