Ear infections: Detection, causes and cures
By Donya Betancourt
SANUR, Bali (JP): Throughout their childhood, our children will come to us with pains and irritants that they expect us to heal. One of the most sensitive infections is in the ear.
Ear infections are common in young children in the first three to four years of life. Some children have ear infections with most of their colds, others never do.
What is an ear infection? Typically an infection will be in the outer ear or the middle ear. * Otitis externa is an ear infection of the external ear canal, which is the canal leading from the ear lobe to the eardrum. In the canal there is cerumen (secretion from glands to form a protective, waxy, water-repellent coating) and also nonpathogenic bacteria preventing infection. Excessive wetness from swimming, bathing or increased environmental humidity, or dryness from previous infection or insufficient cerumen and trauma resulting from fingering or foreign bodies make the skin of the canal susceptible to infection by normal flora bacteria or virulent exogenous bacteria. This condition causes ear pain, edema of the canal, redness, otorrhea (discharge from ear) with or without fever and is known as "swimmer's ear". * Otitis media is an infection of the middle ear, which is a small chamber behind the eardrum. The middle ear has a small canal called "The Eustachian tube" that connects it to the back of the throat. This tube protects the middle ear from throat secretions and drains secretions from the middle ear into the throat, and permits equilibration of air pressure with atmospheric pressure in the middle ear. When the tube is blocked by a cold, swelling from an allergy or enlarged adenoid (lymph glands above the tonsils), the fluid in the middle ear cannot drain into the back of the throat and may come up the Eustachian tube and infect the stagnant fluid in the middle ear. Pus is formed and the middle ear becomes inflamed and painful. Sometimes the eardrum brakes and discharges pus (otorrhea). You may find the discharge on the pillow in the morning without other symptoms. This is the most severe ear infection.
The symptom to look for in a baby is rubbing of the ear, or he may cry piercingly for several hours. He may or may not have a fever. But a child over two years old can tell you when he has an ear pain. What should you do? If your child has an earache, you should take him to see the doctor in the same day, especially if there is any fever because antibiotics work much better in the early stage of ear infection. If you can't see a doctor for several hours you can help your child by: 1. Keeping the child's head propped up because lying down aggravates the ear pain. 2. Put a hot-water bottle or an electric heating pad on the ear to help relieve the pain but beware of possible burns from high temperatures. 3. Medication; Acetaminophen or Ibuprofen will help to relieve pain.
Some children who have repeated ear infections in the first year of life may develop resistant fluid accumulation behind the eardrums that will effect the child's hearing. In this case, the doctor may prescribe an antibiotic to be taken daily to prevent the fluid in the middle ear from becoming infected, or send your child to an ear specialist to correct drainage and hearing.
The writer is a pediatrician based in Sanur, Bali. If you have any questions, please feel free to write to her. Her e-mail address is drdonya@hotmail.com.