Do you need antibiotics for an ear infection?

amother

Lemon

Fri, Nov 06 2015, 11:27 am

I'm dealing with this for the first time & have heard different things from other parents.
My doctor says I need but other people tell me their doctors no longer routinely prescribe for this.
Any experienced mothers that can help me understand?
Thanks

sky

Fri, Nov 06 2015, 11:34 am

I'm not an expert on when to give antibiotics. I think a dr can test if it needs antibiotics but I don't think most do.

Some things to consider:
- I know an adult where the ear infection traveled to his brain and he cannot walk\talk\ or care for himself, so please make an informed decision.
- Ear infections are incredibly painful, I've had 2 as an adult and was in agony. If not treating with antibiotics then try pain relief in the mean time or visit chiropractor to try to drain.

full time mom

Fri, Nov 06 2015, 11:38 am

My dr. said you do not have to give medication but you have to treat it! I put a piece of garlic in the ear and then tape on top if the child doesn't let then let garlic sit in olive oil for a while and then warm it in a cup of warm water and put drops in the ear. oil of oregano is also very good you rub it behind the ears or kyolic drops you put a few drops into bottle 3 times a day! Hatzloche! ans Refuah sheleima

lfab

Fri, Nov 06 2015, 11:39 am

So I'm not an expert and have no medical training but I believe that the current thinking is that generally an ear infection does not need an antibiotics right away. Some doctors do still prescribe it but some will wait a few days to see if it clears up on its own before prescribing.

HelloG

Fri, Nov 06 2015, 11:47 am

85% of ear infections don't require antibiotics. You can test if it's bacterial or viral If you really want
And when ppl are upset about antibiotics being given for ear infections they sometimes mean that what upsets them is that it's prescribed indiscriminately without testing before

Jeanette

Fri, Nov 06 2015, 11:59 am

It depends on the age of the child and the severity of the infection. Generally in a child under two the recommendation is to treat. Older than two you can wait and see.

Here's a link to the AAP guidelines:

http://pediatrics.aappublicati...../e964

rosebunch

Fri, Nov 06 2015, 12:15 pm

full time mom wrote:

NEVER put a piece of garlic into the ear! I learnt this the very hard way. I put a piece of garlic into my dd's ear upon hearing this idea. Her middle ear and ear canal became inflamed and swollen from the garlic. My pediatrician was appalled and warned me never to do this again. He only recommends using garlic drops. Not only did he need to treat the ear infection itself, but the inflammation too.
I use the mr drops found in the health food store. It really heals an ear infection. I also warm up olive oil and drop it into the ear to soothe the pain.

Amarante

Fri, Nov 06 2015, 1:10 pm

I would do what the doctor says or find another doctor. Ask the doctor why he is prescribing antibiotics or whatever other treatment.

Perhaps the doctor saw symptoms that indicated a bacterial infection.

I don't replace my doctor's advice but I also try to ask informed questions so that I can evaluate the treatment, diagnosis or whatever.

I would NEVER put anything in an ear canal except drops prescribed by a doctor. Unfortunately, my family seems to be prone to ear infections and my grandmother lost part of her hearing from mastoiditis which should have been treated with antibiotics. I suffered from middle ear infections and for that the doctor puts a wick in the canal to keep the antibiotic in the canal.

WastingTime

Sat, Nov 07 2015, 11:48 am

I have never given antibodies for ear infections and they always cleared up in a few days. I am totally not the natural type but do avoid antibiotics aif possible, especially under a year. Depending on the severity of it/age of child IMHO its okay not to give but besides keeping an eye that it doesnt get worse, it may be advisable to go back to the doc a few days later to check that its cleared up . Refuah Shleima!!

seeker

Sat, Nov 07 2015, 5:40 pm

My understanding is that most ear infections are viral which is why often pediatricians will adopt a wait-and-see approach. However they will usually prescribe antibiotics if 1) the infection is very severe and they decide it is worth taking antibiotics just in case it will help, or 2) they are pretty sure it is bacterial, a good experienced doctor can sometimes tell the difference though not always. I'm not a doc but mine says there are some signs of bacteria that he can see just by looking, or 3) the child is in a lot of pain and the mom is begging the doctor to DO SOMETHING or 4) the eardrum burst so they are able to culture the goo to find out if it is bacterial.

sky

Sat, Nov 07 2015, 7:01 pm

I"ve used garlic drops and I've found they help ease the pain tremendously.
But If it is bacterial the drops will not heal it.

However, I once had a child who had an ear infection that would not go away after weeks of being miserable . my dr asked if I was using drops and when I said yes he said I should take a break. It went away soon after. The Dr said it was possible there was a contamination in the bottle keeping the ear infection from heeling. (this is a very unnatural leaning dr)

Since then I've used the drops a lot less often. I still keep it in the house in case a child is in agony over night, it really takes the edge off the pain. But I don't use it the length of the ear infection.

Where I live you can find garlic drops in any pharmacy that sells vitamins or health food store.

mommyla

Sat, Nov 07 2015, 7:45 pm

rosebunch wrote:

Funny, I actually tried this once. I am the least natural-minded person when it comes to healthcare but my daughter had three back-to-back ear infections, the fourth type of antibiotics wasn't helping, and I was desperate. My aunt (who has more than a dozen kids and swore that it works miracles) talked me into trying the garlic, I did, and it didn't seem to help, but there were no adverse affects. When I told my pediatrician, he said that some people swear by it, it's obviously not medically proven, but I was welcome to try it.

Just be sure that the clove is big enough to stick out of the ear, you don't want to have to run to the doctor to get it removed!

I also had a couple of ear infections as an adult (including a ruptured eardrum) and it is agonizing. I feel so bad for babies when they have infections, I wish there was some way to make them go away faster!

HonesttoGod

Sat, Nov 07 2015, 7:56 pm

It can definitely be treated but take this from experience, you MUST keep an eye on it. As in daily or every other day.
You can treat it with basic olive oil, warm, and Tylenol but a: it very very painful to have an ear infection b: ear infections are caused by inflamed ear drum or fluid in the ear. If it's not correctly taken care of it can become serious such as burst drum or hearing loss.
My son had this. I treated it without antibiotics the first two times. I was at the dr every 2 days and he said the infection is gone. 3 weeks later he got another one. Basically the fluid wasn't going away. He had hearing loss he had to get tubes put In and a whole other load of problems. So yeah. Be careful.

rosebunch

Sat, Nov 07 2015, 8:24 pm

mammala120 wrote:

Rose bunch, Please provide us with full name of mr drops for ear infections you are using. We're can we find it? Which store or address ?

It's called the MR Drops for Ear Infections. It can be found in any health food store in the tri state area for sure. It's a small bottle and contains instructions on how to use it for an ear infection or fluid in the ear.
It's a product put out by a jewish family. I once read an article about the woman behind this product who is no longer alive. She also has other products on the market.

gande

Sat, Nov 07 2015, 8:30 pm

I think the new guidelines are that there is no rush to start antibiotics unless the child is isn a lot of pain or has fever, then it should be treated right away.
By the way, do you have an extremely experienced doctor? I've had my children misdiagnosed by young doctors with an ear infection recently.

amother

Hotpink

Mon, Nov 09 2015, 5:26 pm

HonesttoGod wrote:

. He had hearing loss he had to get tubes put In and a whole other load of problems. So yeah. Be careful.

Antibiotics don't necessarily help this. My son had very frequent, painful ear infections we treated multiple times with antibiotics. He had severe hearing loss in both ears, retracted ear drums. Even after putting in tubes twice already he still has mild hearing loss (much better then before the tubes).
If I understood the ENT correctly, its the shape of the drainage in the ear canal that affects the hearing loss, if the fluid builds up the ear drum can't work, sound can't get it, causing the hearing loss. Most kids grow out of it. Unfortunately my son hasn't yet.