Ear infections are one of the most common
infections we see in the doctors office. It can affect kids and adults alike. But it's
not something that you always need to go to the doctor for. In this video, we're going
to review some simple things that you can do at home to get through one.
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Ok, so today we are going to be going through what you can do at home to alleviate and help
you or your child through that ear infection. For a better discussion on what the different
symptoms of an ear infection are, and when you should go to the doctor, make sure you
click up here and get some great concise information to help you decide what to do.
Now, when we talk about treatment, it''s important to understand that there are two
main types of infections that we see. One is bacterial and one is viral. I don't want
to get too much into doctor lingo, but it's important to understand the difference because
there are very different ways in which you treat it. When an ear has a bacterial infection
we call it Acute Otitis Media, these are a lot less common. The second type we call Otitis
Media with effusion. These tend to be viral Now these names don't mean a whole lot to
you, all you care about is your kid's ear is killing them, but it makes a big difference
to your doctor. Because depending on what the ear drum looks like gives us a good idea
which is which. Ultimately it matters, because there are significantly different treatment
approaches that we take for each of them. So why does this matter? Well, it's important
to know because antibiotics are worthless in treating a virus. If the Ear drum is red
and bulging out at you then its more likely to be a bacterial infection and may benefit
from an antibiotic. Now, if the ear is just red and angry looking, but not bulging out,
then it's more likely to be a virus and the antibiotic would be worthless. So red
and bulging, likely needs an antibiotic, Just a red ear drum, likely doesn't.
I'm not going to go into depth today on the dangers of overusing antibiotics, Maybe
I'll address that in another video, but the short of it is, that the more we use antibiotics
unnecessarily, the less they are going to work when we really need them. Unfortunately,
ear infections are one of the leading reasons for unnecessary use of antibiotics. So hopefully
watching this video will help you be a little better educated as you speak to your doctor
on your options for treating this. Unfortunately, for you the patient, there
really isn't a way to know what you or your child have without an exam.
So does that mean that you need to run to the doctor or emergency room every time your
kid complains of ear pain? Thank goodness the answer is no. So again refer to my other
video about when you should be seen for an ear infection.
So what are things that you can do to help you through this?
It's important to remember, that since most ear infections are caused by a virus, your
body will often clear it on its own. Because of that, most of our treatments will focus
on helping with the symptoms, while your body does what it does best and fight it off on
its own. So the most effective thing you can start
with in controlling the symptoms are simply taking some over the counter pain relievers
like ibuprofen or Tylenol. Both can be very effective in controlling
the pain and symptoms related to an ear infection. Just follow the dosing instructions on the
bottle. Now, some may not know this, but often we can get better relief by alternating both
medications. You may want to talk to your doctor about this, but to my patients, I often
will recommend taking each one every 6 hours. That means that if you stagger them, you can
alternate taking one every 3 hours. Taking something more consistently, usually gives
pretty good pain control, and will control symptoms better.
The next thing that can provide some relief is using a warm compress or heating pad and
alternating that with a cold compress or ice. Be careful not to leave heating pads on for
a long time, but applying heat to the area can oftentimes provide some relief. You can
then alternate this with a cold pack or ice, to help control the pain and symptoms related
to the infection. Those are a couple things that we know work
through different studies, but there are plenty of things that are done and used that can
provide some relief. Here are a few ideas simple ideas that can help.
One thing you can do is have your child sleep with the affected ear up. We can use gravity
to help relieve some of the pressure. Also you can apply some gentle downward and
outward traction on the ear lobe while they are laying on their back. This won't cure
the infection but it can help relieve some of the built up pressure.
Some things many may advocate using are putting things like
* Garlic oil * Tea tree oil
* Ginger * Olive oil
In the ear, A few drops of body temperature oil in the
ear can provide some relief. I wouldn't count on it to cure a true bacterial infection
but it won't hurt and can provide some relief. Although there aren't any great studies
showing these things are effective, they aren't felt to be harmful. There are plenty of people
out there that will swear by them. But remember, most ear infections are caused by a virus
and will get better on their own anyway. So just because you didn't go into the doctor
and get an antibiotic and it got better it doesn't necessarily mean that it was from
these treatments. The only caution that I would give in trying
some of these alternatives, is that if there is drainage coming from the ear, I would recommend
getting that checked out before you start putting things in there. If you have a ruptured
ear drum, you don't want to be putting drops in there.
A couple things that I do recommend against, are ear candles and even worse Fire cones.
This is where you use a candle in the ear or a rolled up piece of newspaper in the ear
and light it on fire. This has been looked at, and has not been shown to be effective,
and really can be quite dangerous. The most important thing to remember about
any of the home remedies is that if your symptoms persist or are getting worse after a couple
days then go in and get seen. Now last thing that I want to talk about and
is maybe the most important. What are some things that you can do to prevent your kids
from getting them in the first place? May I suggest
* Get your kids vaccinated for both flu and pneumonia and the bacteria hemophillius influenza.
These are standard common childhood immunizations. * Wash your hands and teach your kids to wash
hands frequently * Get rid of the constant use of pacifier-
In one study it showed that elimination of pacifier use decreased ear infections by 1/3
* Don't give infants bottles to sleep with-Besides dental problems also gives increased risk
for ear infections * Stop smoking-smoke exposure for your kids
increases risk of ear infections * Breast Feed your baby at least 6 months
preferably to a year We'll that's about all I wanted to share
today about ear infections. Before I go, I want you to remember these simple take home
points: First, most ear infections are viral and don't
need to be treated. Second, try and control the symptoms and if
that doesn't work or the symptoms persist for a few days then go to the doctor.
And finally, remember to take those steps that we just reviewed to prevent ear infections
from happening in the first place. So there you have it, hopefully you've learned
something today about ear infections and now feel more comfortable about how to deal with
them. Remember to check out the notes below to review
the things that we talked about. Also, Go ahead and comment below as well.
What are your experiences with ear infections? What things have you been found to be helpful?
Are there things that you have found useful that we may have not discussed yet? There
are certainly a lot of things out there that can be helpful so let us know what you think
OK so if you find this information helpful, don't forget to like, subscribe and share
this video with your friends and check out our other videos on this channel. This is
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Remember my purpose in sharing this information for you is to educate you in things that you
can think about in trying to make decisions in your own health. In no way should be taken
as direct medical advice to you in your own situation. Please consult your own doctor
for concerns regarding your specific situation. So until next time, This is FamilyMed with
Dr. Erik Richardson, remember to please take care of your body because it's the only
one you have!