Yesterday, I went to a clinic because of an infection in my foot. The doctor wanted to give me an antibiotic. Upon hearing this, I requested to know which one, merely out of curiosity. He said it was gentamycin. My first response was along the lines of “What, are you crazy?” Never in my mind did I ever believe he would try to give me gentamycin. Gentamycin has a well-known reputation for destroying the kidneys and hearing. Hearing is almost certainly going to be affected. Even though they say that it has to be accumulated over long periods of time, the medicine has to be taken once for the majority of people and permanent hearing damage is the result.
Gentamicin is dangerous when administered IV or IM, but as far as I know there is little risk when applied topically. I’m not sure, though. Dr Urodacus?
Most people don’t notice the difference at first. Gentamycin stays in the body for a year and it only affects the upper ranges of hearing first. Unless your really perceptive, it’s hard to notice the difference because the loss is very gradual, not dramatic. If you want to find out whether or not it affected you, the best thing to do is get an audiogram. On the audiogram, you will notice that the upper ranges of your hearing are for the most part gone. Sometimes, but not always,your ability to establish your balance is damaged too. They call these people ‘wobblers.’
Gentamycin is usually administered by a shot, but the topical can also affect some people.
It would be ashame to come to Taiwan and learn some valuable skills, and then the skills become worthless due to a loss of hearing.
[/sarcasm]