Ear Infection Treatments, Antibiotics, & Medications

Written by WebMD Editorial Contributors

• What Is My Doctor Looking For?
• Treatments
• Pain Relief
• Antibiotics
• Drainage
• Natural Remedies
• More

If you care for children, you likely know already how often they come down with earaches. Adults get them, too, but youngsters have them much more often. That’s because they don’t fight off viruses and bacteria as well, and their little ears aren’t good at draining fluids yet.

You or your child may have a sore throat, stuffy nose, or fever along with an earache. These are signs of a possible infection.

Call your doctor so she can find out for sure what’s going on. If it is an infection, she can recommend the best treatment for your case.

Your doctor will ask you about any symptoms you’ve had. Be sure to come to the office with any notes you might need and questions on your mind.

She will look at the eardrum with an instrument called an otoscope for signs of infection. This is a tough task with a fussy infant, so be ready to help calm the little one if it’s your child with the earache.

Signs of infection include a red eardrum or a bulging eardrum with fluid behind it. The fluid may be thin like during a cold, or thick like pus. It is located in the middle ear, just behind the ear drum. Otitis media means inflammation of the middle ear. A puffer attached to the otoscope blows air to see if your thin eardrum moves. With fluid in the middle ear, the eardrum is more rigid and doesn’t move back and forth.

She might also look for signs of infection with another instrument. It’s called a tympanometer, and it uses sound and air pressure to check for fluid in the middle ear.

Often, a virus causes an ear infection, in which case antibiotics won’t help. If, based on the history, your doctor suspects that bacteria may have caused the infection, she may prescribe an antibiotic.

You may also talk to your doctor about things you can do at home.

If a virus or bacteria are causing the infection and you have to wait for it to get better, you don’t need to live with the pain.

Your doctor may recommend a pain reliever, typically acetaminophen (Tylenol) or ibuprofen (Advil, Motrin), which also helps reduce a fever. Aspirin should be avoided in children because of the threat of Reye’s syndrome, a rare condition that can cause swelling in the brain or liver.

Pain can also be reduced by using low heat from a heating pad. Be very careful using a heating pad with children.

If your doctor decides to go with antibiotics, follow all the instructions. Take all of the doses even if you or your child are feeling better. Call your doctor or pharmacist if you skip a dose or feel sick from the medicine.

If you don’t take the whole course, your infection could come back and become resistant to more treatments.

If an infection causes serious complications, fluid remains in the ear for a long time, or your child has ear infections that keep coming back, your doctor might want to do a procedure called a myringotomy.

She creates a small hole in the eardrum so fluids such as water, blood, or pus can drain out. In many cases, she will put in a tube so it won’t get backed up again.

The tube, which will usually fall out on its own in about 6 to 18 months, lets the fluid out and air flow through to keep the middle ear dry. Tubes also:

• Reduce pain
• Improve hearing
• Cut down on the number of infections your child may have

When younger children get these ear tubes, it’s surgery. They will need to go to the hospital and take something to sleep during the procedure, which usually lasts about 15 minutes.

Older children and adults can have it done while they’re awake. For them, it can be done in their doctor’s office.

This surgery rarely leads to infection or scarring and usually prevents long-term symptoms. If the tubes come out and the infections return, talk to your doctor about more treatments.

Doctors generally don’t consider the removal of tonsils helpful for ear infections.

You can do things at home to ease your symptoms. Talk to your doctor first about these tips:

Warmth: You may find a heated compress brings comfort.

Feedings: If you feed your baby with a bottle, do it standing up. Don’t put your infant to bed with one. Try to take your child off it as soon as the doctor thinks he’s ready.

Gargling: In older children or adults, salt water helps soothe a raw throat and may help clear the Eustachian tubes.

Stand tall: Holding your head erect can help drain your middle ear.

Fresh air: Smokers should refrain from smoking inside the house or anywhere near your child.

Top Picks

Ear Infection Treatments, Antibiotics, & Medications

Written by WebMD Editorial Contributors

• What Is My Doctor Looking For?
• Treatments
• Pain Relief
• Antibiotics
• Drainage
• Natural Remedies
• More

If you care for children, you likely know already how often they come down with earaches. Adults get them, too, but youngsters have them much more often. That’s because they don’t fight off viruses and bacteria as well, and their little ears aren’t good at draining fluids yet.

You or your child may have a sore throat, stuffy nose, or fever along with an earache. These are signs of a possible infection.

Call your doctor so she can find out for sure what’s going on. If it is an infection, she can recommend the best treatment for your case.

Your doctor will ask you about any symptoms you’ve had. Be sure to come to the office with any notes you might need and questions on your mind.

She will look at the eardrum with an instrument called an otoscope for signs of infection. This is a tough task with a fussy infant, so be ready to help calm the little one if it’s your child with the earache.

Signs of infection include a red eardrum or a bulging eardrum with fluid behind it. The fluid may be thin like during a cold, or thick like pus. It is located in the middle ear, just behind the ear drum. Otitis media means inflammation of the middle ear. A puffer attached to the otoscope blows air to see if your thin eardrum moves. With fluid in the middle ear, the eardrum is more rigid and doesn’t move back and forth.

She might also look for signs of infection with another instrument. It’s called a tympanometer, and it uses sound and air pressure to check for fluid in the middle ear.

Often, a virus causes an ear infection, in which case antibiotics won’t help. If, based on the history, your doctor suspects that bacteria may have caused the infection, she may prescribe an antibiotic.

You may also talk to your doctor about things you can do at home.

If a virus or bacteria are causing the infection and you have to wait for it to get better, you don’t need to live with the pain.

Your doctor may recommend a pain reliever, typically acetaminophen (Tylenol) or ibuprofen (Advil, Motrin), which also helps reduce a fever. Aspirin should be avoided in children because of the threat of Reye’s syndrome, a rare condition that can cause swelling in the brain or liver.

Pain can also be reduced by using low heat from a heating pad. Be very careful using a heating pad with children.

If your doctor decides to go with antibiotics, follow all the instructions. Take all of the doses even if you or your child are feeling better. Call your doctor or pharmacist if you skip a dose or feel sick from the medicine.

If you don’t take the whole course, your infection could come back and become resistant to more treatments.

If an infection causes serious complications, fluid remains in the ear for a long time, or your child has ear infections that keep coming back, your doctor might want to do a procedure called a myringotomy.

She creates a small hole in the eardrum so fluids such as water, blood, or pus can drain out. In many cases, she will put in a tube so it won’t get backed up again.

The tube, which will usually fall out on its own in about 6 to 18 months, lets the fluid out and air flow through to keep the middle ear dry. Tubes also:

• Reduce pain
• Improve hearing
• Cut down on the number of infections your child may have

When younger children get these ear tubes, it’s surgery. They will need to go to the hospital and take something to sleep during the procedure, which usually lasts about 15 minutes.

Older children and adults can have it done while they’re awake. For them, it can be done in their doctor’s office.

This surgery rarely leads to infection or scarring and usually prevents long-term symptoms. If the tubes come out and the infections return, talk to your doctor about more treatments.

Doctors generally don’t consider the removal of tonsils helpful for ear infections.

You can do things at home to ease your symptoms. Talk to your doctor first about these tips:

Warmth: You may find a heated compress brings comfort.

Feedings: If you feed your baby with a bottle, do it standing up. Don’t put your infant to bed with one. Try to take your child off it as soon as the doctor thinks he’s ready.

Gargling: In older children or adults, salt water helps soothe a raw throat and may help clear the Eustachian tubes.

Stand tall: Holding your head erect can help drain your middle ear.

Fresh air: Smokers should refrain from smoking inside the house or anywhere near your child.

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What to do when your ear hurts – an article on the website Aptechestvo, Nizhny Novgorod

Ear pain in adults or ear pain in a child is simply exhausting. Usually it is accompanied by discomfort, fatigue, sleep disturbance, loud crying. Practice shows that people with ear pain make many mistakes that lead to complications. What to do when your ear hurts? First of all, you need to consult a doctor who will diagnose ear pain and prescribe the appropriate course of treatment.

When an adult’s ear hurts or a child’s ear hurts, discomfort can occur in different departments. We will analyze them in accordance with the generally accepted classification.

Pain in the outer ear

This part of the auditory organ is considered the most unprotected for infections. Why does my ear hurt? Very often, pain occurs due to inflammatory processes caused by bacteria. Another reason is improper cleaning, physical damage, foreign bodies. All this leads to the appearance of boils and even eczema. In such cases, doctors put otitis externa.

Pain in the middle ear

Ear pain can also appear in the middle ear. The department is closely connected with the outer ear and nasopharynx. Therefore, it is also characterized by the appearance of infections. Pathologies in the middle ear are accompanied by shooting pain, pulsation, hearing loss, distortion of the perception of one’s own voice.

Main pathologies:

• inflammatory processes;

• tumors in the tympanic cavity;

• trauma and breach of integrity;

• problems in the auditory tube.

In some cases, severe ear pain may appear after going to the pool. Pain extends both to the outer ear, where the infection could have entered, and to the middle ear, where pain is caused by the strong pressure of water when diving to depth.

Pathologies of the inner ear

The defeat of the inner ear in most cases is not accompanied by pain. Therefore, here, it is best to talk about pathologies. The main symptoms: impaired coordination, periodic nausea, extraneous sounds, headaches, dizziness and rapid hearing loss. The list of the main diseases that are the result of damage to the inner ear:

• labyrinthitis;

• hearing loss;

• Meniere’s disease;

• otosclerosis.

In addition, in some cases, acute ear pain may be due to complications in other organs. For example, dental problems, trigeminal neuralgia, or swelling of the larynx.

Ear hurts, how to treat?

Sometimes, if a child’s ear hurts, the parents don’t know what to do. If acute ear pain is not possible to see a doctor, you should use painkillers. For example, take a tablet of Solpadein, Tempalgin or Pentalgin. In some cases, it is possible to use vasoconstrictor ear drops. In addition, a solution of ammonia with camphor will help. Gauze is dipped into the solution and placed in the ear for a few minutes. This allows you to get rid of pain.

Drops for inflammation of the ear, treatment of otitis with ear drops

There are many diseases affecting the hearing organs. However, it is primarily a childhood infection and is the most common childhood infection for which antibiotics are prescribed ¹ . When this disease is detected, the otolaryngologist prescribes various drugs and medicines, among which there may be local remedies, including antibiotics, antiseptics, glucocorticoids, etc.

But with the wrong choice of drug, as well as due to non-compliance with the dosage, the treatment may be ineffective and lead to hearing loss and balance dysfunction ² .

First of all, you need to see a doctor so that he can determine the degree of the inflammatory process. Depending on the affected department, there are three types of this disease:

• External . The disease can occur as a result of water entering the lumen of the auditory canal (which is why it is often called “swimmer’s ear”), traumatic injuries, or the presence of a foreign body ³ .
• Medium . The risk factor is an increase in the incidence in the autumn-winter months due to the activity of respiratory viruses ⁴ .
• Internal (labyrinthitis) can rarely occur due to both acute and chronic ear infections and presents with nausea, vomiting, dizziness, tinnitus and hearing loss ¹ .

Types and features of otitis externa

Proper application of topical agents to the site of infection is a key element in the effective treatment of otitis externa ² .

In modern medicine, the following types of such drugs are distinguished:

• antibiotics – topical antibiotics are highly effective in treating otitis externa ² ;
• glucocorticoids – topical glucocorticoids reduce inflammation resulting in relief of itching and pain relief ² ;
• antiseptics and acidifying solutions – antiseptics such as alcohol and acetic acid have a broad spectrum of antimicrobial activity ² .

However, these medicines are not completely safe. Each local medication has contraindications and side effects. Therefore, it is necessary to carefully treat the medicine and strictly follow the rules of administration.

How to use drops for ear infections?

Such a medicine is not universal, so there is no single rule for their use. Depending on the stage of the disease and the components of the drug, different dosages are used.

For example, you can read the instructions for Otipax® ear drops for ear inflammation, which are suitable for both children and adults. This remedy is actively used for pain in the middle ear, as well as for viral or barotraumatic otitis media. It belongs to the group of anti-inflammatory drugs, as it effectively relieves pain. Otipax® acts very quickly: the pain begins to disappear within 5 minutes after instillation, and after 15 minutes, the inflammatory process decreases. It consists of two components – phenazone and lidocaine. The first reduces the temperature and relieves inflammation, and the second has an analgesic effect. These medicines work long enough, so you should not bury it often. 4 drops 2-3 times a day are enough to get rid of otitis media as quickly as possible.