Ear Infection Advice Please.

my son was in the same boat last year at this time. We finally found out (at one years old) that he was allergic to eggs ( in addition to dairy, and nuts -diagnosed at 6 months). Once we stopped giving him eggs, his ear infections stopped. We haven't had one this season.
you may want to ask to have allergy tests. My son had also had a lot of eczema and rashes.
good luck.

A friend of mine had a daughter with the same problem it continued till she was two and then after intense frustration the doc suggested ear tubes be inserted. Its a short painless problem and has done wonders.

The ear infections had caused her to be late in development for speech but now she is doing great.

See if that is an option.

I second Jessica's advice....my daughter started with ear infections at 3 months old....she had 7 in 4 months...After seeing an ENT I finally gave in and she got tubes at 11 months....it was THE BEST thing I ever did for her...it will be 2 years in March that she had the tubes put in and she hasnt gotten an ear infection since....Unfortunately there arent many options when it comes to the ears and it looks like you have tried just about everthing....Let us know what you choose!!
Meg

I hope the ENT doctor will suggest putting tubes in her ears. My grandson had the same experience as your child and since he's had tubes put it, he has not had one ear infection.

Hi M.,

I would really consider the tubes. Two of my children had them. My son didn't talk until after he had his tonsil, adnoids removed and tubes put in. He tried to talk, but because one of his ears was full of fluid, he heard everything as if he was under water. It was amazing the difference and how well he became. When my daughter was born 11 years later, she had an ear infection that started in November and at the end of December was still there. She was just about a year old. They had to give her shots of penicillin and I said, that's it and took her to an ENT. He suggested the tubes (which I knew he would) and I said when can we do it. It's hard when your kids have to go under, but I can't tell you the difference it makes for them. I guess the problem is that their ear canals are too small to drain the fluid and that's why the tubes help. The tube are painless and they fall out after a while. I didn't see my sons, but I saw my daughters. None of my kids have had ear infections since. I've never had an ear infection, but I heard they are very painful and I couldn't take seeing my kids in pain. Plus, I don't want them to becaome inmune to antiboitics when they are older. My middle son only had one ear infection, but he is no allergic to penicillin. My advice, go for the tubes! Trust me, it's not easy putting you kids under, but just knowing that you are actually helping them in the long run and saving them from further pain is worth the day! The only recover is from the anesticia (I spelled that wrong). All 3 of my kids acted differently. One got sick to his stomach, one just cried until she came completely through and then asked to go home and my son when he was put under (when he was an infant, not for the tubes) flipped out. But a oouple years later when he got his tonsils out, cried for about 5 minutes and was fine. Go visit an ear, nose and throat doctor. He/she will let you know what is best. You don't want your child to end up w/a hearing problem either. Trust me, the tubes are the way to go and don't be scared! After seeing how my son improved I knew exactly what to do with my daughter! All my kids ended up getting their tonsils and adnoids out too. The tonsils were a little harder to recover than the tube because their throat hurt for a couple of days, but literally, once the anesticia wore off when the kids got the tubes, they were fine!

Good luck!

Hi, I am not sure why your daughter is having ear infections - is it related to colds? Or baths? Teething? If they are, maybe you can try using drops to keep the ears dry and wax free. I have used Debrox and Swimmers Ear for those 2 reasons. However, since your child is so young, please check with her doctor first.
J.

go to the health food store and buy ear oil for the baby. usually has gsrlic and sometimes bach flowers in it. warm the bottle in your hands and put a drop in each ear once or twice a day.
it is not generally recommended to give systemic antibiotics for ear infections. you might want to try some echinacea whenever she starts with a cold.

Hi M.,

Yes, I have good advice. Please seek the help of a Naturopath Dr. who will find what the root cause of the chronic ear infections are, instead of just masking them with antibiotics.

Just a little fact: most children's ear infections are caused by food sensitivities. (not allergies)

The ND will draw blood to find out what sensitivities your son has and once you eliminate the foods, the ear infections should cease.

The typical food sensitivies are: MILK/DAIRY; SOY; WHEAT; CORN; EGG; NUTS.

If I was a betting woman, I'd say it's whatever is in the formula you are giving him. (Milk produces mucous which could very well be builing up in his little growing ear drums - poor thing!)

My son had eczema on his elbows - at 8 months I brought him to a ND. She did bloodwork, results came back highly sensitive to coconut. PALM OIL was in the Soy-based formula I was giving him. I changed formula to Alimentum and the eczema went away.

The good thing is that food sensitivies can go away. Typically allergies don't.

Please, seek a Naturopath - it'll be worth it! Or, at least change the milk-based formula to soy-based (or vice-versa) to see if that will help.

~J.

my suggestion is to give her acidolphilus as the several rounds of antibiodics are bringing down immune system... go to healthfood store and buy ear drops called ear oil with mullein and st johns wort.. this will help soothe the ear.. also, going to a chiroprator will help with drainage of the ears... my boys have not had an ear infection in over 3 years.... good luck

lots of experience. take baby to a chiropractor to get the nerve off the eardrum. that's what is usu. the irritation. thake baby there a few times over a 10 day period then go back to dr for a recheck. the more prescriptions you have baby on, the lower the resistance to meds in the future.

Hi M.,

Since you mentioned tubes in your message I am assuming it was suggested to you by your ENT. My son same deal constant infections at 3 months till 22 months when we had the tubes put in. After the procedure the doctor THANKED me for letting him do the procedure as there was so much liquid in my son's ears my son could barely hear anything and he was having difficulty saying words properly. He mimicked our mouths but the words were unintelligible. Fast forward now he is six. Never ever had another ear infection, he was always on the same meds as your child, hearing is perfect and he developed his hearing and speaking skills in line with kids his age. Do it if your other options don't work for you. Why keep your angel uncomfortable? Good luck. A. B

Hi M.,
I know what you are going through, I understand,I had the same problem with my son Patrick who's 26 months. He had repeated ear infections and saw him crying in pain, took him to the emergency room a few times and they gave him antibiotics, they tried 3 different ones, he wasn't getting better.He was on antibiotics for 6 weeks! He is usually a good eater and the antibiotics were making him not eat at all!!
Fortunately my father is a retired surgeon in Venezuela ( he has 40 years of medical experience) and because of medical ethics he did not want to intervene with the treatment given by Doctors here but I insisted and he told me to treat him topically with a specific treatment of antibiotic called Poliotico ear drops, it has neomicin,dexametasone and other active ingredients that I swear by. Is made by Osmopharn labs. I don't know if you can get them here but all it took was less than a week of treatment ( I followed it for 8 days following my father's advice) 3 drops in the morning and 3 drops at night, and Patrick is being cleared of ear infections after that. I have an extra bottle of it, think about it, talk to your doctor and family. If you want to try it I will send you an unopened bottle for you at no charge. I know what is like.
Take care, let me know, everything will be ok!!
A. R

Hi M.,

This is my first time reading/responding.

For the last 8 years I have recommended the following remedy, and always with positive results. Dilute tee tree oil: 2 olive oil for 1 tee tree oil. Put it in a drop container and pour some drops in the affected ear. Cover the ear with a little cotton ball. It will not only stop the pain, but it will help the healing.

I really hope this will help your little one. Ear infections are so painful!
Margarita

There is really no other option. I work for an ENT and have for years and this is a result of eustachian tube dysfunction. Nothing else is going to make it better but a simple set of tubes. I don't want to sound nasty or anything, I really don't but I've seen this 100 times and I'm just wondering why continuous ear drops and chiropractors and countless rounds of really strong antibiotics for a 7 month old baby is your alternative to tubes. The procedure takes no more than 20 minutes and is totally safe. You could be risking hearing loss if you keep letting your child's ear drum rupture. Most people's never rupture in life and her's has twice before she's turned 1. I mean just think for a minute what your putting your baby through with all of this nonsense. The ENT will also tell you the same thing. Why make her suffer because you don't want her to have tubes?

I had chronic ear infections from the time I was a baby until 6th grade. The last one I had almost caused me to become deaf in one ear. I went to an ENT. They vacuumed the infection out of my ear and put me on Cephlasporin(not sure of the spelling, but it is in the penicillin family), I haven't had one since and I'm now 26. I wish I would have done that a long time before because they were so painful. My son has a double ear infection at the moment and I'm scared that it might be hereditary. But after I went through I'd say the best thing to do is exactly what the ENT says. I wish you much luck!

Hi M., I just wanted to put in another vote for tubes. I am a Mommy and speech therapist whose daughter had the procedure when she was 11 months old. I know having your baby put under anesthesia seems scary, however they do not use intravenous anesthesia (just a mask) and the procedure itself takes, literally, 10 minutes. All she needed was a little Tylenol and snuggles afterwards and she has not had any ear infections since (she's now 16 months). Just as nice is that she has not had to be on any antibiotics since. On a professional, speech therapist note, I have also seen many kids with speech delays due to chronic ear infections as children experience mild to moderate hearing loss with the fluid that's in there during an ear infection. Not that it should be your main reason to get the tubes, but this fluid can really hinder speech and language development. I feel like it's better to be proactive about things than to have a wait and see mentality, especially since ear infections can be so painful. Good luck with your decision and please do not hesitate to write if you have any more questions!

Don't be afraid of the tubes. My daughter got them put in at 11 months. Joseph Bernstein at NYU is a FABULOUS ENT and has a wonderful, calming bedside manner.

Good luck.

Hi M.! Both of my kids had tubes. My daughter (she's 6 1/2 now) got them when she was a little over one and they worked beautifully - she's never had an ear infection since and rarely is sick now.

My son (he's 4 1/2 now) has had tubes five times now (they've fallen out earlier than expected and he has kept getting ear infections). My son has grown quicker than average (he's well off the charts for both height and weight) - not sure if that's why the tubes didn't stay in for as long as they should have...

In any case, the procedure is literally five minutes and the kids get anesthesia. Both of my kids came out from under without an issue and were totally fine. I took them home and they ate a meal without an issue and were up and running without even so much as another dose of tylenol. My experience has been wonderful - except for the fact that my son's don't stay in past 5 or 6 months...

The benefits have been tremendous though - my son's hearing was horrible (we had him tested for nerve damage since it was so bad, but thankfully it was just from the fluid in his ears that he couldn't hear). As soon as the tubes were in, we were able to whisper to him and he heard us crystal clear. Also, his speech improved ten-fold when the tubes went in.

I'm sure you have an ENT already, but if you are in need of a really good doctor, send me a private message and I'll send you back the name of my kids' otolaryngologist - he's well known in NJ, has won all sorts of awards for his accomplishments, has an excellent bedside manner, is great with the kids and explains everything to you until you are comfortable. He's also on the conservative side, so when he tells you his opinion, he's not pushing something on you that he wouldn't do on his own kids.

Best of luck!

- K. :)

M., if it were I, at this stage I would do the tubes.
Long-standing ear infections can result in mental retardation. I've seen it in my own family.
R. Conte

M. I know what you mean to some extent. My oldest son (4 yers of age) never had an ear infection and just had one recently and it was sooooo painful he started screaming. I was advised at ER first to see if it goes away and it didn't and ended up on amoxicillin and was told that I was not to put garlic oil that I got at the health food store because if it ruptured it could affect his ear in the long run. I wished I didn't listen to them, but I did. On the tenth day he broke out in rash and it turned out that he was allergic to it. The dr looked at his ear and said it was fine. Two days later on Sunday, he stared complaining and we went to the ER (with fever) and they said it was 103 (as was the first time). Earlier that morning, we put garlic oil in his ear and he was fine until later that afternoon and it was hurting again and he was burning up. The ER staff said that the ear infection was not gone and some still left there they put him on onecif (sp) and ear drops to keep his ears comfortable. Why not garlic oil and they said because the prescription was blah, blah blah. Fine, and now it is gone. The only thing I am puzzled is that whenever they acted as if their ears were hurting, or playing with their ear when they were small I immediately put garlic oil in their ears and nothing bad came out of it but positive and I did the same for myself many times and it the pain went away. So, you may want to check into that as well and someone mentioned food allergy and I personally will check into that for my oldest son. Let us know how it went and I will be praying for all of you especially with her in my prayers.

Tubes take about 10 minutes for the Dr. to put in and the baby goes home happy. No more ear infections. Please dont allow your baby to continue having them when Tubes are such an easy and successful answer. Those infections can cause permanent damage and a lot of pain.
Both of my daughters have gone through this and the Tubes helped so much.

7 mos old is young for so many ear infections - is your baby breast or bottle fed? If bottle fed, what formula? If cow milk based then you could switch and see if that helps - cow milk causes lots of mucous. If you breastfeed you could try going off all dairy yourself and see if that helps. My middle son had tons of ear infections and always had colds, mucous so I had him off all dairy until he was 3 or 4. I also used a product called Mullein Ear Oil - it has garlic and mullein in it which have natural healing properties. As soon as my son complains of ear pain I just warm up the oil, put a few drops in the ear and plug it up with cotton before bedtime. Within a day or two the pain/infection is gone - you could try this as a preventative perhaps - anything to stay off the antibiotics! Good luck . . .also - if you haven't already done have the crib mattress on a wedge to keep his head up higher than feet so everything drains down . . .

Hi M.,

As a mom and audiologist I would encourage you to try to find out what is causing the recurrent ear infections, often times it is due to some type of allergy. Try to find yourself a good pediatric allergist before putting your child through general anesthesia for tubes. When my kids were young I also brought them to a chirpractor at the first sign of an ear infection and they have NEVER been treated with antiobiotics for an ear infections. I think it is definitley worth a try before considering surgery. But find a chiropractor who is expereinced in treating children. Also, the person who wrote in stating that recurrent ear infections can lead to to mental retardation is completely wrong, they can lead to language delay and auditoy processing problems but certainly not mental retardation.
I would be careful about constantly having your child on antibiotics, which as another mom stated, can lead to resistance and a whole host of other problems such as yeast overgrowth and intestinal issues. Remember, antiobiotics will destroy the "good bacteria" in the body as well. I also encourage you to check out www.mercola.com and reseach your questions there as well.

Good luck and never stop asking questions!

K.

Hi M., My name is C. and my Aunt actually just invited me to join here a few days ago. I finally signed in tonight and just saw your message. My Aunt had REALLY bad problems with her son and his ears. She had the tubes put in and it was the BEST thing ever. It was effortless and painless and he said his first word (his development was slow with all the ear infections) within minutes of the tubes being inserted. She really is the one that I hope sees this and responds to it but I went through all her trials and tribulations with her. I myself am now (at 30 years old) having issues with my ears filling with fluid and I may have to get tubes. If that is what is going to relieve the pain I am in and my child was feeling how I have been feeling, I would be all for anything that would resolve the problem. The ear tubes dont hurt. Is there a reason you want to stay away from them?

My son had tubes put in at around 16 months after constant ear infections...antibiotics would help, for as long as he was on them, then when off of them, he would get the inf. back within a week. After 4 different antibiotics, we finally saw the ENT and got the tubes. He hasn't gotten an ear infection since, he's now 3y3m and the tubes have fallen out on their own. We did notice that his speach and hearing improved dramatically once the tubes were in. Thinking back, his speach sounded like he was saying everything underwater, because that's what it sounded like to him with all the fluid in his ears. Once the tubes were in, that went away and he was talking more and clearer. We also took him to an allergist about 6 months ago because of eczema and a suspected peanut allergy. It is possible that your baby is allergic to something. If I had to do it over, I would have taken him to the ENT sooner. I know tubes are a last resort for you, however, so many ear infections, especially with rupture, could permanently damage your baby's hearing. The risks are minimal with the tubes and the entire procedure takes less than 15 minutes.
Good luck...

Hi M., My youngest son had many ear infections until a specialist told us he had allergies and a post nasal drip. He was a little older than your baby but the Dr. told us to use Sudafed morming and night and the infections almost stopped. Do keep the appt. with the ENT. I pray that all is well. It is not good to have so much antibiotic. My best, Grandma Mary

My husband and I tried everything we could to delay tubes, but when our oldest was 15 months we realized that we had to. The amount of pain she was in, the trips to the dr's & hospital - it became our own ritual. The reason we didn't get them sooner was because our insurance company wouldn't allow them until she had so many ear infections/double ear infections w/in a certain period of time. By the end of the whole thing she was sleeping through the night - the tubes were not an inconvenience at all - just kept her head up when in water - got the funky looking headbands that kept water from getting in her years & hers actually lasted until first or 2nd grade. If I had it to do all over again, I would've pushed a little more w/the ins co because it wasn't fair for her to have to go through that pain. Good luck!

Hydrate your home, especially where she sleeps. Also if she is eating food, stop for a few weeks to see if she might have a food allergy. The ear aches could be caused by sinuses.

Are you breastfeeding? You could change your diet to help support her immune system. Eliminate grains, sugar, even fruit (maybe 1 or 2 pieces a day, no more), stick to lots of vegetables and good meats (organic or grass fed with no hormones/antibiotics). If she's formula fed, is she eating any table food? If yes, it could be food she's allergic or sensitive to. Again, get rid of grains, fruit and fruit juice, stick to veggies and good meats. Maybe change your formula? There's many healthy formula recipes on www.mercola.com and the Weston Price Foundation website.

Hi M.,

My son gets a lot of ear infections as well. Now they are less because I do not lay him down when feeding. He has to be propted up on a pillow or on my lap. This way the fluid does not stay as they say in the ear passage. I really do not know how this works, however he has gotten less. And now I working on taking the bottle away, what fun. :( I hope this works for you. :)