The algorithm of applying a warming compress on the ear of a child

Otitis in a child is a common phenomenon. Relieve the torment of the baby can be using a warming compress. All mothers know about this, but not every mother knows how to make this compress correctly, put it to a child, and when it cannot be done. We will describe this in detail in this article.

The age-related features of the structure of the hearing organs in children are a wide and insufficiently long auditory tube, which is located horizontally. Various fluids can get into it, nasal mucus in the common cold, resulting in inflammation. When the child grows up, the auditory tube increases, it becomes more vertical, and the otitis retreats.

Inflammation of the ear can be external, middle and internal. Most often, otitis media is diagnosed in children. For any otitis, medical consultation is required.because we are talking about the preservation of auditory function and the prevention of inflammation of adjacent organs, first of all, of the brain. However, a sharp sharp pain in the ear tends to appear most often at night, when clinics do not work.

A warming compress is not a way to treat otitis, but the ability to alleviate the condition of the child before medical care. In the first aid kit of most parents, of course, there are also ear drops in case of otitis, but to bury them, not being sure of the integrity of the eardrum, is a huge risk. Check whether the membrane is intact at home without special devices is impossible. Therefore, the issue of the use of drops before a medical examination for sensible parents is removed from the agenda.

Applying a compress on the ear of a child is not difficult, it does not require extensive and deep medical knowledge, if the algorithm of actions is known.

Warm compress is strictly forbidden to put the child in the event that if he has purulent or bloody discharge from the ear. Their appearance indicates perforation of the eardrum, bacterial complication of otitis media. Heat in this case will only increase the activity of pyogenic bacteria, the infection risks acquiring life-threatening proportions.

You can not do a warming compress with external otitis, which is most often manifested by the formation of painful boils on the auricle. If there are injuries, wounds, abrasions on the ear or near it, if the child has recently been pierced with ears and wounds have not yet healed, it is impossible to put a warm compress.

If the pain in the ear does not come alone, but with a high fever, this is also a contraindication for the procedure. Thus, it is possible to put a compress only for acute otitis, in which there is no discharge from the ear, temperature, visible ulcers and boils.

The list of essentials is best prepared in advance and stored in a home medicine cabinet in case of sudden night otitis. Then the child will not have to suffer for a long time, while the wake-up mother frantically searches around the house for something suitable for preparing a compress. So, you will need:

• Gauze napkins (finished pharmacy or homemade) size 10x10 cm. For one compress 7-8 such single-layer napkins or the same number of gauze layers are required.
• Waxed paper. Immediately it should be noted that it is not worth replacing it with cellophane or baking paper. Such paper perfectly retains heat due to paraffin impregnation. It costs mere pennies (no more than 20 rubles), is sold in any pharmacy. The size of the paper must exceed the size of the gauze to cover it completely. It is best to measure 12x12 cm.

• Vata. You should not take too thick a layer, because more does not mean more useful. The area of ​​a wadded layer should exceed the area of ​​a gauze and the area of ​​a paper. It is best to make a cotton layer 14x14 cm with a thickness of no more than 2 centimeters.
• Sunflower oil. Heated, warm, but not hot. The optimum temperature is 37-38 degrees Celsius. In a small amount.
• Divorced medical alcohol. Pure product is diluted approximately in half with water to make a liquid with a strength of 30-40%. If there is no alcohol, you can take a 40-degree vodka and have nothing to dilute.

• Bandage. It is best to use a large wide sterile pharmacy bandage. If not, you can use a non-sterile bandage. If there is no bandage at all, prepare a scarf, as long as it does not have a long woolen pile.
• Scissors. Manicure of my mother's cosmetics will not work. We need ordinary, large classic scissors.

Kids over 3 years old can substitute vegetable oil. camphor oil, but he, unlike the plant, has side effects and contraindications. If camphor oil has not been applied to a child before, it is better not to risk it, since otite does not give time for experiments.

Some parents mistakenly believe that you can make a half-alcohol compress using both oil and alcohol at the same time. Do not do this, it is inappropriate.

It is clear that a child screaming for pain does not leave the mother a chance for composure, but first you should pull yourself together and calm the child. While you are telling him a fairy tale or singing a song, you should prepare everything for a compress:

• In the center of the gauze layer, a vertical hole is cut through the center with a pair of scissors, suitable for the child's auricle to quietly fit into it. A similar hole is made in the compress paper. Cotton pad left holistic.
• The child is seated in front of him on a chair, bed, on his knees to the father (this is preferable, since it is desirable to keep the baby so that it does not turn around).
• The one who will put a compress, should thoroughly wash their hands, treat them with an antiseptic.
• The head of the child is placed in such a way that the sore ear is on top, the hair is removed (stabbed, collected in the tail), if there are earrings, they should be removed.
• In a small small bowl pour the tool - alcohol solution (for children over 4 years old) or sunflower oil (for children under 4 years old).

Do everything calmly, communicating with the baby in a benevolent tone:

• The first layer is gauze. The cloth is moistened in oil or alcohol solution, easily squeezed. It is important that it does not flow and drip. After that, the layer is gently applied to the ear, not forgetting to push the auricle into the slot cut specially for it.
• The second layer is paper. Waxed paper in the same way put on the auricle through the slot, tightly leaning against the gauze. The paper’s task is to keep it warm, which is why it has a slightly larger area than gauze.

• The third layer is cotton. Harvested "insulation" cover both previous layers.
• The fourth layer is a bandage. This, in fact, is fixing the compress. As already mentioned, in the absence of a bandage they use a scarf.

The most difficult thing in this warming compress is to properly fix everything that was folded on your ear. You must begin bandaging from the side of a healthy ear. It is also usually complete the fixation, making a neat bow. When bandaging, you should not bandage a healthy auricle at all, “circle” it with a bandage either in front or in back, so that the ear peeps out of the window.

It only remains to check whether everything is fixed correctly. To do this, use the index finger. If the compress is imposed in compliance with all the rules, then it does not skip or with great difficulty can miss a finger. Such an imposition, in which the compress lies on the ear freely, dangles, passes air, is considered incorrect.

If there is an unspecified fluid from the ear, if there is pus or boils, You can put the child dry compress. Everything is done in the same way, only gauze is not moistened. There is little use in such a compress, so its imposition by and large does not make sense. But if it will be quieter for parents to wait until the morning, when the polyclinics will open, then why not.

Compress with acute otitis impose about 6 hours. Exceed this time can not be cut. A couple of hours after setting, you should check how everything “works”. Even if the child fell asleep, and this is how it most often happens, after half an hour the baby feels a significant relief, you should gently slip the tip of the little finger under the bottom layer. If it is warm there, then everything is done correctly, and the multi-layer “construction” is left on the ear for another 4 hours.

Remove the compress should also be careful not to hurt the child. After release, the ear is rubbed with a cotton swab dipped in plain warm water. The second, dry swab rub the auricle dry. You can repeat the compress if necessary in 2-3 hours. This time is usually quite enough to have time to visit the otolaryngologist and get a prescription of drugs.

Compress can be combined with instillation of ear drops, but not in one procedure. If the drops will be recommended in the morning and evening, then the compress should be applied during the day. Do not put a warming compress for the night.

It is important to remember that when installing re-compress you need to use new materials. Gauze or gauze cloths and bandage must be replaced. But a layer of cotton and paper can be left from the previous manipulation. Tips "Internet gurus" wash gauze soap and re-use it is difficult to comprehend, as well as any constructive criticism.

Sometimes parents in search of truth can stumble upon tips to do warming compresses with decoctions. clover, chamomile, calendula. These medicinal plants themselves have excellent therapeutic and prophylactic properties, but they are not suitable for the treatment of acute pain. Compress with such broths will differ little from a compress with ordinary warm water.

See the following video for all recommendations for treatment of otitis from the otolaryngologist.