And another thing…

I suffered ear ache quite regularly as a child. It lessened significantly when I had my adanoids removed. I did have a nasty problem when I was a teenager, but that was because I had used a rifle range without ear plugs and caused perforation. I had a week of injections in my bottom for that – I don’t know what what was injected, probably penicillin, and why my bottom I do not know, but it worked.
My mother did used to relieve my ear ache with cod liver oil!! I think that is something you need to look up, it did work though!

I am NOT a doctor and I’d strongly suggest you talk to your GP for proper advice on the matter.

Personally I’d suggest he stay away from swimming pools for a while. Make sure you/he isn’t cleaning out his ears with qtips (the ear will clean itself), or sticking fingers/other things in there. If he has a wax buildup then you could use one of those solutions from the chemist to dissolve it (a very satisfying feeling, I might add!).

For ear ache, I’ve heard that a drop of olive oil can help alleviate pain.

I don’t think it’s worth taking the risk experimenting with alternative suggestions for clearing up an actual infection though – if it gets out of control then it could damage parts of the inner ear. I know this because mine is damaged after an infection (I think I needed two courses to defeat it), though luckily it hasn’t affected my hearing.

If you Google around you will find a lot of stuff on the topic, but I’d urge caution with taking medical advice from the internet. By all means do some research, but talk it over with your GP.

Forgot to add; earphones can be a great source of ear infections, in case your child is at an age where he’s using them – ask him to stop.

I of course agree with Anonymous about proper medical advice, after all, the ear is a far more delicate organ than many people realise. He/she mentioned olive oil, which is another one my mother mentioned – although cod liver oil was cheaper and more readily available in the 1950s. It is interesting though that it is rich oil being mentioned.
I do think that the ‘middle ear’ possibility is worth investigating – adanoids for example.
One last point. I do not put 100% faith in GPs. Now that we have the internet at our disposal, it is always worth a look at homeopathic/alternative treatments.

thank you for answering so quickly. I should probably make it clear – there is no question of me not taking him to the doctor to have any infection treated quickly and by antibiotics. I am just concerned about the effect that so many antibiotics are having on his immune system, and wonder if there is anything I could give him that could help to prevent ear and throat infections, and that would help the infection pass more quickly.

I have suffered from ear infections since childhood. An ENT hospital consultant advised me that if the inside of the ear feels itchy but is dry, then E45 cream is best. If it is itchy and wet, they recommend something called Ear Calm spray, which can be bought over-the-counter from the chemist. I have tried the latter, and it definitely worked.
I hope your child feels better soon.
P.S. Great blog – keep up the good work!

That is a very good point about antibiotics and the immune system. Non antibiotic eardrops, and in the case of throat infection, over the counter gargles like oraldene are always a safe bet. Penicillin based drugs are good as long as they are natural and not laboratory formulations. Unfortunately, natural antibiotics like penicillin are not what you get because the chemically produced generics are cheaper.
Just one more thing. The growing child often develops their own immunity. My son was allergic to cat fur. My daughter got a kitten. For a few weeks my son had red eyes and other discomforts. This however cleared up because his body developed it’s own immunity.
Isn’t the human body an amazing thing.

All I can say Tom is that I had terrible problems with ear discherges and pain,swolen glands in my neck etc.at 4 I had my adanoids and tonsils removed and i have never had any trouble since.

If you are realy concerned you should talk to an ear nose and throat specialist. BUPA will arrange this for you at short notice.

However they could just ” grow out of it”.

I do know how bad the pain is I can still remember it very well.You just do not like to see children suffer.

increase the amount of garlic in the diet – this helped a lot when my daughter had regular ear infections when she was small. There is a spray called Audispray which works very well at giving relief, available possibly only in France but without prescription (unlike most things in France). Focus on relief of pain and discomfort – the infection itself will normally clear without antibiotics.

Tom, as an aside, when we lived in France every Doctor published details of his specialities. So for example in your case you could look for one that had much experience in the problem you need treatment or advice for. The ball was in your court to contact the Dr and make an appointment. You then claimed the fee back from the state. It put the individual in control of who they saw. It was very quick with the minimum of fuss. It was similar in Germany only you still had to make the arrangements via your own Dr.
We have NHS direct but you want to see someone not a person on a phone.Have you tried NHS direct. ?

Unless there’s something badly wrong, which would have been picked up by now (I trust our medics and paramedics) it gets better. I had that trouble all the time as a kid. People say that toothache is the worst. It aint. It taught me to tolerate physical pain – (not to enjoy it – anyone with that little thought can take it elsewhere) – not that I wish that kind of lesson on anybody, least of all on a child.

Do what the doctors say. They nearly always know their stuff. We learn of cases where they don’t seem to and forget how rare those cases are.

I predict waxy lugs though in perpetuity for the young one. It’s a trial but it teaches you to keep your finger nails sharp. That’s one good thing to be taught.

Children certainly do grow out of many ear infections. The Eustachian tube is shorter and narrower in young kids and more prone to channel infection to the middle ear.

Still, it doesn’t help much to say to some poor mitre screaming their head off that they’ll be fine in a few years.

So long as the condition is properly monitored and pain relief given, there’s usually little need for more radical intervention.

I’m not a doctor. But bringing up four kids teaches you a hell of a lot.

Some poor mitre.

Archbishop Cranmer again.

Oh, I know, he’s a famous blogger – and all famous bloggers (our Tom is doing not too badly you know) pay due, and undue, respect to each other – outed recently but I will not repeat the outing out of respect, not to Cranmer but to NightJack and out of hatred for what those scumbags at ‘The Times’ did to him.

Come after me, why don’t you? Not important enough? Well, thank f*** for that, but you are still scumbags.

Ronnie and Reggie???

Still I expect they love their dear old mum

Sympathies to the little guy. I suffered ear infections quite a bit as a kid – the worst one just happening to pop up during my dad’s wedding when I was about 8. I eventually grew out of them, but can remember the pain very well, so my heart goes out for him.

“This is because Carolyn feels that regular references to Ronnie and Reggie make them a target for public criticism and comment in the same way that I am.”

Absolute shame on them if someone did. My brother also suffered from ear infections too as a child and adenoid removal and implanting grommits also helped. They finally tracked it down at the age of 16 to being allergic to lactose, i.e. milk.

You deserve everything you get Tom and more, but your children are beyond criticism.

As an occasional sufferer of earache I offer all due sympathies – it’s agony.

When I asked my doctor why I kept getting earache he offered the following sage advice – “you’re unlucky”. But I hear the NHS is considerably better funded in Scotland though so best of luck.

Wire brush and Dettol!!!

Sorry couldn’t resist. I’m sorry for the wee one’s pain. About the only thing I can say is maybe regular washing with warm salty water. And gargling with same for the throat.

And in terms of swimming it may be worth getting him one of those natty swim caps that cover the ears.

Hope he gets better soon.

I too suffered as a child from ear infections. Fortunately they disappeared but returned with a vengeance whilst swimming in Singapore as an adult! I was advised to use ear plugs thereafter in the pool.

I read in the BMJ recently that GPs are being advised not to give antibiotics to children with ear infections as this increases the risk of further infections. The reasearch (from memory) suggests that whilst antibiotics cleared up infection quicker the infection itself would clear up within a few days if left alone. Pain relief was recommended. Difficult decisions!

Thank you for the tips given above. i shall buy the sprays as recommended.

I’d say avoid the swimming pools, or if he has to go swimming use ear plugs. Hope he gets well soon.

Out of interest, was the hospital particularly busy? I’ve often been amazed at just how long it takes them to do what ought to be fairly simple things (“Oh, his ear hurts. Well let’s have a look. Quick scan. Yeah, you see the fluid has blah blah. Here’s some drugs” surely can’t take a 5 hour round trip unless you live 2 hours from the hospital).

Extremely busy, unfortunately.

Take him to see a Homeopathic Doctor. Our 6 year old used to suffer in the same way but has never had an Ear Infection since. He is now 20 !

thank you everyone for responding with suggestions and good wishes for my little boy – even Johnny Norfolk, who managed to lever BUPA into his comment.

There are several things suggested that I will try, so thank you for taking the time to reply.