Suggest Treatment For Ear Pain In A Child

Posted on Sat, 23 Jul 2016

Medically reviewed by Ask A Doctor - 24x7 Medical Review Team

Sat, 23 Jul 2016 Answered on

Fri, 12 Aug 2016 Last reviewed on

Question : I have a 4 yr old. He was having normal cold n cough but was complaining of ear pain. When we examined at home we saw few pus cells in his right ear. We took him to ent. He cleaned his ear n gave an ear pack. He diagonsed it as otitis externa. He gave ciploz d ear drops , augmentin duo n combiflam. Given so far 3 doses of augmentin n other med but since last nite he is getting fever ..repeating every 4-6 hours. His ear is not better n his ear pack came out too. N it is swollen still. Shld i wait for anothrr day or take him to his paedia doctor for anther check up??

Answered by Dr. Prof. Kunal Saha (1 hour later)

Brief Answer:
Continue medicines. Give steam inhalation.

Detailed Answer:
Thanks for asking on HealthcareMagic.

I have gone through your query and understand your concerns. It seems that your child has caught a cold. In such a case the mucus thickens and may block the thin tubes that connect the inner throat with the middle ear cavity. This may lead to pressure imbalance in the middle ear leading to rupture of the eardrum and oozing of pus (otitis externa). The advised medicines are proper and please continue them. But the solution lies not only in cleaning the external ear and providing the medicines, you also need to give steam inhalation to your child. Water in form of vapor will reach deep inside and would help in diluting the mucus and opening of the tubes, thus helping in regularizing the situation.

Give him steam inhalation and you may wait further before taking him to a pediatric doctor for a follow up visit.

Feel free to write back in case of further queries, if any.

Regards

Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Chakravarthy Mazumdar

Follow up: Dr. Prof. Kunal Saha (5 hours later)

Thanks dr... but what do i do about his cough..becoz of all these medications , i stopped his cough syrup by name ephedrex.... now he is in pain whole day n nite by coughing...he cant sleep..his chest n stomach is paining wt so much coughing...can i continue wt ephedrex?? Will it has any reaction wt augmentin n other medicines??

Answered by Dr. Prof. Kunal Saha (59 minutes later)

Brief Answer:
Steam inhalation is the mainstay of treatment.

Detailed Answer:
Thanks for writing back. The steam will help in reducing the cough. As explained, water in form of vapor will reach deep inside and would help in diluting the cough and would thus provide relief.

Ephedrex contains Ephedrine, a decongestant and bronchodilator which may be continued safely. No interaction between Augmentin and other medicines is likely and you need not worry about the same.

Regards

Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Arnab Banerjee