Want more iVillage? Sign up for our
Newsletters
Ear Problems and Injuries, Age 11 and Younger
About this symptom
When ear discomfort or pain is mild or comes and goes and occurs without other symptoms, home treatment may be all that is needed to relieve your child's discomfort. Home treatment measures include the following:
- Encourage your child to swallow more often. The discomfort may be caused by a blocked eustachian tube that can occur with mild irritation in the ear canal. Let a child younger than age 12 months drink from a bottle or cup to try to help open the eustachian tube. A child age 2 or 3 years may get the same benefit from chewing gum. Be sure to supervise your toddler when he or she chews gum.
- Some babies and children with ear pain are more comfortable in an upright position. Allow the child to rest in the position that is most comfortable.
- To relieve moderate to severe ear pain
while waiting to see your doctor, or to relieve a red, swollen external ear:
- Apply heat to the ear to ease pain. Use a warm washcloth. Be careful not to burn the skin around the ear. There may be some drainage when the heat melts earwax.
- Encourage your child to rest as much as possible.
| Try a nonprescription medicine to help treat your child's fever or pain: |
|---|
Talk to your child’s doctor before switching back and forth between doses of acetaminophen and ibuprofen. When you switch between two medicines, there is a chance your child will get too much medicine. |
| Be sure to follow these safety tips when you use a nonprescription medicine: |
|---|
|
Symptoms to Watch For During Home Treatment
Use the Check Your Symptoms section to evaluate your child's symptoms if any of the following occur during home treatment:
- Your child's pain gets worse.
- Your child develops a new fever.
- New or different drainage from the ear develops.
- Mild pain continues after 48 hours.
- Your child's symptoms become more severe or more frequent.
| By: | Healthwise Staff | Last Revised: February 12, 2010 |
| Medical Review: | H. Michael O'Connor, MD - Emergency Medicine William H. Blahd, Jr., MD, FACEP - Emergency Medicine | |
© 1995-2011 Healthwise, Incorporated. Healthwise, Healthwise for every health decision, and the Healthwise logo are trademarks of Healthwise, Incorporated. This information does not replace the advice of a doctor. Healthwise, Incorporated disclaims any warranty or liability for your use of this information. Your use of this information means that you agree to the Terms of Use. How this information was developed to help you make better health decisions.
Welcome to Care Circle, an exclusive tool to help you take care of yourself and your loved ones. Here's how it works:
- Create profiles for yourself and your loved ones.
- Select the topics and conditions that interest each of you.
- Get customized news updates, original content, tools, and expert advice for each Care Circle member delivered directly to your personalized homepage.
The information you input is strictly private; you choose who has access to your Care Circle.
How do I add myself or someone else to my care circle?
Click on "Add someone." Fill out the short profile. Choose an avatar. Select the topics and conditions that interest this person from the pulldown menu. You can select as many as you want, but you must choose at least one. Click on "Add Someone" again. You should start getting updates immediately.
How do I save content to my Care Circle?
Click on "Manage My Care Circle." Select the tab of the person for whom you're saving content. Put your cursor over the piece of content that you want to save; a disk icon will appear in the righthand corner. Click on the disk and the piece of content will be moved to a save folder.
How do I add additional topics and conditions for someone in my Care Circle?
Click on "Manage My Care Circle." Select the tab for the person whose preferences you'd like to update. Under "Add More to Follow," select additional topics and conditions.
How do I delete topics and conditions for someone in my Care Circle?
Click on "Manage My Care Circle." Select the tab for the person whose preferences you'd like to update. Under "Follows," scroll over the topic or condition you want to delete. An "X" should appear on the righthand side. Click on the "X" and the topic or condition will be deleted from the list.
To manage your Care Circle, Please
Sign In.
from
- Facebook is now fueling organ donations
- Military women and suicide: Home safe but not sound
- Still in gear: Injuries don’t stop veterans on 100-day bike trek
- Ask Jenna: I've hit a weight loss plateau. What do I do?
- He poses in a tutu to laugh in face of wife's cancer
- After chemo hair loss, 'henna crowns' help heal
The iVillage Network