Ear Infection That Wont Go Away?

Could he have allergies that are triggering them. Not to relate the two too much but I have a golden retriever that had non stop ear infections. SHe was eating a food too high in grains. I changed her food and she hasn't had one since. You might try an allergist.

Please go see my pediatrician, she does house calls for no extra charge & is absolutely wonderful. The American pedicatric association does not recommend antibiotics for ear infections anymore...please go see her, she'll definatly help & you can get in sooner than the 11th. Her website is http://www.drkatewiggin.com/ & her # is ###-###-####

B.,

I went through this with my son when he was 2. Constant ear-infections that never completely healed for the better part of a year. We decided to have tubes put in his ears so we didn't have to depend on antibiotics. After only 7 months of tubes, they fell out at that point, he has not had an ear infection since! I'm sorry I don't have advise on what to do before his appointment with the ENT but I would talk to him about the possiblity of tubes.
Good luck.

Hi B.,
You have some great advice here. We use natural remedies in our house, and when my daughter got her first ear infection, our naturapath said to use garlic ear drops from our local health store. The ear infection was gone within a week. Three drops while it is warm, (run the little bottle under hot water). She looked comforted from the first time I applied them. Now any time that she starts tugging or digging in her ears, I put in a few drops. It really works for us. Good luck with this. Hope it all turns out well.

My older son had many ear infections at around the same age as your son. It just seemed like we'd finish one round of antibiotics and he'd have another ear infection. The doctor was ready to suggest tubes if it happened again.
At that point I gave him ear drops at the first sign of an infection. They can be purchased at new seasons. They usually have these ingredients: olive oil, mullein, st. johns wort, garlic. I believe the mullein draws out the liquid, the garlic for the infection, the st. johns Wort sooths wounds. I put them in his ear every morning & evening for about 3 days, cut milk products and sugar out of his diet. I kept his head warm with a wool hat and his pillow more elevated and he never needed antibiotics.
He grew out of having ear trouble soon after that. I only wish I'd discovered it sooner. The adjustment with a chiropractor sounds worth doing. I didn't know about that. I just knew it wasn't a good idea to have him on antibiotics if he didn't really need to be on them.

I saw that several other people offered a natural remedy for the ear infection, but I have one that is different. I used to get ear infections all the time as a teenager and young adult and was regularily prescribed antibiotics. Unfortunately, the antibiotics ravaged my system (because that's what they do with prolonged use).

I was recommended to try colloidal silver drops in my ears that were infected, as bacteria cannot survive in a silver charged environment. My ear infections usually went away within 2-3 days and every person I've recommended this too has had the same result. The benefit is that the infection goes away speadily without taking oral medicine, and wihtout negative side effects to the body. 1 to 2 drops 2x a day is sufficient.

regarding the infection--- just keep putting one foot in front- you are doing all the right things. As a long time Mom, Grandmom, and preschool teacher - you are 100% on the right track - and I'd be sure to keep his fluids WAY up- right now he can't drink too much ( I used herbal tea - nice flavor - but no sugar ) --- and certainly ask your doctor for permission first.

Your load is very heavy right now- but I raised my children mostly on my own- did not plan it that way- but in some ways it is simpler --- God shine on you,

blessings,

Old Mom
aka J.

Hi B.,

I strongly recommend you ask your doctor about the possibility of him being diabetic? Are there other symptoms..eating a lot, wetting a lot and then being really thirsty, that sort of thing. Lethargy, and temperment changes are also symptoms. A simple finger poke glucose test will work. Our son was saved by our dog. My son's ear infections went on for months. One day he only wanted to sleep it seemed..but having been so sick we figured that was a good thing. The dog kept deliberately waking him..and causing a ruckus with us until we decided to believe his pleas. We got lucky. It all started with an Ear infection that wouldn't go away, so I want to put it out there as an idea. If you have any diabetics in either side of the family its worth checking out.

Chiropractic care is my suggestion too. My daughter has been going since she was 2 weeks old. Recently she woke up and could not walk. Her right leg was paralyzed. I took her to the doctors and after xrays etc....they said it was a virus that could last up to 2 weeks. I then took her to the chiropractor...she was running around by bed time. My daughter is a very busy 22 month old. She has really never been sick with the exception of a few colds. I wish you the best with whatever you decide.

Hi B.,

We went through this with our son and having tubes inserted cleared up the problem and he never had another ear infection again. His ears were infected for about a month longer, but no antibiotic seemed to do the trick. Good luck with all you are doing.

My Mother in Law told me my husband was sick constantly thruout the 1 - 2 year age... she ended up having his tonsils out - and that helped tremendously to the point where he didn't get any infections (hardly) going forward. I guess his tonsils were to blame for most all he went thru. Dont know if this is the case for your son... just thought I'd say!
Good luck! hope your baby feels great soon!

My oldest (who is now 6) had ear infections from about 8 months until he was a year and a half. We finally went to the ENT who prescribed a stronger antibiotic (Zithromax? I think it was called) and the ear infection finally went away. He hasn't had one since. If the stronger antibiotic didn't work, the next plan was to put in ear tubes for drainage. A couple of friends of mine have had this done with their children and it worked very well with no side effects. The tubes either fall out or are removed when the child gets older. Best of luck!

My son had 7 ear infections over a 10 month period and the doc was reading to do tubes. I talked to my Chiropractor and he has been adjusting him ever since(1 1/2 years) and he has never had another ear infection. They say the drainage in their ears is directly linked to the alignment of the spine, I was leary at first but most definately buy it now with NO more infections! Good Luck!

Hi,

My daughter started getting ear infections when she was 13 months old and she had them over and over for the next 8 months. It seemed she would just get through one round of antibiotics and then she would get another. We were worried about getting tubes so we looked at other options. Two other options that worked for us were

1) seeing a chiropractor that works with children. They can actually put their finger in the child's mouth and help with the tube drainage from inside (amazingly it made a difference)
2) worked with a homeopath. This helped as well not only for the ear infections but for other issues we had with hives and allergies. I highly recommend this alternative course to antibiotics and tubes

Between these two options her ear infections pretty much disappeared. I think she had one other one after working with the chiropractor and homeopath but it was much better than 1 every few weeks or 1 that would never clear up.

Good luck,

D.

My daughter had 9 ear infections over a 10+ month period (started when she was 1-and-a-half). The doctors kept giving her drugs and finally I said they have to come up with something else because the antibiotics obviously weren't working. (Obvious to me, at least.) We finally were able to get tubes in her ears. The idea of her undergoing surgery scared me so much, but they do it all the time. The surgery was successful and I wish we would have done it earlier. She was so much happier almost immediately afterward.

My now 3 year old daughter had constant ear infections reoccurring every month for around 2 years. The ENT suggested tubes, but most people I talked to said their kids eventually just stopped getting the infections. I had her hearing tested it was fine, so I didn't see the rush in getting tubes. Antibiotics rarely worked for us. I was going to grad school full time, working 3 jobs while being a single mom too, so I understand your struggle. What eventually worked was kind of surprising. We went to visit my parents for a month during my summer break (no daycare) and she hasn't had one since. That was last May... so 6 months ear infection free!

My daughter had ear infections every 6 weeks about for the first year of her life. We were considering tubes, but one doctor told us to try taking her off milk products. Since I nursed her she got the milk products through my milk and then when she was old enough on her own. At 14 months I weaned her and took her off milk and switched to soy. Bye bye ear infections! We were amazed. She is 2 now and has been back on milk for about 6 months and is doing great. I guess the milk can just cause too much mucus production and their little ears don't drain too well yet. Good luck.

Oh yes... I went through that. My now 9 year old had an ear infaction from the time she was 5 months to ten months old, almost consistently. We did oral antibiotics, injections, and what it came down to was she needed tubes and I needed to take myself off all dairy. After those two things her ears finally cleared up and I realized she had been saying her first few words and I missed them because she couldn't hear herself. The change was dramatic with the tubes in. But she continued to weep puss out of her ears until I went off dairy. With her the problem was two fold, the milk irritation and malformed eustation tubes. The surgery was quick and she was fine soon after but, of course, no mommy likes to see their baby in a surgical situation. It's scary. But, as scary as it was, Im so glad I chose to do that. It probably saved her hearing.

My 2 oldest boys had this same problem, we had tubes put in their ears by a ENT doctor - it was amazing - no more infections. their ear canals were just too narrow for fluid to escape, so it would fester & get infected. There is also an ear infection vaccine now - my younger 2 kids have had the vaccine & not gotten 1 ear infection - they have the same ear cannals as my older 2.

Hi B.,

My daughter had issues with constant ear infections that never cleared up with antibiotics. Finally went to an ENT that gave us Eye drops for infection and had us put that in her ears. Cleared it right up and we never used antibiotics again when she had the ear infections. Should have done the ear tubes but the whole hindsight thing. My 2 boys both had problems and we did the ear tubes (both on the same day). Never had another ear infection and that was 5 years ago. Good luck to you.

When my son had an ear infection that antibiotics wouldn't get rid of, we went to a Naturpath who gave us drops to put in the ears (olive oil, garlic, etc) and it was gone in one week! Chiropractors are a wonderful resource as well. I would try both of these resources and then move on to something as drastic as tubes only if you had to. Good luck, I know my son was in terrible pain with his ear infection. His whole life we have had to make sure we put swimmers ear drops in his ears after swimming or he will get an infection, you may want to consider that as a precaution in the future when this has been kicked. Good health to you all.

My daughter went through this as well and I was talking to another mother recently and she told me her daughter did the same thing. She said they tested her for a sinus infection and it takes a fourteen day treatment where the ear infection are ten days. The ear infection was being treated and not what caused it. It made since to me, I just wished I had known it.

Hope this helps.

Please take him to a chiropractor for a little while before overmedicating or considering other options! I've worked in the field for twelve years and have seen every case but one completely cured of earaches. I know a few very good doctors who work on kids, two in lynnwood (Dr. Brice Kovarik-New Life Chiropractic- and Drs. Brian O'Hea and Susan Felber-Pacific Chiro), one in marysville (Dr.Gordon Myco) if you need their numbers, please let me know!

It's very gentle, I've had both of my kids adjusted since they were born, it's great for many things health related..ears, asthma, allergies, colds, cramps, headaches, etc..because they work on the nerves in your spine that affect your entire nervous system, worth checking into for everyone in the family!

My 6 year old daughter suffered from a lot of reoccuring ear infections as an infant and I believe this led to her hearing loss that she now has. Has your son ever had tubes? If not this may be something you want to look in to. I know the doctors I've spoke with in regards to my daughter have said that her chances of losing her hearing could've been less had she had tubes. Instead she just had a lot of scarring from all the infections. I wish you luck with this battle, I know how frusterating it can be.

B.,
The ENT is a great choice. We had issues with our son when he was a little over 1yr. The ENT put him on different antibiotics and all went well.

Years ago, my sister watched a child who had ear infections all the time and at 2yrs wasn't talking, just making noises. By my sister's demand, she took her to an ENT. The child's ears were so bad that she couldn't hear, thus the talking issue. She only made noises because that is what she heard. The doctor put tubes in her ears (I don't know if they do this anymore) and everything was better. No more infections and the hearing was fine. Today, this child has no hearing problems at all.

Best of luck to you.

Hi B.
The first thing I would do is to stop using Pacifyers. The use of pasies can cause ear infections. As the child sucks dirt and germs get pulled into the ear dranage canal. A childs canal is not developed enough to close off when sucking. Than I would carefulee clean the ears with a diluted Hydgronperoxide and distilled water mixture, eather with a Q-tip or a flush. Than swab a small amount of neosporium in the ear and work it down by gently rubbing it like a cats eat. The neosporum will migrate bown the canall. If it is an inner ear infection than the only way to get to it is internally and a MD is the way to do that, or a good herbelist DR. There are herbil antiboticks you can do reserch to find out about those. Using herbs, remember that a child can not take the stringth of an adult. If using herbs cut the dose by the body weight. If an adult takes 3 cups a day of an herb tea antibotic and a child is 20 lbs than the child should only get around 1/8 of that dose. I could give other sugestions but I wont becouse you need a hands on herbel person to show you the proper use of some of the more potent herbs for children and I am not a DR just a GreatGrandma having raised lots of children on little money, with a lot of experance.
The pasifyer is a convenyont tool for the mom it is not that good of a tool for the child. The pasifyer works great to keep the child quiet and pasifyed and it teaches the child that allways having sometinig in there mouth is what is expected. Than the pasifyer is replaced with food, candy, sigerets, and other objetcs to be pasifyed with. What would you do if suddenly there were no more pasifyers, how would you care for your child? It is the parents job to teach the child and the child does learn the thing the parent teaches. Children are a reflection of the parent and there environment.

B.,
I have read alot of the respones and they all haave there good points. When my son was little he had ear infections that would not go away, tried all the anibotics and even had injections, but nothing worked . His doctor said if it did not clear up by the time he was 2, he would have to have tubes. On a visit we saw a different doctor who told us he thought the infection would not go away because he had fluid in his inner ear cannel. He had us give him Sudafed, My son is now 5 and has not had another ear infection sence he was 1 1/2 and never had to have tubes. Anything is worth a try to keep a little one from undegoing surgery. But just remember to limit the things you try and do not apply them to soon to each other as the effect could be bad.
Good Luck

If you would like to try "natural" medicine you can use Lavender oil. You would take an olive oil, 1 TBS and put in 2 - 4 drops of lavender oil. You would then put 2 drops of this mixture in their ear. You can also use Tea Tree oil.
This worked for my kids.
I have also heard that breast milk in the ear helps with this. Never tried it.
Good luck.

B., the antibiotics probably aren't working because 95% of all ear infections are viral not bacterial. I just had an ENT try to prescribe a really strong antibiotic for my 11 month old for what could "possibly be a latent infection". I declined to fill the prescription and took my daughter to the chiropractor. That along with lymphatic massage and internal draining of the eustachian tubes has taken care of the problem. My middle daughter who is now 6 1/2 has had otitis media with effusion (fluid in the middle ears which may or may not be infected) since she was little and has had four sets of tubes. I am trying to avoid that route with the baby and so far it seems to be working. The baby was MISERABLE with molar teething and ouchie ears but as SOON as I drained her eustachian tubes after a cervical adjustment by the chiropractor she was like a different kid. I now massage her lymph nodes (there are two, one behind and one in front of the neck muscles that run from head to shoulder) under her ears while she nurses. We see Whole Mama Whole Child in NE Portland for chiropractic.

I know how frustrating and hard this can be to deal with. Take care of yourself!

K.

B.,
I am the mother to twin 22 month olds. I have been using Sweet Oil religously for the last year. My daughter was running extremely high fever about a month ago for about one week and we could not figure out what the problem was. The urgent care doctor said ear infection and prescribed anti biotics but I went right home and put 3 drops of Sweet Oil in each ear and her fever was gone for good in a couple of hours. Sweet Oil you can get in most pharmacies. It is mostly just olive oil with a few other ingredients in it. I first thought their grandmother and father were crazy, but it solves the problem every time and I mostly use it to prevent them from getting them now. I put them in their ears at least once a week as they swim every week. Good luck and God bless.

K.

My nephew started having a lot of problems with ear infections. I'll tell you what I told my sister. Have him checked for food allergies - specifically, soy, egg and milk.

All the MDs did at that time is to have him on antibiotics almost a year!!! My sister did the tests and discovered her two-year old was allergic to egg whites and milk. Now that she doesn't feed them to Russell any more, VOILA! Result? No more ear infections.

Ear infections ARE NOT NORMAL. Call a Naturopath if they are excessive. My daughters (together) only experience 1 which was treated with homeopathic substances. So they have never had antibiotics.

It's much easier to cut out an offending food, than to put in tubes. I have had my own immune system destroyed with antibiotics. To this day I still can't swim in a chlorinated pool. Antibiotics can cause Chronic Fatigue Syndrome and a whole host of auto-immune system problems.

Please keep your appointment with the ENT. Herbal remedies are great, but occasionally the problem is more severe than they can handle. My nephew had ear infections for almost two years straight (no kidding). As soon as one would clear another would start. He had one set of tubes placed when he was roughly a year old and another set in August when he turned two. When they placed the second set they found a small tumor in the ear. They removed the tumor, placed the second set of tubes and he's been infection free since. I agree with several of the other posts that several rounds of the same antibiotic doesn't work. It's true that most ear infections are viral, but the key word is "most."

Good luck,
S.