More than 50% of infections in ear are caused by viruses which subsides with time and do not warrant Antibiotics.

As per recommendations of American Academy of Pediatrics, any child more than 6 months of age should not be treated automatically with antibiotics; instead we should focus on relieving pain for first 48 hours and let the natural immunity of child defeat the virus. If the ear pain and discomfort persists even after 48 hours of good pain control, then consider antibiotics.

This delay in starting antibiotics is to avoid overuse of antibiotics which can make the bacterial germs more resistant to common antibiotics and thus more difficult to treat.

Just because we may not prescribe antibiotics immediately does not mean we will not treat the pain with ibuprofen or acetaminophen. 

Of course the best way to deal with an ear infection is not to let one happen, so what can we do to prevent them? 

  1. Good Hand-washing: The best way to do this is to teach your children good hand washing to prevent the spread of germs from one person to another.
  2. Breastfeeding your baby for at least the first six months.
  3. Immunizations are up to date; to decreases the risk of ear infections.
  4.  Keep children away from environmental tobacco smoke will make it easier for viruses to get out of the nose so they don’t move up into the ear canal and cause an infection.

Hopefully tips like this will give you more than an earful of information when it comes to getting a better understanding of your child’s ear infection. For any further query who can contact your child specialist or ENT specialist.