Looking for tips for conquering earaches in your child? We don’t blame you. Childhood earaches can be painful, throw off balance, and it can lead to infection. Thankfully, not all earaches need to be treated with antibiotics. There are some things that you can do at home to rid your child of earaches. Make sure to consult a doctor if pain persists or is accompanied by a fever.
Apply Heat
Heat can help to relieve the pain that accompanies an earache. There are many options for how to apply heat. Here are a few of them:
- Water bladder/bottle filled with warm water
- Electric blanket or pad
- Microwaved pillow or sock filled with corn or rice
Wiggle The Ears
Sometimes just by wiggling your child’s ear a little bit, ear pain will subside. This gentle maneuver may pop open the Eustachian tube open. This will allow the fluid to drain out. This is similar to yawning to open up your ears. When I travel off our mountain I make myself yawn to pop my eustachian tubes open. It immediately relieves the uncomfortable pressure associated with coming out of elevation. This same trick works when descending in an airplane. If your child is too young to yawn on cue, try to help by wiggling his or her ears.
Sleep Without Putting More Pressure on the Ears
Some sleep positions will help relieve ear pain, just like some sleep positions will intensify ear pain. Have your child sleep with the hurt hear raised instead of having it pointing downward. By having your child’s head elevated with extra pillows that will also help because it helps the ear drain. This is similar to when you have a runny noise or sinus infection. It helps to sleep with your head elevated so that your sinuses will drain better. Make sure to let your child know how and why to sleep like that, so that if your child awakes, he can get back in proper position before falling back asleep.
Good Distractions
Sometimes the only way to get through something is to distract yourself and wait for a problem to clear up. This same holds true for kids. Most remedies may take some time before an earache totally clears up. While in the waiting, try to distract your child with fun things. An art activity or fun movie may do the trick. Even though the pain may still be there, it should seem lessened if her mind is off of focusing so much on the discomfort.
Moist Air
An earache is often accompanied by an upper respiratory infection. If this is the case for your child, have him breathe in moist air. This can help to alleviate the pain by reducing swelling in the airways. Moist air will also help to relieve pressure against the eardrum. To add moist air to your child’s environment, consider running a humidifier or boiling some water on the stove or fireplace. Soaking in a warm bath will also do the trick. Relief should happen within approximately 10 minutes when moisture is present.
Check in with Your Child’s Doctor
Make sure to call your child’s pediatrician if your child experiences fever, severe pain, hearing loss, stiff neck, facial swelling, a stiff neck, or redness. Also, if you see any type of discharge around the ear, call your doctor immediately. It’s better to be safe than sorry when dealing with your child’s hearing. If an infection develops it could escalate into an even more severe problem if left untreated.
Earaches In Your Child: Conclusion
I’ve gone over some ways to help your child conquer earaches. Try following some or all of these tricks and then be patient and stay the course. Sometimes, unfortunately an earache needs to run its course. While utilizing some of these remedies try to distract her with fun activities.
