Ear Infection - Skokie, IL

This is abstract is a bit hard to read but I think it is pretty convincing that it is ok to wait a couple of days to see if the infection will resolve on its own.

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/14973951?ordinalpos=1&...

C.,

I may be repeating what others have said, but my advice is based on my own experience with my daughter. When she was about 6 months old she got her first ear infection. She was miserable and given antibiotics. It was clearly obvious that she needed them because she had a high fever and was very lethargic. However, she subsequently had several more before she was 10 months old. My doctor kept giving her different antibiotics because the infections got increasingly worse. If we would have left them to "heal" on their own she may have had hearing loss. At 10 months she needed tubes and now at 22 months she still has them. In fact she was just at the pediatric ear nose and throat doctor and her tubes are in tact and working. We haven't had an ear infection in a year! I trusted my pediatrician and the specialist she sent us to see. Thankfully my daughter has no scarring or hearing loss due to her ear infections, but I believe that is because we did everything possible to clear them up as soon as possible.

My son has had 4 ear infections over the past 15 months. After taking antibiotics, they have all cleared up with no side effects from the meds. My understanding is that if they do not clear up, they can move into the eyes and other areas. It could become more difficult to treat and painful if not taken care of.

C., please DO put your daughter on the ear infection medicine and follow the doctor's instructions until the medicine has been used completely. Your daughter may seem fine now but she will most likely not fight off the infection on her own. This is not like a cold where the body can take care of it all on its own. Most doctors will not give out antibiotics unless they are needed. Medicating a child for something like an ear infection is routine and should not be cause for major concern.

If you don't give her the medicine and she gets worse, she can become feverish, lose her appetite, become dehydrated, which can send her to the hospital and can be life threatening, and her inner ear could become scarred from the infection causing hearing loss. I don't mean to scare you but these are possible. IF you do nothing, she will become sicker and the infection can spread.

My son, who is now 19, never had any symptoms that he had ear infections. The only time I knew he was sick was when he voluntarily took a nap. There were many times he went to the doctor with no complaints other than napping on his own and the doctor found an ear infection. All I'm saying is be grateful your daughter is not miserable now and go ahead and treat her with the medicine so that she stays happy and doesn't feel sick.

As your daughter grows and you experience more health issues and learn more about your daughter's behavior you will find that you can trust your judgement more and more. This time, go ahead and trust your doctor and give your daughter the medicine.

Let us know how she does.
B.

If you don't relieve the fluid behind her ear the ear drum could burst. However, some ear infections have become immune to antibiotics. So the antibiotic you have may not clear the infection. All 3 of my children had to get ear tubes due to excessive ear infections and we went through all the antibiotics including antibiotic shots in the legs every 3 days until the stubborn infection was gone. Your very lucky that she remains a happy baby. We had one infection where one of the twins couldn't sleep more than 2 hours. That was a rough couple of days on vacation and no doc to change the antibiotic. Good luck!
Jenny

My daughter recently had her first ear infection as well, adn dr. gave antibiotics (10 mos) and it cleared up. What I would recommend you also give your daughter is probiotics (sold at Walgreens pharmacy). This helps to replace the good bacteria that is also killed by the antibiotics so she is not susceptible to other stuff. Otherwise, I think it's okay for a child to get antibiotics if they are needed.

Good luck!

Many doctors are not giving antibiotics for mild ear infections and are instead giving you a prescrition to have filled if the symptoms don't resolve on their own. They have found that many times antibiotics don't shorten the recovery times of mild infections. This is not something you should decide on your own. You need to talk to your doctor about your feelings and both of you make an informed decision. You don't want to do any thing that would harm your child and feel guilty later.

Honestly I would feel safer and have more peace of mind by giving an antibiotic than not giving it. There is a lot of talk to on the news about antibiotic resistance, of course you should be concerned but no one should use that as an excuse to not seek treatment.
Good Luck!

If an ear infection is caught early, then most antibiotics will help and prevent permanent damage. Though as with everything, some infections are resistant. My children never had infections but I do know families that had mild to very bad resulting in tubes placed. I can understand resistance to medication (give it for evrything) but sometimes it really is needed. My husband would prefer to give it for any little thing while I hold back unless really needed. For reassurance, I would call the doctor's office. Also, is your doctor pushy with meds for every little thing?

My daughter had the same thing about 6 months ago. And she was happy as can be so I didn't understand medicating her if she was fighting it off happily. I asked the doctor what would happen if I didn't give the meds and she said...that's fine, I could let her try and fight it herself and just watch for fever or other symptoms. Well I never noticed anything else and she was fine. I've heard that a child's body needs to learn to fight it off or they will be susceptible to them. My advice would be to let her try to fight it off herself.

C., you are around the ages of my sons-sort of in between. Personally, I'd say don't mess around with ear infections. If your doc says to put that baby on antibiotics, do it. Besides, if you don't treat her as recommended and she gets sicker and you take her back, you might be refused treatment. I don't know for sure and don't mean to scare you but if you take a child to the doctor, or even yourself, be prepared to accept the treatment or don't go. But don't ignore an ear infection. It is possible that she could develop additional ones and could have a hearing problem if not treated over a long period of time. Good luck.
S.

ear infections are nothing to play around with. I understand you do not want to over medicate your daughter but when there is an infection so close to the brain I would trust your doctors adivce. You know your daughter and if she is normally healthy then using antiobiotics correctly when she really needs them is the way to go. Use all of the medication even if she seems better. Only use the antibiotics prescribed for her, and watch for symptoms of relalps. If your daughter gets congested an over the counter decongestant might prevent future ear infections by removing the conditions where bacteria can grow. It saved me from a childhood if repeated ear achs. I took Triamic growing up but I am sure the peditrician can recomend what he or she prefers. My son also had to have tubes put into his ears to drain excess fluids because he also had multiple ear infections as a young child. My daughter has only had one in her whole life and she is almost 8. Every child is different. Keep in mind strep, menigitius and MERSA are all oppertunistic very serious illness which can present like a cold. Not to scare you but somthing to keep in mind before disregarding doctors orders. Keep in mind that antibiotics when used correctly and sparingly can make things a whole lot better for those with bacterial infections.
Best Wishes.
Peggy

As others have said, talk to your doctor about your concerns. If you don't like what they say, then get another opinion from a different pediatrician, but do follow the doctor's advice. Yes, the body does need to fight infections off on its own to help build good immunities, but some infections overpower and need antibiotics. Ear infections, aside from rupturing eardrums if they become severe, can also lead to meningitis. You might be lucky and have one of those kids who doesn't get difficult when sick so you'll never really know how bad she's feeling. My 19 year old son was like that and I'm somewhat cavalier when it comes to going to the doctor and am also a proponent of letting the body fight on its own. But my attitude, combined with his lack of complaining, led to some very severe conditions when he was younger that I could have helped prevent.

Consider yourself fortunate to have a child who is pleasant when she's sick, but from one mom who's never liked medication to another, please go by a doctor's advice when it comes to an infection.

C.- Antibiotics do not "cure" ear infections. you are much better putting a drop of hydrogen peroxide in her ear with an entric (such as olive oil or coconut oil) or you can put a drop or 2 in without. This is a much more effective healing technique!!

Up her probiotics as well!!

cheers

T.

Hi C.,

My boys are prone to ear infections. My eldest had tubes in his ears for chronic ear infections when he turned one. He averaged 1 infection every three weeks from 6-12 months of age. The antibiotics always clear them up, however, with him being in daycare at the time he was always sick and it always went right to the ears. (I stayed home from work with the subsequent babies due to this reason)

My 11 month old is currently battling his first ear infection. We're on our third round of antibiotics. If there's no history, typically doctors will start out with a mild antibiotic such as amoxicilon and go fom there. Right now he's on Augmentin which is considered a stronger antibiotic and that seems to be clearing it up.

We choose to medicate because we're fearful of rupturing the eardrums. Ear infections can also cause speech delay which is also a reason why we're not so conservative with antibiotics. At this age, babies are absorbing everything we say and I certainly don't want my words to sound clouded.

We choose tubes for our eldest son who was chronic because we didn't want to use antibiotics for long term or for maintenance. Short term should be ok.

Like some of the other Moms, I had to deal with eari infections with my daughter when she was litle, we were in Doc office 1 every month, he refused to put tubes in, we did antibiotics. he told me that the infections usually go awaay around age 2- 3 just as mysteriously as they came. Sure enough she never had an ear infection after age 2 1/2.

My son now is 6 years and we have been going thorugh a lot of ear issues and it only started a few months ago. Doc said to try Xylitol ( there is XClear for babies,a nose sparay..google it and read about it). Doc sais he wants to put him on preventative med for 6 weeks and see if we can get rid of it. He also may need to have his adenoids and tonsils removed, because they can cause the water build up in the middle ear as well.

Google XClear, and discuss with your doc. I am very lucky I have used the same Ped for last 19 years and he does not advocate medication unless absolutely necessary, so when he tells e my child needs it, I trust him.

Hope she gets better soon.

One thing I noticed about the advice you are getting: a lot of people are dealing with children who have frequent infections. It sounds like this is one of your daughter's first experiences with it...based on that I would not be overly concern about tubes or speech issues...if she has made it 12 months without an infection, you are likely not dealing with something that drastic. Of course, if she has had them frequently in the past, then that is obviously an issue for the doctor.
Maybe this has already been mentioned but ear infections can be either viral or bacterial. If she has a bacterial infection, the antibiotics will clear it up. If it is viral, they will not do a thing. Unfortunately, there is no way to tell which kind of infection she has.
They will both clear up on their own and many doctors today are saying that they prefer NOT to give antibiotics since both forms of infection will clear up on their own. My doctor said that he gives antibiotics if the child is in a lot of pain or not sleeping etc.
I think you can avoid the medication unless your daughter's situation worsens: then, of course, you would revisit the question, especially in an attempt to ease her pain (even though, if it is viral, that won't help :(

Good luck!

C.-
Below is the treatment we use for our son and he has only had one minor ear infection and did not need any antibiotics. I hope she feels better soon. This is from the chiropractor that my son sees.
K.

Natural Alternatives to Treating Ear Infections and Relieving Pain:

Get your child checked for a chiropractic adjustment. If there is a misalignment of the spine affecting nerve and muscle function, the adjustment will help by enhancing proper drainage and function.
Limit the intake of sugar and absolutely no dairy. Processed sugar is a challenge to the body and feeds bacteria and viruses. Dairy is acidic and mucus producing.
Add garlic to your child’s diet, it is a natural anti-bacterial/fungal/viral/parasitic. A fresh clove can be chopped into various foods such as sweet potatoes or mixed with olive oil
If there is infected fluid in the ear and no perforation of the eardrum (check with your pediatrician first), add a drop or two of some of the following (best done when sleeping):
Warm olive oil (not hot) mixed with garlic cloves
Garlic oil: anti-microbial
Mullein Flower: anti-inflammatory, decongestant
If there is pain in the ear, try adding a drop or two of St. John’s Wort oil to help nerve pain.
Give your child Echinacea to boost the immune system, 3x a day. For infants 4 months to 25 pounds use 1 Echinacea per day; open the capsule and put in food or water.
Give your child probiotics daily: ½ capsule per 40 pounds; open capsule and put in food or water
Give your child Fish Oil daily: ½ teaspoon per 40 pounds
Use appropriate dose of acetaminophen or ibuprofen only if pain seems unbearable and sleep is not possible.
Reasons to question the use of antibiotics:

Nearly 2/3 of children with uncomplicated ear infections recover from pain and fever within 24 hours of diagnosis without antibiotic treatment. Over 80% recover within 1-7 days.
Other countries more commonly use the wait-and-see approach that was recommended even by the American Academy of Pediatricians in 2004. At that time 88% of US pediatricians agreed with the wait-and-see approach… as of 2007 only 15% of them actually followed the guideline. For example, with this approach and others like it, the Netherlands rate of bacterial resistance is about 1%, compared with 25% in the US.
The Journal of the American Medical Association found that children give antibiotics for ear infections were two to six times more likely to develop a recurrence than children who did not receive the antibiotic treatment, begging the question: What are the long-term effects of antibiotic use?
Things that may contribute to the cause of ear infections:

Milk: Dairy is acidic and mucus producing, promoting inflammation and infection… avoid it.
Ear Wax: If build-up is noticeable, insert a few drops of hydrogen peroxide, let it remain in the ear a few minutes, and then rinse with a few bursts of water from a syringe.
Pacifiers have been shown to cause a 40% increased risk of ear infections (Pediatrics 2000)
Teething causes increased stress to the area and child’s body, leaving them susceptible to infection. This is an extremely important time to make sure your child’s immune system is at its strongest by employing many of the things mentioned above in a preventative measure.

Whenever my child had an ear infection he was screaming in pain so it always seemed imperative to get it dealt with asap. However, if it isn't bothering your child you could wait a bit. There is something to be said with overusing antibiotics, and that goes for all those antibacterial products as well. My child did have some reccurance of the ear infections but not too bad, and he grew out of them when he got bigger. If she starts suffering you will want to get her past it believe me. One other thing, I don't agree with the poster who said you have to do what the doctor says, etc. That is ridiculous. OF COURSE, you have every right to make an informed desicion about the prescribed method of treatment and or get a second opinion, and in fact most doctors would tell you that.

I'm not sure what would happen if you don't give meds... I can tell you it can get worse, and usually they don't give meds unless it's bad. Sometimes they are pussy. My son had lots of them when he was younger. He just had one that got worse instead of better after the 5 day dose of antiobotics, so they switched to 10 day. So maybe it was pretty infected and that's why she gave you a 10 day?! I would say call back and discuss your feelings on why you don't want to give medication. Good luck- at least she's a happy sick baby :-)

I would say maybe hold off for a few days on the antibiotics. They are great at battling bacterial infections but are really h*** o* the rest of the body. If you do decide to put her on them then make sure to start her on probiotics as well. That will help maintain the good bacteria in the rest of her body.
I just discovered something the other day that was wonderful. My son is 7 and really hasn't had any real problems with ear infections. On Christmas Eve he started complaining that his ear hurt. He wasn't running a fever but we could tell he was absolutely miserable. I went to Walgreens and picked up some Similisan Earache Relief Drops. Within 5 minutes the pain was gone. And he has been fine ever since. Just had to share that. Good luck on whatever you decide.

T. S.

I suggest chiropractic as well they have to refer out if it is a true infxn for antibiotics anyway. An adjustment really helped my son with colic and then later with teething and ear aches. My son felt significantly better as did I because everything was explained to me so throughly. He did a more complete physical then our MD. I go to him with questions because they always give me well explained answers. Maybe just my experience but i was always treated well and the doc worked with my MD to make sure I would get antibiotics when necessary

go to www.seagateproducts.com they have the best ear solution for little ones, it is recommended by a peciatrics hospital in calif. their nose spray helps to clear up sinus problems

I would call the doctor and ask if you could hold off on the meds to see if it might clear up on its own. Tell the doctor your concerns and listen to his/her reasons for the meds. New thinking on ear infections is not to always treat them with antibiotics because some clear up on their own. My daughter had recurring infections and still gets them occasionally as an adult. The one time we did not medicate her (she was 10 and didn't want to go to the doctor that day and said the pain wasn't that bad) her eardrum ruptured the next morning. It's pretty scary seeing blood dripping out of your child's ear! At least she was old enough to tell me her pain issues. Your daughter's infection could go from bad to worse pretty quickly I would think, and then there could be hearing loss issues if it does.

I read that most pediatrician's recommend antibiotics just because they think that the parents expect it. I would call the dr. and just say you're willing to wait it out if it's not that serious, especially because she's not really in pain. Of course, if he thinks the cold won't go away or that it really is necessary, then I would give her the meds. But I would definitely ask first. I hope she feels better soon!

Ear infections are nothing to mess with. My son would get them all the time without ever having symptoms in his ears. My daughter got so many she ended up with tubes and hearing loss that we weren't aware of until after the tubes were inserted. Give your little one the antibiotics, its important to get the infection out of her ears. You dont want to have her get any hearing loss.

I'm surprised your ped insists on antibiotics! Nowadays, I thought most Dr's let these things run their course unless they get seriously worse. I'd ask for a second option...

Best,
R.

My ped said that 80% of ear infections would clear up on their own without meds. I would wait to see if your daughter gets any outward symptoms. Very common, nothing to stress about.

Hi C., I would get the prescription and if she seems to get worse, then give it too her. Also, you have to be careful. Your daughter could have a high tolerance for pain and you would not want an infection in the ears to damage anything in there. I don't like to medicate either, but I also don't want to damage them. My son is 4 and my daughter is 2. He had a ton of infections and she had none. Do you trust your DR? Or do they pill pop to just get you out of the clinic? That is something more to think about. My DR is more on the conservative side. I think you should think about how much you value his opinion with respect to giving drugs.

Hello-

I personally would give her the antibiotics. Ear infections can damage their ear drums if left untreated. An ear infection is not something that you want to prolong. Giving antibiotics once in a while will not hurt.

A.- married 16 years, with three children. Ages, 15, 9, and 4.

If she has a diagnosed ear infection, Hyland's homeopathic makes ear drops that will help greatly! Their teething tablets are fabulous. It is OTC and can find it at Walgreen's, Whole Foods, etc. Studies do show if it is a middle ear infection that antibiotic treatment does not help it, in fact, it cuts down the healing time by 2 days...get her on some probiotics, I like FloraBaby by Renew Life at www.smartbomb.com and limit dairy until it goes away. Hyland's also makes a Cold plus Vitamin C tablets, both will be great to use at this time.

You can google so much of this stuff and find the studies that show about antibiotic treatments for ear infections. Print them out and have an open discussion with your doc and exercise your right as a patient, we often forget about those rights. And if you are not pleased, there are plenty others out there! :)

Happy, Healthy New Year!
J. W. MPH
Wellness Educator/Lifestyle and Wellness Consultant

my son had multiple ear infections- probably even more then I realized and I think thats what caused his speech delay later. The dr. said imagine being under water and people talking to you. They do not hear well. Since your daughter hasnt been on an antibiotic before they probably gave her something like amoxicillin or augmentin. they dont usually give a stronger anticiotic unless these have proven to be not affective. I would recommend giving it. Good luck and Happy new Year!