My son is almost 2. He had a very minor ear infection about 3 weeks ago and after a round of antibiotic seemed to be doing better. He's had a clear runny nose for a while and a congested cough every so often. I noticed on Christmas day that he had a large amount of snotty looking fluid in his left ear. He has not had any problems eating and he's been playing very well. He has not been tugging at his ears or complaining at all.
I called the doctor yesterday and he told me that he couldn't tell if it was an ear infection without looking at it. Of course, we are out of town and we are about 45 minutes away from the nearest city with an urgent care center. He told me that if he is not fussy or acting sickly that I can probably wait until we get home.
I noticed another glob in his ear today. (Again, no fussiness or refusal to eat or play). My concern is that we are flying back home on Monday. If this is a ruptured ear drum, would the air pressure hurt? Are there any ear plugs that would really work? Or could I buy ear drops just in case? Should we venture into town to see urgent care tomorrow?
If this is not an ear infection or ruptured ear drum what else could it be? I have asked everyone and no one has ever seen this before!
Thanks everyone, for your advise. He woke up this morning in a lot of pain and was screaming and crying which is not his personality. I knew it was his ear right away. Maybe he has a high tolerance for pain and it just became unbearable for him. We took him to the closest emergency room here and they were able to prescribe some medication and gave us some samples. I think we will drive in instead of fly to be on the safe side.
I don't know .... I'd take him to a doctor.
I had an ear infection myself 3 years ago and flew and I was the most miserable I have been in many years. Worse still, the ear didn't properly unplug for months. I'm not kidding, it stayed swollen and plugged up even though the infection passed for many months. It was awful.
We were out of town around Thanksgiving and my dd's left ear acted the same way. Woke up fine, then around noon, it was screaming and crying like mad (something that she's never, ever done when she had an ear infection). I gave her Tylenol and ear drops, but nothing helped. Took her to ER right away (even though she didn't have a fever or anything else, but she had major pain!) Dr. said it was ear infection in both ears, but the left one was much worse. Gave her Motrin and antibiotics and also told me about the "rupture" possibility. The next day, she was all fine, but the following day, sure enough it ruptured. This never happened before and she had a few ear infections in the past. The Dr. said not to worry, but the flight home may make it worse. I put some cotton in her infected ear and the oozing finally went away after a couple days. Thank God for that b/c she was all done by the time we had to fly home. As a precaution, I made an appointment with her regular Dr. in town just to make sure both her ears are fine. She was fine, but the scare was pretty big. Good luck.
I would give him a decongestant an hour before you fly. If there is any fluid in his head/ears his ears could block during flight. This has happened to me and it is very painful and can sometimes cause the eardrum to rupture. If you can get him checked out by a doc that would be best. Also give him something to drink during takeoff and landing. It helps equalize the pressure in his ears. I have been a flight attendant for 20 years and have seen too many kids in agonizing pain because of blocked ears. The doc will be able to give you the best meds for the situation.
What day did you fly in? If it was the day before the snotty stuff started comming out, it may have been the airplane that helped push out the stuff. His ear could have had a build up from the infection and it is just now comming out. If he is not in pain and is acting normal, you really shouldn't worry. The body has an amazing way of letting you know when something is wrong and children don't ignore it like adults do, he would let you know.
I would take him to the closest doctor or drive the 45 minutes to the nearest city with urgent care before flying. You certainly don't want to mess with his ears; and for him to be in pain while flying.
I don't know if this will help, but all the sudden, one day my son started crying so bad and he said his ear hurt. We took him to the doc and doc said he had an ear infection. He told me that it may "rupture" on it's own and that this is okay. If it happened there would be a lot of gunk coming out, but that it was nothing serious. The rupturing never happened and antibiotics helped it go away, but I would get definately get some ibuprofen until you can get to the doc if it's hurting. I would also get in as soon as you can, but I'm a worrier. I couldn't believe the doc said this was okay, but he did. Good luck!
our son had lots of problems last year with his ears. he had 3 eardrum ruptures and they were very painful. he has a very high pain tolerance and wouldn't even complain about his ears when he had an ear infection until usually in the middle of the night he'd wake up crying about his ears and at that point they were already ruptured. but after they ruptured they don't have near as much pain because the pressure is relieved. so there is not really any way to know unless you can get a scope to look inside his ears. we always travel higher elevations and i did notice that the pressue changes really did aggrivate his ears and at one time his ear did rupture while we where in the car traveling up a mountain. it might of been a coincidence but that's just what happened with our child. if he did have a rupture, our doctor never wanted to put anything (ie. eardrops) in the ear. my only recommendation is that you try to make your son pop his ears while in flight. i don't know if he has many teeth to eat but maybe get some gummybears or something chewy to try to help pop his ears OR maybe try playing with him and getting him to play like he's yawning to promote the ear popping while you are flying. the drainage he has might just be wax drainage...our kids have lots to drainage but it's just wax. good luck.
Oh hun, do NOT fly if you suspect an ear infection or rupture! I strongly suggest you get your son cleared by a Dr. before you potentially subject him to horrible pain and/or lasting damage. I am 31 yrs old, and I am a chronic ear/sinus infection sufferer. I flew recently with a sinus infection and ruptured mid-flight, while trying to help my 15 month old daughter deal with cabin pressure issues. It was the MOST PAINFUL experience of my life, and now I need to have surgery. Please do your child a favor and go to an ER or urgent care before you take a risk. I hope he gets better soon, and you have a safe trip home.
