S.B. asks from Floral Park, NY on January 08, 2008
How to prevent Hot Ears?
My daughter is 12-years-old and has recently been complaining that her ear gets "hot". It actually turns red! She doesn't have an ear infection - nothing really "hurts" it's just incredibly uncomfortable because it gets so hot. We can't find any pattern - cold weather, stress, what she eats - and none of the medical websites say anything other than ear infections. It lasts about 1-1/2 hours and sometimes is relieved by an ice pack. Her doctor wants me to bring her in while it is happening, but either it's when he doesn't have office hours, or she's in school, etc.
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T.L. answers from Elmira on January 10, 2008
Hi,
My son has been having this happen for a few years, he is 6, 7 next month. Sometimes (usually) it is only one ear, sometimes it is both ears. They get CRAZY red and very hot to the touch. He says it does not bother him, I think it bothers me more than anything lol. In most cases it truly does seem to be harmless, whats most annoying about it is simply that it can't be explained. It happens to my son at any given time as well, but I have noticed that it does seem to happen every night around the same time, usually right around dinner time, but not necessarily right as we're eatting, so I can rule out food allergies. I have heard to try no milk/dairy and see if that makes any difference but I have never done that as it doesn't seem to bother him or cause him any problems. I read in someones reply that they had read it happened more often in blonde hair/blue eyed, fair skinned ppl, thats interesting as my son is blonde haired, blue eyes and quite pale. At any rate, good luck with this, and let us know if you learn anything new.
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C.H. answers from Rochester on January 13, 2008
I actually get 'hot ears' too. It does go away after about an hour, and I never really thought about getting it looked into. It seems for me that it happens most during the winter dry weather. Looking at the other responses, I can tell you that I have blond hair and am fair skinned and I have excema. I guess it may be contributed to that. Good luck!
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M.G. answers from New York on January 10, 2008
Tell her the next time is happens in school to have them call you and get to the Dr. or at least she should go to the school nurse. I have never heard of this problem.. Good Luck
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B.T. answers from New York on January 09, 2008
I think you have a hormone related issue. This has happened to a friend of mine when going through hormone changes (puberty, pregnancy, and around ovulation). Doctors tend to overlook this, but perhaps you may talk to your gyno instead of her doctor to see if this is a possiblilty. Twelve is about the right age for all of the changes to be starting even if the obvious ones haven't begun.
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R.C. answers from New York on January 10, 2008
I tend to think it's important for the doctor to see in order to treat.
I know it can be frustrating that the problem flares when you can't get a hold of the doctor, especially being a working mom, so....
Next time the problem flares go to any doctor to see the problem in action and have them call your childs doctor and together they will figure out how to help your child...
Every Doctor has a back up doctor who covers for them when they are not on call or on vacations. Ask your doctor who covers for him. Ask your friends who they use...or simply take your child to the ER when it's happening. No matter which you decide to go to at the time of a flare up, make sure you tell them when you check in at the desk that this flear up doesn't seem to happen on appointments and wont last to much longer and while it's happening a doctor needs to see it...so please get someone out here to look at it.
A similar thing happened to me with very bad itchy attacks....I would swell up, turn red hot and rashy with hives and it itched like crazy....sometimes my ears turned red hot as well. It would come and go and not always happen in the same areas...and it never happened for any of my doctor appointments. So I did just what I'm suggesting you to do....and told the girls at the desk...hurry, have someone come out here to see this attack in action while it's still happening and then I'll wait my turn for treatment, filling out forms etc. That's when I got the help that was needed. They never did find out the cause of it but I was given Zyrtec to take as needed which stops the attacks. I tend to think it's stress related...but to this day, I still haven't tracked a pattern for it.
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T.L. answers from Elmira on January 10, 2008
Hi,
My son has been having this happen for a few years, he is 6, 7 next month. Sometimes (usually) it is only one ear, sometimes it is both ears. They get CRAZY red and very hot to the touch. He says it does not bother him, I think it bothers me more than anything lol. In most cases it truly does seem to be harmless, whats most annoying about it is simply that it can't be explained. It happens to my son at any given time as well, but I have noticed that it does seem to happen every night around the same time, usually right around dinner time, but not necessarily right as we're eatting, so I can rule out food allergies. I have heard to try no milk/dairy and see if that makes any difference but I have never done that as it doesn't seem to bother him or cause him any problems. I read in someones reply that they had read it happened more often in blonde hair/blue eyed, fair skinned ppl, thats interesting as my son is blonde haired, blue eyes and quite pale. At any rate, good luck with this, and let us know if you learn anything new.
1 mom found this helpful
H.L. answers from Buffalo on January 10, 2008
My 6 year old boy has been experiencing this alot lately. Sometimes it's just one ear. And my sister and I have had it happen on occasion in the past. I have no idea what causes it, and to be honest have never been very concerned, but I'm interested to hear what other people think.
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L.S. answers from New York on January 10, 2008
Hi,
well i actually had that sometimes. i never thought about it like that there is a problem, it just happened and than 30-60 minutes later it was gone. The true is that now when i think about it, i didn't get that a long time so i guess that i had it more when i was teen. I think that it could be because of change of temperatures, if it is freezing out and than you step in warm room, or just for no reason...hard to say. I actually found it kind of funny, that one of my ears was crazily red! i don't really think that there should be any concern, it could be uncomfortable, but it goes away. and yeah i don't really remember last time i had it, so i guess it completely disappear with age.
good luck L.
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A.J. answers from Albany on January 09, 2008
This happens to both of my boys' ears. One is 4 years old and the other is almost 2, so I don't think the hormone reason would apply to them. I do not have any clue what it is all about. I haven't found a pattern, it just happens. I never even thought to talk to the pediatrician but perhaps I will. I am curiousto see if any other moms have experience and input on this. Thanks for asking the question.
Edited: I just did a search and I actually found out that this does happen to many people and most do not know why. I also read that it could be attributed to allergies and more prevalent in fair skinned, blond hair blue eyed people which my boys are. There was also a correlation to excema which they both have. I used key words "red hot ears" to find the info. Good luck. I hope you can find something that may pertain to your daughter. Just remember not to read into all the whacky scary stuff that you may find. The internet can be scary sometimes! :)
A.
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