How to Treat an Ear Canal Infection

Ear canal infections are one of the most common maladies one can experience. Symptoms are generally defined as intense pain in one or both ears. Luckily, ear canal infections are easily to treat through oral and topical medications.

Things You'll Need

• Washcloth
• Warm Water
• Pain relief medicine
• Vegetable oil
• Dropper
• Prescription medication

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Instructions

Treat an Ear Canal Infection

• 1

  Soak the washcloth in warm water. Test it against your skin to make sure it's not too hot.

• 2

  Apply the warm compress to the ear. This is the easiest way to comfort someone who has an ear infection. The warm washcloth is especially effective for masking the pain of a child's ear infection enough so that they can fall asleep at night.

• 3

  Take an over the counter pain medicine. These medicines are typically used to treat muscle pain or headaches, but they will also relieve pain in the ear. The adult recommended dosage is usually 1 to 2 tablets. Children should have 1/2 to 1 full tablet.

• 4

  Warm up some vegetable oil. Fill the dropper with it and put several drops into the afflicted ears.

• 5

  Take prescription medication as directed by your doctor. The most common type of prescription medication to treat ear infections is Amoxicillin. It is generally easy for children to take because it doesn't taste terrible. Usually it is taken 3 times per day for about 1 week, but your dosing may be different, depending on the severity of your ear infection.