The day went well, the baby is cheerful and he althy, but by the evening he was sad, and at night - temperature, fever, runny nose and earache. Pretty typical situation. And, alas, not every mother will dare to call an ambulance or call a doctor in the middle of the night. So, the child's ears hurt - what to do?
Ear pain is one of the most common complaints in babies. Often the child's ear hurts at night, this is accompanied by intoxication and colds. What are the reasons? There are several of them, and the most common is inflammation of the middle ear (otitis media), which arose as a continuation of a cold. This happens especially often in newborns. During a runny nose, the baby lies all the time, mucus flows abundantly into the middle ear through a special channel - the Eustachian tube, which connects the nasopharynx and the ear cavity.
In children older than one year, the cause of pain in the ear can be injuries, water ingress or a foreign body (to prevent such cases, they write warning labels on toys about the presence of small parts!).
If a child often has earaches, a possible cause is a chronic inflammatoryprocess in the nasopharynx. Ear pain can cause a furuncle in the ear canal, inflammation of the tonsils (tonsillitis, tonsillitis). Also, a toothache can radiate or, as doctors say, radiate to the ear.
A common cause of ear pain in newborns is otitis media, caused by the ingress of breast milk during feeding from the nasopharyngeal cavity into the middle ear all through the same Eustachian tube.
Child has earaches - what to do before a professional examination by a doctor?
First of all, you should try to find out if your ear really hurts. The older child himself will indicate the place of pain, and the baby will only cry. But! The pain in the ear is, as a rule, shooting in nature, so the baby will cry in fits, all the time reaching for the sore ear with a pen. And you can independently establish the source of pain by simply pressing on the tragus - a dense protrusion on the bottom of the auricle. With otitis media or another painful process, it is in the ear that this action causes acute pain, which means crying and a corresponding reaction. If there is any discharge from the ear (purulent, mucous, bloody), then, as they say, the cause of the disease is obvious.
If a child has earaches, what to do
It is necessary to lubricate the skin around the auricle with baby cream, and put a compress from a gauze napkin with a weak aqueous solution of vodka on top. Attention - the auditory opening must remain open! From above, the compress can be insulated with a scarf or cotton wool. If the nose is blocked, then vasoconstrictor drops can be used, andat a high temperature (more than 380С) give an antipyretic. Then you should seek medical help!
If your child has earaches, what not to do
Do not apply any bandages and compresses, especially covering the ear canal, if the child has any discharge from the ear. You can not prescribe ear drops and antibiotics on your own. The use of UHF is contraindicated. Tampons and turundas should not be placed in the ear cavity, no matter what “healing” substance they are lubricated with.
In conclusion, we can say: if a child has a sore ear, what to do - the doctor will tell.
