Babies are very fragile, and how would you ever know if your baby has an ear infection? The easiest way is the baby might have a fever or by observing his mood. The baby gets fussier, crying and crankier more than usual; you must look out for some problems.
Next, to a common cold, the most common problem or infection in a kid is the ear infection. Ear infections are most common in children as compared to the adults but the grownups are still vulnerable to these infections. Unlike the ear infection in childhood, which could be treated easily and quickly, the signs of it in adults are more serious.
What Causes Ear Infections In Babies:
An ear infection also called as acute otitis media(R) is most often a viral or bacterial infection that affects the mid-ear or fills the space with air behind the eardrum that contains the small vibrating bones of the ear.
Ear infections are frequent and painful because of the inflammation that it causes and buildup of the fluids in the middle ear. Although the ear infection could clear up of their own, the treatment may begin with the pain and problems being monitored. Often such infections require antibiotics as a medication to overcome the virus. There could be long term problems too associated to the ear infections like persistent fluids in the middle ear or frequent infection and persisting infection! These could cause hearing problems and other severe complications if not treated early.
Toddler Ear Infection Symptoms:
Now, how to tell it’s an ear infection? Especially when the tots cannot talk, they cannot express the uneasiness they are going through.
- Especially when lying down a sensation of pain in the ear
- Tugging or pulling at an ear
- Difficulty in sleeping
- Crying or complaining more than usual
- Extremely more irritable than usual
- Difficulty in hearing or irritated and responding to sounds
- Loss of balance
- High Fever, 100 F (38 C) or more
- Fluid from the ear drained
- Some uneasiness and headache
- Loss of appetite in kids
Adults Ear Infection Symptoms:
General signs and symptoms in adults are:
- Ear pain
- Drainage of fluid from the ear
- Diminished hearing
Ear Infection Symptoms In Babies
- Fever
- Vomiting
- Trouble hearing
- Sleeplessness
- Ear tugging
- Poor appetite
- Diarrhea
- Ear drainage
- Fussiness or crankier than before.
What Are The Causes Of Ear Infection?
An ear infection happens when one of the Eustachian tubes(R) is swollen or blocked causing the fluid to accumulate in your middle ear. The Eustachian tubes are small tubes that connect from the back of the throat directly to each ear. The causes of this blockage could be:
- Allergies
- Sinus infections
- Excess mucus
- Colds
- Swollen or infected adenoids (tissue that trap harmful viruses and bacteria near your tonsils)
- Changes in air pressure
- Smoking
Factors For Ear Infection:
Ear infections happen mostly in young kids because they have the Eustachian tubes which are very tiny. Infants who are specially bottle fed might have higher cases of ear infection as compared to the ones breast-fed. Other factors are:
- Altitude changes
- Exposure to the cigarette smoke
- Pacifier use
- Climate changes
- Recent illness
- Recent ear infection
Toddler Ear Infection Treatment:
You surely want the earache to go away when your child gets it. But know that not every ache is an infection. The congestion due to cold could also make your kid fussier and feel as if the ears are painful and clogged. But that is not necessarily an infection. Sometimes the ear could even pain when the kid is teething, but that again is not an infection in the ear.
Also, note that not all the infections caused whether by bacteria or other reasons need antibiotics always. Some of these can go away by itself or the toddler ear infection with home remedies could also work. But as a parent, if the kid complains about an earache, do not wait. Amoxicillin, is the antibiotics recommended by most of the doctors which makes your kid feel better in a day.
The side-effects of antibiotics is not great to be recommended for younger kids as they could even cause stomachaches, vomiting, rashes, diarrhea, sometimes even allergic reactions and other serious problems. Treatment is necessary to any illness but we do not want to top up the recent illness with more of the discomfort either.
Bacteria just like any other living thing want to survive as long as possible and multiply too. They, very easily adapt to the environment and over the time the drugs do not affect them. Even though the weaker strains of bacteria get killed by the antibiotics, the stronger one multiplies successfully and spread. This is exactly why the overuse of antibiotics is not recommended. Consider holding off antibiotics for a couple of days depending on the kid’s immunity and considering certain factors. If the baby is lesser than 6 months, anyway, the antibiotics aren’t prescribed for them.
You can follow some toddler infection medicines and home remedies:
- Warm compress: the best way to treat the ear infection at home could be to place a warm and moist compress over your kid’s ear for 10-15 minutes. This could help in reducing the pain.
- Acetaminophen: The baby, if older than 6 months, could be given Acetaminophen to help relieve the fever and pain. This could be used based on doctor’s recommendation and instructions on the label of the bottle. A dose before the bed does well to the kid.
- Warm oil: Unless there is any fluid draining from the infected ears, a ruptured eardrum cannot be suspected. Place a few drops of slightly warmed olive oil or sesame oil in the affected area.
- Keep hydrated: The baby might have fluid draining but you still need to feed the baby with more of fluid as it can help open the Eustachian tube and drain the extra trapped fluid.
- Elevate the kid’s head: Slightly elevate the head of the baby to help in improving the baby’s sinus drainage. Do not place an extra pillow under the head directly, rather place it under the mattress.
- Homeopathic eardrops: This is one of the best ways to soothe. The extract of garlic, mullein, calendula, lavender or even olive oil may help to relieve the inflammation and pain.
Very importantly you must know when to call the doctor in such cases. When your baby has the following symptoms:
- High fever, more than 100.4 degree F and your baby is younger than 3 months.
- High fever of 102.2 degree F and your baby is older than 3 years.
- Discharge of blood from the ear or pus.
- Also in cases where there is no improvement of the infection over 2-3 days, you must visit the doctor.
