Does your child have pain or discomfort in his ear?
Does your child often have a fever is fussy a lot?
If so, they may have chronic ear infections.
Ear infections are one of the most common reasons
parents take their children to the doctor.
The Eustachian tube runs from the middle of each ear to the back of the throat.
This tube drains fluid normally made in the middle ear.
But if the tube gets blocked, fluid can build up, leading to infection.
Ear infections are common in infants and children
because the Eustachian tubes become easily clogged.
If the ears get infected a lot or individual ear infections don’t clear up,
your child has chronic ear infections.
How do you know for sure that your child has a chronic ear infection?
Your child will feel like there’s pressure or fullness in his ear.
He may feel pain or discomfort in his ear and have a low-grade fever.
An infant may be fussy a lot.
You may see a pus-like drainage from an ear, your child may have trouble hearing.
Your child’s doctor will check for redness, air bubbles,
and thick fluid in your child’s middle ear.
If there’s a discharge, a swab of your child’s ear may reveal bacteria
that are harder to treat than the bacteria that commonly cause an ear infection.
The doctor may see a hole in your child’s eardrum.
To treat a chronic ear infection, your child will probably need to take antibiotics
if the infection is due to bacteria, maybe for a long time.
If there is a hole in the eardrum, your child may need to use antibiotic ear drops as well.
If the infection does NOT go away, the child may need surgery,
to clean the infection out of the mastoid bone behind the middle ear,
to repair the small bones in the middle ear, or to repair the eardrum.
The doctor may also recommend ear tube surgery.
In this procedure, a tiny tube is inserted into the eardrum to drain the fluid.
The tube will usually fall out on its own.
Chronic ear infections are treatable,
but your child may need to keep taking medicine even for several months.
These infections can be uncomfortable, and they may result in hearing loss
or other serious problems.
The earlier you deal with chronic ear infections, the better.