1. Relieve Your Child's Ear Pain
You can use acetaminophen or ibuprofen to relieve your child's ear pain. If the pain medication does not improve the symptoms, consider other strategies. Put a few pillows under his head or encourage him to sleep in an upright position to relieve the pressure on his ear. Warm olive or vegetable oil by putting some in a small glass and leaving it in warm water for a few minutes. Then, insert a few drops of the warm oil into your child's ear. Massage the outer edge of the ear canal to help the drops flow to the eardrum. Apply a warm washcloth or heating pad on your child's ear. Use heating pads only with children old enough to tell you whether it's getting too hot.
2. Decide Whether Antibiotics are Necessary
Most ear infections resolve without antibiotics and using antibiotics too frequently can lead to antibiotic-resistant bacteria, which is particularly hard to treat. You also may discover that antibiotics are only effective for certain kinds of ear infections. If your child's ear infection is caused by a virus, antibiotics will not fix it. Antibiotics also can't clear up the fluid in the ear or offer immediate pain relief.
Your doctor probably will not prescribe antibiotics if there are no complications, your child is older than 2 and he does not seem very ill. If your child has had two or more ear infections within a month, however, your doctor may want you to try a course of antibiotics.
3. Consider Surgery for Chronic Ear Infections
Another option is to have tubes inserted into your child's ears to drain them more efficiently. The tubes will remain in your child's ear for 6 to 12 months and then fall out on their own. Another surgical option is to have your child's adenoids and tonsils removed. Your doctor will only suggest this if antibiotics and tubes have not been effective. Removing your child's adenoids may help air and fluid flow better in her nasal passages. Your doctor will only recommend removing the tonsils if they become infected frequently.
