Earaches & Garlic Clove

Whether it involves keeping vampires away or treating earaches, garlic has its proponents. The U.S. Department of Agriculture notes that garlic was valued as a medicinal herb by the ancient Chinese and Egyptians. However, credible sources continue to disagree about garlic's medicinal uses, and peer-reviewed studies report inconsistent results. Given that garlic is, at best, a complementary approach, contact your doctor if you or your child has an earache. Garlic is not recognized as either a conventional or complementary treatment for earaches.

Earache Causes

Earache is primarily a pediatric problem. Children are vulnerable to otitis media, or middle ear, infections primarily because the Eustachian tubes in their middle ears are shorter and lie more horizontally than those in adults, which causes fluids to accumulate behind the ear drum. While most infections can be bacterial or fungal, the British National Health System reports that fungal infections are uncommon. Earaches in adults are usually the result of referred pain from the throat or sinuses.

Conventional Treatment

The University of Maryland Medical Center reports that doctors often will watch and wait because many ear infections improve within 24 hours. Antibiotics are a common and effective treatment. If the pain persists or recurs frequently, you and your doctor may consider surgical placement of ear tubes to keep the Eustachian tubes free of infection.

Garlic and Earaches

The U.S. Department of Agriculture notes that the various health benefits ascribed to garlic include antibiotic and anti-fungal effects as well as antiseptic and antioxidant action. The validity of these claims continues to be researched. As of 2012, there are no evidence-based peer-reviewed studies on the effect of garlic cloves on earaches, although there are several small studies that examined garlic oil or garlic extracts on earaches caused by bacteria or fungi. While these results are favorable, the methodology was inconsistent, and additional work is necessary to replicate these results.

Recommendation

While deafness is uncommon, it is a high price to pay for improper treatment of earaches. Seeing a doctor, following his advice and taking all of the antibiotic prescribed is a good first step in dealing with this problem. If you are inclined to try an alternative approach, such as garlic, let your doctor know because garlic can interfere with conventional medications. Drugs.com reports that garlic can interfere with as many as 283 drugs or nutritional supplements.