How to Identify Ear Infections

Ear infections are a common illness in children. An ear infection is usually caused by a build up of fluid in the middle ear. Infants and young children are more susceptible to ear infections than adults. Ear infections often follow a cold or upper respiratory infections. It is easier to identify an ear infection in adults or older children because they can provide a more accurate description of their symptoms but with infants or very young children an ear infection may be overlooked because adults do not recognize the signs.

Instructions

• 1

  Look for obvious signs of infection such as pain and redness of the ear. Even if the a child is too young to tell you that he has pain in his ear you should be able to notice redness or swelling of the ear which would indicate the presence of infection.

• 2

  Observe your child's behavior. If a young child is tugging or pulling at her ear the chances are likely that she may have an ear infection.

• 3

  Notice whether your child has any symptoms of cold such as runny nose, cough or fever. These symptoms often accompany an ear infection. Symptoms of a cold may appear before any signs of ear infection.

• 4

  Notice whether your infant or toddler is unusually fussy, cranky or crying excessively. A young child with an ear infection will express her pain and discomfort through crying more than usual.

• 5

  Observe whether your child has difficulty sleeping. Does he doze off then repeatedly awaken crying and cranky? It is difficult for a child with a painful ear infection to fall into a sound sleep. Even the slightest brush to the affected ear can cause enough pain to awaken the child.

• 6

  Notice whether there is a loss of appetite. Children and even adults may experience a loss of appetite and possibly even diarrhea with the presence of an ear infection.

• 7

  Observe whether there is any difficulty hearing. This may be more noticeable with older children and adults but difficulty hearing can also be detected in infants by observing their response to your voice and other sounds. Difficulty hearing can also be a sign of ear infection.

• 8

  Notice whether there is any pus or fluid in or draining from the ear canal. It is common for ear infection to occur when there is a build up of fluid in the middle ear. The observation of drainage from the ear is a signal that ear infection is present.