Dr. Komarovsky about what to do if a child has an ear ache

The child’s ear is a vulnerable place, and it usually gets sick suddenly and at the wrong time. On vacation, after swimming in the sea or in a river, in the country, on weekends, when polyclinics do not work. Often, acute pain begins at night. The main thing - do not panic, says famous children's doctor Yevgeny Komarovsky. There is an explanation for everything, and first aid for earaches is not a very difficult task.

The reasons may be many. This is an insect that got into the ear canal, and a small foreign object, for example, a small part from a toy, and water that got into the ear when bathing in nature. The cause of acute pain may be a sulfuric plug or an inflammatory process in the organs of hearing.which can begin with a cold or a viral infection.

The behavior of the child with ear pain will depend on age. Nursing babies cannot convey their sufferings to their parents in words; they will scream shrilly, and if we put them on the side with which the diseased organ is nursing, the baby will begin to calm down.

Children aged from one to three years old can already show that they are worried, but the pain is so strong that they cannot focus on it. They will cry and rub the big eye with their hand. If you notice that baby naughty, refuses to eat, sleeps badly and scratching the ear, these are sure signs of incipient inflammation in the organs of hearing.

The most common cause of acute ear pain Evgeny Komarovsky considers otitis. Moreover, one of the three ear sections can become inflamed - external, middle or internal.

A video release of Dr. Komarovsky’s program on otitis media can be viewed below.

If the outer ear has inflamed, it can be clearly seen with the naked eye, acute pain is not observed, and it is quite simple to help a child. Otitis mediaas the name implies, this is an inflammatory process in the middle ear, the part on the other side of the eardrum. This disease delivers severe pain. Such a diagnosis is made by the doctor in most cases of children, who suddenly began to shoot and hurt in the ear.

Otitis of the inner ear, or as it is also called by physicians labyrinthitis, is the most serious variation in ear inflammation.. Fortunately, such otitis does not occur often. Komarovsky argues that internal inflammation rarely occurs as an independent disease, usually such a condition is the result of untreated otitis media or its complications with improper treatment or the complete absence of it. Also, labyrinthitis can be a consequence of a serious infectious disease.

In the middle ear, which is inflamed in most cases and delivers a lot of discomfort to children of all ages, there is a special space, the so-called tympanum, in which the auditory ossicles are located. Without problems, it is possible to receive sound vibrations and transmit them further - to the inner section, the middle one can only when the pressure in this cavity is at the same level as the atmospheric one.

This level is “watched” by the Eustachian tube, which performs a special mission. It connects the cavity with the pharynx.When the child makes a swallowing movement, this pipe opens and gives air access, the pressure is maintained normal, the ear is ventilated.

When pressure changes, otitis occurs. An imbalance inside the tympanic cavity occurs when a child dives into the water, but this is not the most common cause. More often, the permeability of the connecting Eustachian tube is disturbed, and the pressure can no longer be maintained at the same level as the atmospheric pressure. This happens in inflammatory processes in the nasopharynx, for example, during a cold or a viral infection.

As soon as the pressure in the cavity changes in the negative direction, the cells that form the basis of the cavity begin to produce a specific fluid. The child has a strong pain syndrome. In most cases, hearing is reversibly affected. If urgent measures are not taken, after two or three days the inflammation becomes purulent, sometimes the eardrum does not stand up under pressure and breaks, and the pus begins to flow out.

According to Komarovsky, it is much more difficult to determine otitis media in infants. Suspicious crying, restless behavior, sleep disturbance can cause suspicion of parents. But you can confirm the guess with the help of simple manipulation.

If the ear pain in a child is accompanied by such a symptom as the appearance of a bump behind the ear, which, when pressed, hurts, you will need more thorough research and additional diagnostics, as this may be a sign of mumps, rubella and other acute infectious diseases.

Yevgeny Komarovsky tells his parents in detail about the processes that occur in the child’s ear, not at all so that moms and dads can freely practice the medical wisdom. To diagnose with ear pain should only doctor! The specialist will carefully examine the state of the eardrum and find out all the necessary information about its integrity or perforation (violation), about the degree of otitis, its form and the presence of purulent or catarrhal forms. All these factors will be decisive in the appointment of drugs for treatment and determine the duration of the course of therapy.

Evgeny Olegovich recommends that you include a standard set of medicines for otitis. vasoconstrictor drops into the nose. They are quite effective not only for a cold, but also help to relieve swelling in the Eustachian tube. The main thing, reminds the well-known pediatrician, not to forget that such drops cause persistent addiction, and therefore they cannot be used for more than three days.

Such instillation into the nose should precede any manipulation of the child’s ears, such as local treatment. From drops to ears Evgeny Komarovsky advises antiseptics to help quickly reduce inflammation. This may be the good old boric alcohol, which has been tested by many generations, but it is better if you take more modern drugs, the benefit of which is now in any pharmacy to choose from a few dozen items. A good choice Komarovsky considers drops with a pronounced anesthetic effect, they allow you to quickly help the baby. It can be "Otinum" or "Otipaks, As well as Sofradex and many others.

Usually, Komarovsky says, the difficult task of treating otitis cannot be done without antibiotics. The best tools that effectively destroy the causative agent of the disease, and at the same time well fall into the cavity. These drugs include "Amoxicillin».

A more accurate scheme with an indication of specific drugs and their dosage to parents will give the attending physician. But we started the conversation with the fact that it is not always possible for a child with an acute ear pain to be delivered to the hospital immediately. Evgeny Komarovsky offers the following first aid scheme:

• Nasal drops, narrowing the lumen of blood vessels ("Nazivin", "Nazol").
• Drops in the ears (and, surely in both!) For pain relief and disinfection - "Sofradex", "Otinum».
• Dry heat on the ear (cotton or woolen scarf). A categorical ban applies to warming compresses and heating pads.

If liquid purulent fragments began to stand out from the ear, and this indicates perforation of the eardrum, Komarovsky advises not to panic: the membrane at a tender age is quite easily restored, where there was a gap, after complete healing only a small scar remains, which usually doesn’t It has no negative effect on rumor perception, hearing is preserved in full.

Recommendations of the doctor regarding prophylaxis are reduced to maintaining a normal exchange of fluid in the body and not allowing nasal mucus to thicken. As long as a runny nose is accompanied by a liquid discharge, there is nothing wrong with that. And so that they do not thicken and begin to pose a threat to the Eustachian tube, it must be remembered that the child should drink plenty of fluids, especially during periods of illness.

Komarovsky advises to reduce the high temperature in a timely manner with the help of medicines, since the heat also contributes to the drying up of mucus. Moms, according to Yevgeny Olegovich, make an unforgivable mistake, forcing her child to blow her nose at rhinitis. This only increases the risk of developing otitis. Blow your nose moderately.

What to do if your child has a bad ear, look in the otkryvka from the transfer of "School of Doctor Komarovsky."