Gentamicin (Topical)

Brand Names : Garamycin, Gentamar, G-Myticin

Before Using This Medicine

In deciding to use a medicine, the risks of using the medicine must be weighed against the good it will do. This is a decision you and your doctor will make. For topical gentamicin, the following should be considered:

Allergies - Tell your doctor if you have ever had any unusual or allergic reaction to this medicine or any related antibiotics, such as amikacin (e.g., Amikin), gentamicin by injection (e.g., Garamycin), kanamycin (e.g., Kantrex), neomycin (e.g., Mycifradin), netilmicin (e.g., Netromycin), streptomycin, or tobramycin (e.g., Nebcin). Also tell your health care professional if you are allergic to any other substances, such as preservatives or dyes.

Pregnancy - Gentamicin topical preparations have not been shown to cause birth defects or other problems in humans.

Breast-feeding - Gentamicin topical preparations have not been reported to cause problems in nursing babies.

Children - This medicine has been tested in children over 1 year of age and, in effective doses, has not been shown to cause different side effects or problems than it does in adults.

Older adults - Many medicine have not been studied specifically in older people. Therefore, it may not be known whether they work exactly the same way they do in younger adults. Although there is no specific information comparing use of this medicine in the elderly with use in other age groups, this medicine is not expected to cause different side effects or problems in older people than it does in younger adults.

Other medicines - Although certain medicines should not be used together at all, in other cases two different medicines may be used together even if an interaction might occur. In these cases, your doctor may want to change the dose, or other precautions may be necessary. Tell your health care professional if you are using any other topical prescription or nonprescription (over-the-counter [OTC]) medicine that is to be applied to the same area of the skin.