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Ear Infections Causes, Symptoms, And Treatment
Experiencing inner ear discomfort or constant pressure, pus drainage, or hearing loss may be symptoms of an ear infection. You can use over-the-counter (OTC) treatments or consult a doctor if your symptoms don't improve.
Ear infections can be either bacterial or viral infections. They can occur in your middle ear, the part of your ear just behind your eardrum, as well as the outer and inner ear. They often clear up on their own but can be painful due to inflammation or fluid buildup.
Ear infections can be chronic or acute. Acute ear infections are painful but short in duration. Chronic ear infections either don't clear up or recur many times. They can cause damage to the middle and inner ear, which is infrequently permanent.
Keep reading to learn about ear infections, including causes, symptoms, and treatment options.
Common symptoms of ear infections include:
These symptoms might persist or come and go. Symptoms may occur in one or both ears. Pain is usually more severe with a double ear infection, which is an infection in both ears.
Chronic ear infection symptoms may be less noticeable than those of acute ear infections.
Symptoms of an ear infection in childrenAlong with symptoms seen in adults, such as ear pain and drainage, young children and babies may show other signs of an ear infection, such as:
Usually, ear infections last fewer than 3 days, but they can persist for up to a week.
Children younger than 6 months who have a fever or other ear infection symptoms should see a doctor. Seek medical attention if your child has a fever higher than 102°F (39°C) or severe ear pain.
Ear infections are caused by viruses or bacteria, particularly the bacteria Streptococcus pneumoniaeor Haemophilus influenzae. They often result from a blockage of your Eustachian tubes, which causes fluid to build up in your middle ear. Eustachian tubes are small tubes that run from each of your ears directly to the back of your throat.
Causes of Eustachian tube blockage include:
Ear infections can also develop from infected adenoids. Your adenoids are glands on the roof of your mouth behind your nose that help protect your body from infections. Infections can spread from these glands to the nearby ends of your Eustachian tubes.
Risk factors for ear infectionsEar infections occur most commonly in young children because they have short and narrow Eustachian tubes. About 80 percent of children develop an acute ear infection at some point.
Infants who are bottle-fed also have a higher incidence of ear infections than their breastfed counterparts.
Other factors that increase the risk of developing an ear infection are:
Ear infections usually clear up without intervention, but they may recur. These rare but serious complications may follow an ear infection:
While most mild ear infections clear up without intervention, the following treatments can also help:
Home treatmentThese methods are effective in relieving the symptoms of a mild ear infection:
Medical treatmentIf your symptoms get worse or don't improve, see a doctor. They may prescribe antibiotics if your ear infection is bacterial, chronic, or doesn't appear to be improving.
Antibiotics don't help treat viral infections.
Medical treatment in childrenDoctors often take a wait-and-see approach when treating ear infections in children to avoid over-prescribing antibiotics, which can lead to antibiotic resistance.
A doctor may sometimes write you a prescription for antibiotics if symptoms are severe or don't resolve within 2 to 3 days. Alternatively, they may write you a prescription but recommend waiting first to see if your child's symptoms get better after 2 to 3 days.
It's important to finish your entire prescription. Often, a 7- or 10-day prescription of amoxicillin is prescribed.
You shouldn't give children aspirin without their doctor's instruction. Aspirin is a preventable risk factor for developing Reyes' syndrome, a rare disorder that causes brain and liver damage.
SurgerySurgery may be an option if your ear infection isn't eliminated with the usual medical treatments or if you have many ear infections over a short period.
Most often, ear tubes are placed in your ears to allow fluid to drain out. These tubes are surgically inserted into your eardrums. They eventually fall out and the holes heal over. Sometimes these holes need to be closed surgically.
A myringotomy surgery is another option. During this procedure, a doctor creates a small hole in your eardrum to let fluid drain and to relieve pain. The incision heals within a few days.
In cases that involve enlarged adenoids, surgical removal of your adenoids may be recommended.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends seeing a doctor when your child has:
For adults, it's a good idea to visit a doctor if your symptoms last longer than 2 or 3 days, or you have severe pain or a fever.
A healthcare professional will consider your symptoms and examine your ears with an instrument called an otoscope that has a light and magnifying lens. The examination may reveal:
This exam is rarely painful, but some children may be bothered.
Additional testsOther tests include:
The following practices may reduce the risk of ear infection:
Ear infections are caused by bacteria or viruses in your middle ear, which is the part of your ear behind your eardrum. Most ear infections clear up within about 3 days, but severe infections may need to be treated with antibiotics.
Ear infections are most common in children. It's important to see a doctor if you or your child develop severe pain, a fever over 102.2°F, ear drainage, or other concerning symptoms.
Earache
The pain must have been unbearable for Lilly, the two-year-old daughter of a friend of mine, who was staying with me overnight, which, of course, had to be the night that her ear became inflamed.
With her ear throbbing like a piercing hot rod in her head, nothing seemed to pacify Lilly at first, and I could recall why, having been forever picking up excruciating ear infections after I'd been swimming as a child.
Earache is usually caused by an infection (otitis media) in the middle ear, which causes pus to build up, in turn putting painful pressure on the eardrum. Kids are particularly prone to otitis media because their Eustachian tubes are both narrow and lie horizontally, so that they easily become blocked, especially after a cold, which was the case with Lilly. (As they grow older, the Eustachian tubes become wider and move into a sloping position, thus facilitating drainage.)
If your child is old enough to tell you that their ear hurts, of if you suspect that your baby is suffering from earache, it's important to ask your doctor to look inside the affected ear to see whether they have an infection, not least because an untreated middle-ear infection can result in a burst eardrum, which, if it happens regularly, may cause permanently impaired hearing.
Middle-ear infections sometimes require treatment with antibiotics, but it's also worth trying a few of the following natural remedies that helped to get Lilly and me through the rest of the night.
The first is to break open a garlic-oil capsule, pop a drop of the oil onto a small piece of clean cotton wool and then plug firmly it into the ear, but not so tightly that it increases the pressure within.
The garlic helps to fight the infection, and can reduce inflammation within a few hours.
The second is to enlist the aid of chamomile, a herb whose soothing effect can calm down distressed kids, which is why I gave Lilly a couple of small cups of chamomile tea, which I made with whole chamomile flowers (from the wonderful Jekka McVicar's chamomile plants) that I¿d harvested and dried myself.
The more worked up we become, the lower our pain threshold drops, and the more we suffer, which is why the calming chamomile helped to lessen Lilly's pain. (I remember my mum similarly giving the teenaged me chamomile tea and reading me stories that distracted me from the agonising pain that I endured when suffering from endometriosis ¿ her diversion therapies always seemed to help me to cope.).
And my third tip is that gently massaging a couple of drops of lavender essential oil onto the temples can also relieve pain because, like chamomile, this herb has a relaxing, sedative effect.
If the pain of earache puts your child off their food, and especially if a fever accompanies the infection (when you should discuss giving them antibiotics with your doctor), try tempting them with small meals ¿ perhaps rice, mashed potatoes, fish pie, scrambled eggs, porridge or cooling sorbet ¿ or encouraging them to snack on pieces of gentle fruits, such as mangoes, papayas, peaches or bananas.
Don't give them foods that require much chewing, like a slice of crunchy toast, however, because the chewing action can worsen the pain. The most important thing is to ensure that they drink plenty of liquids to keep them hydrated.
Finally, although studies have failed to support the anecdotal evidence that milk and milk products, such as yogurt and cheese, increase mucus production in some people, if your child¿s earache was caused, or is aggravated, by a cold and they have a blocked Eustachian tube, reducing their intake of dairy products for a few days may help to clear the blockage and give their body a chance to overcome the infection.
Easy to eat mashed vegetables
Serves 2
1kg root vegetables such as potato, carrots, parsnips, celeriac, turnip, washed and peeled
sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
extra virgin olive oil.
Chop the vegetables into inch-sized pieces and then place in a steamer to cook until tender. Place in a bowl and add salt and pepper to taste and mash well with a potato masher or place through a vegetable grinder to make all the vegetables smooth to the bite. Add a little olive oil to taste and serve with soft proteins such as a poached egg on top.
{"status":"error","code":"499","payload":"Asset id not found: readcomments comments with assetId=197901, assetTypeId=1"}Here's What A Swimmer's Ear Infection Feels Like-and How To Get Rid Of It
Dealing with a swimmer's ear infection just once is enough to make you wary of the pool or your next hangout by the lake, even on those steamy days when you could really use a cool dip. The "excruciating" ear pain, muffled hearing, and intense itchiness it can trigger are no joke, according to Kelvin M. Kwong, MD, an assistant professor of otolaryngology-head and neck medicine at Rutgers Robert Wood Johnson Medical School. Of course, all sorts of ear problems can be annoying, but swimmer's ear tends to be especially rough.
As if that's not enough of a drag, you'll naturally have to avoid swimming and be careful while bathing until the infection clears up. And it's not the kind of ailment that'll simply go away if you ignore the symptoms and cross your fingers. In fact swimmer's ear tends to get worse without proper treatment, and could even impact your hearing if you let it go for long enough, according to the Cleveland Clinic. It's just not something worth messing with—especially when there's a relatively simple fix for it (more on that in a minute).
If you suspect you're dealing with a gnarly ear infection, you're probably well aware of how terrible it feels. But what are the other possible signs of swimmer's ear, and what's the fastest way to get some relief? Here's what you should know.
What are the common causes of swimmer's ear?
First, some ear anatomy 101: Your ears have three distinct sections, including the outer, middle, and inner ear.1 Your outer ear includes the part of your ear you can see, along with your ear canal, which is a tube that connects the outer ear to the middle ear.
Swimmer's ear, which is medically known as otitis externa, is an outer ear infection—specifically one that hits the ear canal.2 When water gets trapped inside this tube—a perfectly dark and moist environment—bacteria or fungi can easily multiply and make themselves at home, which can ultimately lead to an infection.
You don't necessarily need to dunk your head into a pool to increase your risk, though swimming in freshwater, especially lakes, is riskier. It's also possible to get an outer ear infection from spending lots of time in humid weather or even just showering if enough moisture gets stuck inside your ear canal, Yin Ren, MD, PhD, an assistant professor in the department of otolaryngology head and neck surgery at the Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center, tells SELF.
Some people are more likely to develop swimmer's ear than others, Elliott Kozin MD, surgeon at Massachusetts Eye and Ear and assistant professor of otolaryngology–head and neck surgery at Harvard Medical School, tells SELF. It's more common in children and if you've had ear surgery in the past, you may be more prone to all types of ear infections, he says.
Other risk factors include having a skin condition like psoriasis or eczema in the ear; using dirty earbuds or hearing aids; certain chemicals in hair products like hair dyes or hairsprays; producing too little earwax; and injury to the ear canal from cotton swabs or other objects you may use to try to clean your ears.
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What do swimmer's ear symptoms feel like?
There's no sugarcoating it: Swimmer's ear symptoms suck. One reason for that is there's "hardly any soft tissue between the bone and skin" in your ear canal, Courtney Voelker, MD, PhD, board-certified neurotologist and director of the adult and pediatric cochlear implant program at Pacific Neuroscience Institute in Santa Monica, tells SELF. "The skin is literally laying on the bone." This makes the area pretty sensitive. "When there is any swelling between the bone and skin, it pulls the skin away from the bone, and that can be extremely painful," adds Dr. Voelker.
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