Children's ears (more precisely, the Eustachian tube of this organ) are designed in such a way that any slightest impact can have a negative effect on them. According to statistics, 75% of children under the age of three have experienced discomfort in this organ at least once. Ears hurt in a child 2 years old. The manifestation can declare itself abruptly and unexpectedly - at night, during a trip, in nature, at a party. If in a normal situation the parent immediately turns to a pediatrician, an otolaryngologist, then here first aid must be provided independently. What is worth doing and what is not worth doing, how to really help your child, we will tell you further.
Possible external causes of pain
Do your 2 year old's ears hurt? First of all, remember what the baby has been doing for the last day, what he has been ill with recently. The pain may well be an echo of a recent illness.
Most often the reasons are external:
- If water gets into a child's ear, it can easily cause pain. Especially if the liquid was cold or dirty.
- Foreign body in the ear. He could be pushed like a child himself,so it could get there on its own - an insect flew in, crawled in.
- Injury. From a simple bruise to a burn, hemorrhage, rupture of the eardrum.
- Earwax plug in the ear (how to remove, we will tell you later).
- A recent walk in cold weather, in strong winds without a hat or a light cap.
When a child's ears hurt for 2 years, sometimes the reason may be the use of low-quality children's hygiene or cosmetic products. In particular, shampoos for babies. Components in their composition, such as Sodium lauryl / LaurethSulfate, parabens, Coco Sulfate, dyes, PEG, MEA, silicones, DEA, TEA, can irritate the internal cavities of the ear, getting there. This is what causes pain.
Possible internal causes of pain
Why do my 2 year old's ears hurt? It can be not only in external, but also in internal factors:
- The most common ear diseases in children are otitis media and otitis externa. The first type of the disease is more often the result of a catarrhal or infectious lesion of the mucous membranes of the nasopharynx and oropharynx. Otitis externa is inflammation of the external auditory canal. Often develops after damage to the latter, the formation of a boil in it, a wound.
- Otomycosis. A fungus that affects the auditory organ. The smell from the ear of a child can indicate both otitis media and this lesion.
- Inflammation of the Eustachian tube (Eustachitis).
- Viral infection.
- The investigation is not completecured colds. Or, on the contrary, a harbinger of its beginning.
- A number of diseases, painful sensations in which may well be given to the ear. In particular, these are toothaches, tonsillitis, mumps or sinusitis.
- Inflammation of the auditory nerves.
- Development of tumor processes.
- Pathologies affecting nearby organs and systems - the brain, pharynx, neck, nose, eyes, nearby capillaries and blood vessels.
- High blood pressure - intracranial or arterial. Hypotension or impaired circulation in the brain.
Does your ear hurt?
Small children still do not know how to accurately determine what is happening to them, what is bothering them. How can a parent understand that it is the ear that hurts? Here is the instruction:
- The child himself says this. He can cover his ear with his hand, rub, try to clean it with his finger, pull the earlobe. Some guys try to lie on a sore ear in order to somehow ease the pain.
- Temperature. With inflammatory processes in the ear, it is quite high - up to 39 °.
- The skin around the ear is flaky, the ear itself is swollen or has changed color. There may also be swollen or reddened lymph nodes near the auditory organ.
- The child cries, is naughty, does not want to play. He has poor sleep and appetite.
- An alarming symptom - leakage of biological fluid (blood, pus) from the ear. In this case, you should immediately contact the doctors!
- A great danger to the life and he alth of the baby if the pain in the ear is accompanied by dizziness and vomiting. This is a symptom that the inflammatorythe process reached the inner ear.
Home diagnostics
The child has an earache and a fever. Of course, with such a serious problem, you need to contact a pediatrician as soon as possible. But if, due to circumstances, it is not possible, then parents need to diagnose on their own in order to figure out what is wrong with the baby and help him.
The child has an earache - what can be done? We advise you to start following this algorithm:
- Carefully inspect the baby's ear in good light. It is possible that there is a foreign object. If it is shallow, then removing it is simple: tilt the child's head down with the affected ear and gently pull his earlobe. If the method does not work, in no case do not use cotton swabs and tweezers! So you push the subject even deeper. It remains only to wait for qualified medical assistance.
- Is it true that a child has an ear infection? Gently press on the tragus (outer cartilage protrusion in front of the ear canal). If the child does not react in any way to the impact, then the pain in the ear only gives. Her reason for a different localization.
- Use the thermometer. If a child has an earache and a fever, it means that there is a place for an inflammatory process. Most often it is otitis media and eustachitis. The situation will be saved only by the dose of antipyretic according to the age and weight of the child. Further treatment is prescribed by the doctor.
- Does your ear hurt without fever? The reason is most likely external factors. Similarly, an increase inblood or intracranial pressure.
- Purulent discharge and their characteristic smell from the ear testify to the onset of inflammation.
- Is your ear swollen, unnaturally reddish or bluish in color? Most likely, this is an insect bite, a strong blow or bruise.
- If a child complains of itching, scratching his ear, then we are talking about a fungal infection.
First Aid
Earache in children is akin to toothache - they act up, scream, worry, cannot sleep, refuse to eat. Both the baby and everyone around him are suffering.
How to help a child? A few tips for parents:
- Call the local doctor at home. If the situation requires it, an ambulance brigade.
- How to relieve ear pain in a child before the doctors arrive? It is enough to give the baby a painkiller suitable for his age, in the required dosage.
- A special alcohol compress will help alleviate the condition. The first layer is applied gauze soaked in alcohol (you need to make a cutout for the auricle in it), then a layer of film or cellophane with the same hole. Above is a warm scarf that wraps a sore ear and head.
- If a child has ear pain and a high fever, a baby antipyretic will help. Additionally, you can soak cotton wool with boric alcohol and plug the painful ear canal with it. It is also important that the child in this condition drink as much liquid as possible.
- If the baby has already had similar cases,then you can put drops in his ear that the pediatrician prescribed earlier. Most often it is Anauran, Otinum, Otipax.
Important not only medical, but also moral help. Reassure the child, try to distract him from pain. Turn on your favorite cartoon, fulfill small whims. Such support is very important for a little man who does not understand what is happening to him.
What can I do?
If a child complains of severe ear pain, how can he be helped and not harmed? In all cases, the following is acceptable:
- Give as much liquid as possible. Water helps the mucous membranes to function fully, removes the products of intoxication.
- Use antipyretics. Especially when the temperature is high.
- Offer your child vitamins, herbal infusions. For example, a decoction of chamomile effectively helps the body fight inflammation.
What not to do?
Note that self-treatment of otitis at home in a child is unacceptable! Improper therapy can lead to serious consequences.
The following must not be done without the instruction of a qualified otolaryngologist:
- Instill essential oils.
- Rinse the ear (if the child has a perforated eardrum, this can seriously harm him).
- Insert pieces of medicinal plants into the ears.
- Drip ear drops for adults or your own, withoutdoctor's appointment.
- Clean the ears of pus and other secretions with cotton swabs. Pull out plugs, foreign bodies with tweezers or other tools.
- Inject drugs containing alcohol deep into the ear canal.
Used medicines
Treatment of otitis in a child at home is possible only with the approval of the attending physician, with the help of medications prescribed by a specialist. Do-it-yourself activities should not be allowed here. Remember that advanced otitis or other inflammatory processes in the ear can lead to the development of abscesses in the brain, meningitis, mastoiditis.
Let's list the main remedies that can help the baby with various pains in the ear:
- Antibiotics. Traditionally, children are prescribed injections of penicillin. Course - 7-10 days. This therapy is prescribed for inflammation, infectious diseases.
- "Otipax". Anti-inflammatory and pain reliever. It is prescribed for children with otitis media. Keep in mind that the medicine contains lidocaine, to which the child's body often responds with an allergic reaction.
- "Otofa". The medicine contains in its composition a powerful component - the antibiotic rifampicin. It is prescribed for acute infections, diseases of the middle ear.
- "Garazon". The drug has a general anti-inflammatory and analgesic effect.
- "Otinum". Applied from 1 year. It has an analgesic and anti-inflammatory effect.
- "Sofradex". Since the medicinerefers to powerful antibiotics, it is prescribed with caution to young children.
- "Remo Wax". Sulfur plug in the ear - how to remove? It is enough to use this drug according to the instructions.
- Hydrogen peroxide, Vishnevsky ointment, pine nut oil. They are prescribed for fungal infections. Washing is also used here (how to rinse the ear, we will analyze further). The event is necessary for the disinfection of the ear canal.
- Hydrogen peroxide, vaseline oil. Preparations used in the removal of cerumen.
Flushing
And what to do if a wax plug has formed in the ear? How to remove it yourself? You need to turn to a simple procedure - washing the ear. It is indicated not only for sulfur plugs, but also for some forms of otitis media and other ear diseases. Note that in a number of inflammatory processes such an event is contraindicated. Therefore, you need to contact him only with the permission of your doctor.
The easiest washing procedure is using boiled water:
- Buy the largest capacity syringe from the pharmacy, put the needle away. It is important that the instrument is new and sterile! You can also use a special rubber pear. Before the procedure, it must be boiled (or poured over with boiling water).
- If you remove the sulfur plug in this way, then block the child's ear canal with a cotton swab for 10 minutes before the procedure. In the absence of air, the cork will soften somewhat.
- Pre-boil and cool the water. She mustbe slightly warm, room temperature.
- Pull water into syringe or pear.
- Pull the sore ear up and a little to the side so that water can drain from it during washing. To do this, first substitute a bowl and or a tray.
- Smoothly, without sharp pushes and pressures, insert the liquid into the ear canal. Try to direct the stream of water at the back of the ear, and not deep into the passage. This will protect the delicate baby eardrum from damage.
- The procedure is repeated 2-3 times. If you are removing the wax plug, then flush until it comes out.
- If the procedure does not work (in the case of old, dried plugs), then you can put a couple of drops of hydrogen peroxide into your ear. It will soften the formation somewhat.
- Be sure to dry your ear after the procedure! If water remains in it, inflammation may develop. To do this, simply plug the ear canal for a while with a cotton swab. Some moms use a warm (but not hot!) airflow from a hair dryer.
Not all children calmly endure such a procedure. How to wash the ear in this case? If you need to remove the sulfur plug, then you can use special softening drops - Aquamaris and Remo-Vax. The drugs are instilled into the ear two to three times daily (the course of treatment is 2-3 days). After this application, the sulfur plug comes out of the ear on its own.
Parents sometimes use folk methods to remove plugs from a child's ear. This is the instillation of hydrogen peroxide, heated vegetable oil, onionjuice. However, these methods should be used with caution - they are contraindicated for wounds, infections, suspected perforation of the eardrum.
If your ears often hurt
If ear pain is a frequent occurrence in your child, then pay attention to the following tips:
- According to the doctor's prescription, purchase a vitamin complex for children with elements that help strengthen immunity.
- The key to he alth is a complete balanced diet. A pediatric nutritionist will help develop it individually for your baby.
- After hygiene procedures, swimming in the pool, always dry the child's ear canals.
- Keep the baby out of drafts - do not open the front windows in the car, ventilate the room when he is not in the room.
- Even in warm weather, a child should wear a cap, a light fabric cap that covers the ears.
- Do not remove wax with cotton swabs by dipping them deep into the ear canal. To prevent sulfur plugs, use special drops.
Ears in a small child hurt quite often, especially in babies 1-3 years old. Remember that here it is better not to rely on self-treatment, but to consult a specialist as soon as possible.
