What to Expect With an Ear Infection

Ear infections are common in childhood, but most of them clear up on their own within a few days. Knowing what to expect with an ear infection can help you decide on the appropriate treatment.

Symptoms

• The most common symptoms of an ear infection are pain or a feeling of blockage in the ears, fever, headache and drainage from the ears. You should seek medical attention if the symptoms last longer than a day or if blood or pus drains from the ear.

Complications

• Ear infections can cause short or long-term hearing loss in some patients. Even long-term hearing loss usually rectifies itself eventually. If the eardrum is ruptured, surgery may be necessary to repair it.

Diagnosis

• Doctors use lighted instruments called otoscopes to look inside the ear and identify infection. By using a pneumatic otoscope, a physician can blow air into the ear to determine whether fluid is preventing the eardrum from vibrating.

Treatment

• Doctors usually wait at least 72 hours to see if an ear infection clears on its own. Numbing eardrops can help relieve pain if the ear is not draining. Over-the-counter pain relievers may help ease discomfort as well. Antibiotics can help clear some ear infections, and surgery to insert drainage tubes is sometimes necessary.

Prevention

• According to the Mayo Clinic, children who are kept away from other sick children and secondhand smoke are less likely to develop ear infections. Babies should breastfeed until at least six months of age to give them antibodies to help fight ear infections. Bottle-fed babies should be held upright. Prevnar is a vaccine to protect children against pneumonia and meningitis, but it can also reduce the risk of ear infections in some children.