Can ear infections cause you to go deaf?
My dad had (has?) an ear infection. I think it started last weekend. It was a few days before he could get it checked, and when he did, he went to the walk-in clinic. They prescribed him antibiotics, and the pain has stopped. However, he's deaf in one ear. It's really scaring him, and as time lapses, it's starting to worry me. Could the hearing loss be permanent, or do you think he just needs to wait it out?
I had many ear infections in my childhood, to the point where I had to have tubes in my ears (I don't anymore). I'm fine, and my hearing is great. I was too young to remember if I had any hearing loss back then, but I guess that is what I'm basing it off. He had a fever of 101, and it was only a few days before he got treatment. Do you think he will be all right, or are his fears valid? He's 55 if that has any bearing.
Thanks in advance.