Ear infections and treatments
Ear infections can be extremely painful, especially for children. They are more common in children and young babies as the Eustachian tube is predominantly horizontal. This means it is more prone to filling up with mucus or fluid from the common cold.
20% of UK adults have suffered with an ear infection although this rate is rising especially after Dec 2016, when the Apple Airpod ™ in-ear headphones were launched.
Symptoms include pus oozing from the outer ear, pain and/or throbbing inside the ear, fever, feeling of pressure inside the ear, difficulty hearing or muffled hearing, red hot outer ear etc. Babies with an ear infection may also: rub or pull their ear, not react to some sounds, be irritable or restless, be off their food, or keep losing their balance.
Conventional treatment is painkillers and antibiotics which take 48hrs to start working.
Homeopathic remedies are Belladonna, Chamomilla and Pulsatilla.
The ears are the opening to the Kidney energy in Chinese medicine. Kidney energy is also linked with adrenal glands and hence anxiety.
Glue ear:
Glue ear is where the middle part of the ear canal fills up with fluid, from the body normally due to the Eustachian tube becoming blocked or swollen. This can cause temporary hearing loss. It usually clears up within 3 months, but see a GP about any hearing problems. The most common symptom of glue ear is temporary hearing loss. It can affect both ears at the same time.
Other symptoms may include:
- Earache
- hearing sounds like ringing or buzzing (tinnitus)
- problems with balance
If glue ear lasts a long time, it can affect a child’s speech development and progress at school.
Glue ear is much more common in children, but adults with glue ear have the same symptoms. Conventional medicine normally waits for it this condition to go away, which it can do after about 3months. However this may affect the child’s development through hearing loss. Grommets can be fitted to help drain the thick sticky liquid out of the ear. These are small tubes which help to keep the eardrum open and are inserted during surgery. They fall out themselves after about 12 months.
Perforated eardrum
A perforated (burst) eardrum is a hole or tear in your eardrum. You may suffer this after an ear infection, or a sudden change in air pressure (when you fly on a plane).
Symptoms of a perforated eardrum:
- hearing loss
- a ringing or buzzing sound in your ear (tinnitus)
- earache or ear pain
- itching in your ear
- clear fluid, blood or pus leaking from your ear
- feeling dizzy
- a high temperature
Eardrums normally heal themselves after about 2 months and your hearing should then return to normal.
Earwax doesn’t normally cause issues until it starts to block the ear when it can cause muffled hearing. 5% of UK adults need to have their ears syringed or suctioned to remove excess or hardened earwax. This service is no longer available on the NHS from May 2022. This can cause an ear infection, and you are more likely to suffer if you wear in-ear hearing aids, in-ear headphones (see above) or ear plugs (for noise or swimming).
