Ear Drainage in Children

A draining ear is painful and alarming to see. It is often the result of a traumatic event or a chronic condition and should be medically treated as soon as possible.

Identification

• Ear drainage is fluid that drains out of the ear canal. Most often the drainage is from fluid build-up behind the eardrum caused by an ear infection. In some cases, the drainage is blood from an abrasion to the ear canal wall caused by a sharp object such as a cotton swab or Q-tip.

Anatomy

• The ear canal is a tube 26 millimeters long that runs from the outer ear to the eardrum. On the other side of the eardrum is the middle ear, which contains an air space and three tiny bones called the ossicles. The middle opens to the Eustachian tube that runs to the back of the nose or throat.

Causes

• When your child gets an ear infection it is called otitis media. This is an inflammation of the middle ear caused by a viral infection (common cold) or bacterial infection.
  When the middle ear becomes inflamed, fluid may eventually build up. In some cases, the fluid continues to build up to the point where the pressure causes the eardrum to burst, releasing the fluid into the ear canal.

Symptoms

• Pain and hearing loss are the most common symptoms of otitis media with effusion (fluid). If the infection is bacterial then your child will also have a fever and the fluid that drains out may smell.

Treatment

• Often an antibiotic is prescribed and an analgesic for pain such as Children's Tylenol is recommended. Your child's pediatrician will check the ears in two to three weeks to see if the infection has cleared and whether the hole is healed.
  If this becomes a chronic condition or the hole in the eardrum does not heal, the pediatrician will send you to an otolaryngologist who is and ear, nose, and throat specialist (ENT) and an audiologist to check your child's hearing.