Acute otitis media, Antibiotics, Otitis media with effusion, Tympanostomy tube.
Root Cause of Disease
Acute otitis media (AOM) is a painful type of ear infection. It occurs when the area behind the eardrum called the middle ear becomes inflamed and infected.
The following behaviors in children often mean they have AOM:
- fits of fussiness and intense crying (in infants)
- clutching the ear while wincing in pain (in toddlers)
- complaining about a pain in the ear (in older children)
Symptoms
Infants and children may have one or more of the following symptoms:
- Crying
- Irritability
- Sleeplessness
- Pulling on the ears
- Ear pain
- Headache
- Neck pain
- A feeling of fullness in the ear
- Fluid drainage from the ear
- Fever
- Vomiting
- Diarrhea
- Irritability
- A lack of balance
- Hearing loss
Causes:
The eustachian tube can become swollen or blocked for several reasons:
- Allergies
- Cold
- The flu
- Sinus infection
- Infected or enlarged adenoids
- Cigarette smoke
- Drinking while laying down (in infants)
Home Remedies to treat AOM
Remedy- 1: Olive Oil
Materials : Olive oil
The use of olive oil for earaches is a folk remedy. There’s no solid scientific evidence to prove that drops of olive oil in your ear canal can soothe ear pain. But putting a few warmed drops of olive oil in the ear is safe and could be moderately effective.
It’s still a good idea to discuss this method with your doctor first, especially for children. Make sure the olive oil is no warmer than your body temperature by using a thermometer. This will help you avoid burning the eardrum.
Product Link: Olive Oil
Remedy – 2: Ginger
Materials: Ginger
Ginger has natural anti-inflammatory properties that can help soothe pain from earaches. Apply ginger juice, or strained oil that was warmed with ginger in it, around the outer ear canal. Do not put it directly into the ear.
Product Link: Ginger
Remedy- 3: Garlic
Materials: Garlic
Garlic has both antibiotic and pain-relieving properties. Soak crushed garlic for several minutes in warm olive or sesame oil. Strain the garlic out and apply the oil into the ear canal.
Product Link: Garlic
Other Remedies
Eucalyptus oil
In a bowl of boiling water, you should put a few drops of eucalyptus oil. Also, you should add one teaspoon of Vicks to the water. You should inhale the steam of this water. You should repeat it until you have noticed improvements in your condition and the pain is decreased. This earache home remedy will facilitate the drainage of the accumulated fluids from the infected ear, reducing the pressure.
Onion
It is a very available home remedy that you can use to treat earache [4]. Onions possess antibacterial and antiseptic properties, which can help you to rid of earache. You will need grated onions because you should extract the juice from them. Then, you should heat one tablespoon of this juice on low heat. You should put two to three drops of this oil in the ear where you have an earache. You should repeat it two to three times per day. You will need to crush a fresh onion. Then, you should wrap the onion in one piece of clean cloth. You should hold the cloth on the areas where you have earache for a period of five to ten minutes. You should repeat this earache’s home remedy several times per day.
Salt
You will need to heat four to five tablespoons of salt. Heat it until you have noticed that the salt has a brown colour. You should wrap the salt in a clean cloth. You should press the cloth over the infected ear for a period of two to five minutes every day. You should repeat this earache’s home remedy until you have noticed that you do not feel pain.
Preventions
The best thing to do to prevent ear disease is to take your child to a health service for regular ear checks from a health worker, nurse or doctor.
Sometimes ear disease doesn’t cause pain, so children show no symptoms. Even if they seem fine, children should have their ears checked at every visit to a health service.
Other ways to keep ears healthy include:
- remind children to wash their hands and faces regularly, especially before they play with bub
- encouraging children to eat healthy foods like fruit and vegetables
- reminding children to blow their nose in a tissue, put the tissue in the bin, and wash their hands
- keeping any objects out of children’s ears – except if is part of a health professional’s instructions
- not smoking around children
- taking children to a health service for their vaccinations.
