Hydrogen peroxide too harsh for at-home use in ears

DEAR DR. ROACH >> In a recent column, you said that using peroxide in the ear is a bad home remedy. Would you please expand on this subject? My children grew up with me using peroxide to clean excessive wax from their ears, and they now use the same remedy on my grandchildren. DEAR READER?>> Most earwax does not need to be removed. It should be removed only when there are symptoms (such as poor hearing, ear pressure or pain, and sometimes itchiness or dizziness), and when it is clear that the symptoms are coming from excess earwax. This requires a look in the ear, since similar symptoms may come from infection.

Hydrogen peroxide is too harsh to put on skin. Doctors may use it to irrigate the ear canal while looking into the ear, but it is diluted, usually 1:10. Overthe-counter earwax preparations, such as carbamide peroxide, may also be recommended once the diagnosis is clear.

DEAR DR. ROACH >> Can Lyme disease send a person into Parkinson’s disease? I tested positive for Lyme — I had the bullseye rash, fever and terrible headaches. After a month on doxycycline, my left arm started shaking and my neurologist diagnosed me with Parkinson’s. The doctor said it had nothing to do with the Lyme disease. What is your opinion? DEAR READER >> I can absolutely understand why you might suspect that the neurologist could be wrong. The coincidence seems too much to believe. However, I think your neurologist is probably correct. The different types of neurological complications of Lyme disease are many and varied. The most common are any combination of meningitis symptoms (inflammation of the lining of the brain, with headache, fever, stiff neck and light sensitivity); disorders of the cranial nerves (especially the facial nerve, so people with neurological Lyme disease can look like they have Bell’s palsy); and damage to peripheral nerves, causing pain and weakness or numbness, often resembling sciatica (but may include other parts of the body).

A detailed neurological exam by a neurologist would look for signs of Parkinson’s disease — not just the tremor you describe, but also muscle rigidity and changes in gait. These would be very unusual in Lyme disease. I did find cases resembling some aspects of Parkinson’s disease, but they improved with treatment. It is possible that the stress of the Lyme disease hastened the onset of Parkinson’s disease you were destined to get.

Contact Dr. Roach at ToYourGoodHealth@med. cornell.edu.