could a buildup of wax in the ear indicate an ear infection?

mommy#1

Wed, Feb 23 2011, 9:12 pm

my son, 3 months old, suddenly has a ton of wax in one ear. I can see it without even looking for it. a ton! could that indicate an ear infection? hes pretty much acting normal though. oh, but he did have a weird diaper-mustve been diarrhea

the world's best mom

Wed, Feb 23 2011, 10:05 pm

If it's enough wax that it seems to be dripping out of the ear then it could be an ear infection, but usually wax is not a sign of a problem. Blood or mucus in the ear means the kid has a puctured ear drum, though.

OTOH, my ds always had diarrhea when he had an ear infection.

amother

Wed, Feb 23 2011, 10:18 pm

Funny that you ask! I just asked that same question yesterday at my 3 months olds checkup! The doctor said that wax on the external part of the ear does not indicate a problem. My son had lots of wax but bh no infection.

manhattanmom

Wed, Feb 23 2011, 10:20 pm

Does he have fever?

My son at about age 2 had an ear infection in one ear and overnight had a high fever. When he woke up in the morning his other ear (the one not infected) was covered with wax--the whole outside of the ear--it was so gross...Anyhow, when I called the pediatrician I was told that a high fever can cause ear wax to melt and come out of the ear. If it were an eardrum bursting, I would have known because right until the moment of the burst, there would have been a tremendous amount of pain first.

the world's best mom

Wed, Feb 23 2011, 10:28 pm

manhattanmom wrote:

This is usually true, but not always. My dd had punctured eardrums about 10 times and I never knew when they were coming. She was often crabby from all of the fluid in her ears, and every couple of weeks, she would wake up with mucus pouring out of them. Only once she was up screaming during the night before. The rest of the times it was a surprise, IIRC.

mommy#1

Thu, Feb 24 2011, 1:44 am

manhattanmom wrote:

No fever!

Alright, thanks everyone! Maybe I'll call the dr just to ask.

BeershevaBubby

Thu, Feb 24 2011, 2:28 am

I was under the impression that if the wax gets impacted and blocks the canal, if there's fluid in the ear, it can become an ear infection because it's not draining properly (kind of like my sinus issues - my sinuses close up, the normal standard mucus can't drain, sinus pressure builds, at some point it turns bacterial and voila, sinus infection).

dmum

Thu, Feb 24 2011, 6:11 am

Actually a build up of wax indicates NO infection. I asked my doctor about it once. He explained that whenever an infection is present in the body, the body starts to fight it by: heat, inflammation, fever etc. When the ear gets hot, the wax melts... if there is a build up, there is no heat, therefore no infection.

However, no fever is not an indication in an of itself. One of my kids gets constant ear infections without fever.