I took my now 1 year old to the ER about 3 - 4 weeks ago it seemed his ears were bothering him he was sqeezing them to his head. He has had 3 ear infections so far but this turned out to be nothing. So then I realize he has about 6 teeth popping in that I can see so I figure this is the problem . Now Im finding he is still doing this especially to the right ear. Last week I had him in the ER again for a fever and a rash that ended up being patekei ( i now the spelling is wrong spelling it the way it sounds) so they give him IV antibiotics and we came home the same night they checked his ears there and saw no problems. My son is still quite fussy and still squeezing his ears is got me wondering are they missing something . Sometimes he bumps the ear on something ever so lightly and he screams and grabs the ear like he is in pain. I spoke with my Dr today and she doesnt seem to be worried I do have his 1 year check up in about 10 days but what is going on. Im concerned they are missing something...NERVOUS
I would ask for a referral to a specialist if you feel strongly about it. It does seem like unusual behavior to me!!!
Why do you go to the ER if you have a pediatrician?
ERs are not the best place to get care for a young child.
Your pediatrician's office probably has a night telephone service
for these kinds of problems.
Good luck.
S.
It could be his teeth. some babies pull on their ears when they are teething. But I would get a referral to an ENT. I don't know how many times I was told my son's ears looked fine over 3 years, only to have him fail a hearing screening. We happened to have an appt with the ENT the same day for a look at his adenoids and they said he had been having infections for quite some time and his ears were filled with fluid. This summer we went back to the ped and they said his ears looked okay even though he had drainage coming out of them. Went back to the ENT and found he had chronic swimmer's ear caused by bacteria and a secondary infection caused by yeast. Honestly, they look in those ears so quickly and often the child can be crying and upset. At an ENT they know what they are looking for. Better to have it checked than to worry about it.
I don't think you should freak out, but I also think you should get into your pediatrician before 10 days has passed...especially if he doesn't seem to be getting better.
Did they give you oral antibiotics to follow up the IV?
My daughter always gets a rash when she has an infection...and I was told to only be really concerned if it was petechial. A good way to check at home is to press something clear and flat against the rash...if the rash doesn't blanch white, then it is petechial.
A petechial rash can be indicative of a serious infections. I'd want his ears checked sooner rather than later. I could always tell when my daughter had an ear infection coming on...the doctor couldn't always see it when I brought her in...only to bring her back 1-2 days later with ears full of fluid.
I wouldnt worry about it so much. My son is 19 months and squeezes his ears like hes covering them when you hear something loud and its just because his back molars are coming in and he can feel like pain up in his ears. If she gets a fever, I would def. bring her in to the doctor asap. But if not, everything is probably going to be okay. You can ask your doc to check her ears for ear infection at next appt, but until then, try to relax.
It could be just a habit from the memory of the pain and him being afraid it will hurt. However, I would not feel at all aprehensive about going to the pediatrician for an "ear check." I did this after my daughter has a couple ear infectiosn because I would hate ot think there was something lingering. You also never know if there was damage after the ER visit. It is better to be safe than sorry. The only other thing I could think of is that his hearing has been affected by this experience - but I think that is highly highly unlikely!! It is worth asking for a followup.
He may need to be seen by an ear/nose/throat dr. My older twin had a hemoraging issue with her nose a few weeks ago and the ER wasn't able to tell where the problem was stemming from. We took her to the specialist and the issue was literally right in front and easy to see to the trained eye.
I would try Pediaprofen, works great on teething pain, and won't treat horrible pain, so you don't have to feel like you are missing something big. If it is effective, then I would chalk it up to teeth (they are a pain in the face,ears, neck, jaw...kids that age can't really localize their pain very well) Good luck.
I would be more worried about the petechia rash than anything else. My son had that and it turned out he had a blood disorder called "ITP". He got it when he was 13 months old and it usually comes on after the child has had a virus. My son was not sick beforehand, so they said they believe it was caused by his MMR vaccine. Antibiotics don't help with the petechia rash or the disorder associated with it, so I would follow that up very closely with your pediatrician to be sure he doesn't have anything serious that needs further treatment. My son is fine now, but had to be monitored very closely for several months after he was diagnosed. Please go to your pediatrician and have them check your son from head to toe and be sure there isn't something more going on.
I would ask the pediatrician to see him now. My friend's son did that where when he bumped his ear he would scream. It turned out that he had an ear infection (but never showed any symptoms- no fever, no crying, etc) and his ear drum had burst.
It's always better to be safe than sorry. Always trust your instincts, mom.
(Of course, this is coming from the same person who is on a first name basis with all the receptionists at my child's pediatrician's office.)
It very possibly could be phantom pain. It's not really there. I don't get it either, but my son had so many ear infections that is happened a couple of times. Pain with nothing wrong.
However, I would visit an ENT to be sure.
does your pediatrician do urgent care? I would try to get him in tomorrow if possible. Our daughter always got an ear infection when she was teething, even though the doctor said that one had nothing to do with the other. Sometimes its better to take them straight to the pediatrician or a children's hospital er than a regular adult er.
