2 quick tips for otitis externa

Chronic, exudative otitis externa can be challenging to treat due to the presence of pus and debris that inactivate many ear medications. In this video, Julia Miller, DVM, DACVD, shares 2 key steps for managing these difficult cases: thorough ear cleaning to remove organic material and allow treatments to work effectively, and consistent inflammation control using both topical and oral therapies.

Transcript

Julia Miller, DVM, DACVD: You know, there’s a lot of people, myself included, who deal with really frustrating, chronic otitis externa cases in their patients—particularly the really exudative, nasty, pus-filled ears. Those are hard. They’re the bane of a lot of people’s existence.

So when it comes to those really exudative ears, one thing that I always say is, “The solution to pollution is dilution,” which means that you really need to clean those ears. We have to have an effective plan for how we’re going to clean those super exudative ears, because many of our ear medications are actually inactivated by that organic debris—that pus in the ear. So whatever that may be (and we’ll talk about options), you need to have a good, effective cleaning protocol in place.

And then the other big thing that I harp on time and time again is inflammation management is everything when it comes to these ears—whether that’s oral and topical, just topical. But really, in my hands, it’s both. It’s always both. Good, effective inflammation management is another key piece in actually getting these ears under control.