Ear Infection or Not?

Sounds like an bad ear infection, and he probably needs antibiotics. I would take him straight back to the doctor. And for goodness sake, don't let him blow you off this time. Doctors tend to be a little dismissive of first time and young mothers. I'm not an advocate of rushing to the doc for every little runny nose, but when you KNOW something is wrong you have to be more assertive. Good luck!

I agree with the suggestions that yo ushould take him to an ENT. My youngest(now 23 MTHS) has had several ear infections in his little life. Our pediatrician told me about Carbomide Peroxide. You can buy it over the counter. Bruce's ear infections came from an overproduction of ear war that inhibited his ears from draining properly.We would get dried brownish/ yellowish stuff from his ears. The Carbomide Peroxide is a glycerian based liquid that you drop into their ears. It helps with ear wax removal. We have been using it for over a year now. About twice a month, and it has made a very big difference in him.
I wish you the best!!!

little bit of advice from an Army wife. If you are useing army Dr's NEVER leave it alone. You HAVE to keep going back, over and over again. We haven't used army dr's since my 6 yr old was 6months old when they misdiagnosed a bad sinus infection with her .They also almost killed me when she was born. Take him back in until someone will listen to you.And I dont mean the smile and nod thing they do when they are really thinking this crazy women is a paranoid first time mom. Never let your child go through pain when its something you can prevent or fix. Even if the Dr. say's its nothing. If you aren't seeing a civilian Dr then get it to where you can. You dont HAVE to go to military Dr's but they dont tell you that, now you'll have a co pay but its only 10$. If you need a Dr then I can give you a couple of good names. In the mean time give him some motrin for the pain.

Hi C.,

My first daughter was prone to ear infections. We solved the issue with chiropractic and we were able to avoid the tubes. I always recommend looking for one with an upper cervical specialty. We also use "ear candles" when we sense something is coming on. You can get them at the health store. My twelve year old now even asks me for one after she goes swimming. She tends to swim like a fish and always manages to get water in them. The candles gently, very gently, pull water, excess wax, and even infectious "stuff" out painfree.

I also use a drop of Renew oil in each ear because it will loosen any hardened wax, is gentle and it will also heal an infection because of the penetrating and antibacterial properties of the melaleuca oil (not just tea tree oil because it can be caustic). It is in a base of lanolin oil.

I really do recommend chiropractic for ears and ear infections. I know MANY moms that no longer have trouble with their kids ears!

God bless!

M.

Sounds like a severe middle ear infection. The eardrum rupturing is a good thing once that happens, because the extreme pain has passed. You shouldn't put anything in his ear now and his hearing will not be as good for a while...some kids a few weeks, other longer or shorter. My oldest had this once. He was prone to ear infections until I took him off cow's milk. Cow's milk is not good for the body. It's a big culprit when it comes to ear infections, colds, etc....it's extremely mucus forming.

That would be one change that I would make. The next time he pulls at his ears, you could go ahead and get some ear drops at a local health food store...the kind that I have is called Ear and Nerve formula and it works wonders! I use herbs for all of our ailments and it works much quicker in my opinion. You can strengthen his ears by using the Ear and Nerve formula (as well as lay off the cow's milk with him...none at all...not even a tablespoon) which is found at www.herbsfirst.com or www.worldhealthdepot.com. I wouldn't be caught without it.

I have friends that don't use herbs, but they call me sometimes and I just gave up my new unopened bottle of the Ear and Nerve formula to another mother. I've got to order mine again.

My son did that too, and he was also really prone to ear infections at an early age. So it was REALLY hard to tell if he had an infection since he did rub at his ears alot even when they were okay. And you can't always rely on there being a fever, because my son rarely had them with his infections. I felt like I was at the doctor constantly. It sounds like your son's eardrum might have ruptured, which can happen if an infection goes untreated. I'd have him checked by the doctor asap. An ENT is probably a good idea too. My son always had trouble clearing the fluid in his ears after an infection, so maybe that's why his ears felt "funny", and why they always re-infected. He had tubes put in twice. Good luck.

C. - I would take him to an ENT specialist and get this checked out soon. I can understand him 'finding his ears' and even him liking to play with his ears (I still do that!) but the constant pulling and and the pain is a concern. Good luck. C.

He needs checked out by his regular ped or an ENT ASAP....He's got to be in pain and blood is not good his ear drums could have burst which could account for the blood and it is very painful.
My best wishes to you and I hope he feels better soon. Oh, and yes pulling at their ears is a sign of an ear infection and you don't always have to have a fever for it, most do.

Hi Caitin,

Did you take him to the doctor again after that blood episode? If the doctor said it was nothing, you need to find another doctor. That is the only advice I can give. I think that tugging on the ear with no other symptoms and no crying is nothing to worry about.

Good luck,
S.

it definitely sounds like he has an ear infection now...a fever that spikes is common with an ear infection, too but i wouldn't wait until that happens, take him to the doctor asap...my 13 year old had chronic ear infections when he was small so much so that we had to have tubes put in his ears...after this, he never had another ear infection but his ears continued to drain especially when he has a cold...

I have never had blood coming out of my son's ear, but I can tell you that I would go to the Pediatrician immediately. Just because it wasn't an ear infection before doesn't mean it isn't now. And, even if it's not an infection, blood coming from the ear does not sound like a good thing to me. Having a pediatrician who will listen to you is invaluable. Better safe than sorry. Good luck!

Where is the blood coming from? Is it coming from in the ear or from him scratching at it? My son (11 mos now) has never had an ear infection, but has tugged and clawed at his ears from time to time. My pediatrician said that it can be teething pain because the nerves run up the jaw to the ear and can translate as ear pain to them because their nervous system is so immature. His ears have always looked good to the ped. He did get a little bit of blood, but it was because he scratched at them. If your son is truly bleeding from inside his ear, then that is definitely a different problem. It might still be good to take him to an ENT just to make sure or if his pain doesn't seem to correlate to teething periods.

I'd get a referral from your pediatrician to see a Pediatric Otolaryngologist (ENT). If you even need a referral, which you may not (check with your insurance), hopefully your pediatrician wouldn't require you to come to the office since you've been seen for the same problem a few time. My daughter just saw an ENT at a great Pediatric office. What a great experience, they checked her hearing and everything. The office is Pediatric Ear, Nose & Throat of Atlanta, PC. ###-###-####. Offices in Alpharetta and by Northside Hospital. Good luck!

Get this baby to an ear specialist. Pediatric if possible. Your pediatrician should give you a referral. If he has another episode like this take him to emergency. Something is definitely wrong. Blood does not come from an ear with nothing amiss.

Have you taken him back to the pediatrician since the blood episode. I am a nurse and even though I am not a peds nurse I know enough to know that blood coming out of his ears is not normal. If you haven't taken him to the dr. i would b/c it sounds like he has a severe infection.

Take your child to a ear, nose and throat doctor. His ear drum could have ruptured. My brother was born with an ear infection and when he was still an infant his ear drum ruptured, the doctor put tubes in his ears and everything was fine. Go to the doctor.

C., please take your child to a ENT (ears, nose and throat) specialist. They are experts in identifying any illness that relates to the ears, nose and throat. Take Care. LJB

You need to take him to the Dr's office. Ask the Dr for a referral to a EENT doctor. There is a excellent EENT Dr in Pooler, GA that I go to known as the Southeast ENT. Or there is another good Doctor at the Georgia Ear Institute at Memorial Hospital there in Savannah. You can request the Dr's by giving the Pediatrician the names of the offices. Hope this helps a little. I will be praying for you and your family.

Hi C.,

Sorry to hear about your babies ears. I had ear infections that were going undiagnosed until I was sent to an Ear, Nose and Throat doctor. You may want to do that for your little one as well. My acid reflux was diagnosed because of my ears. Give it a try see what happens with a specialist.

Blessings,
T., SAHM to Nate 7 years old.

Yikes! Health clinic or civilian doctor? I grew up an army brat -- if it's a health clinic, just go and go until they find the problem. And, if it's a civilian doctor, I guess the same advice applies. Perhaps following up with a pediatric ENT is the best route in either case. How far are you from Ft. Mac? It might be worth the drive... (is their health clinic still open?)

Finding the ears is okay. Yanking on ears and screaming in pain is not. Now, I suppose the fit could have been about going to bed -- and that your receptors were up for ear problems -- but we know the sound of angry scream vs. pain scream. If you think your son's in pain, trust your gut and follow up.

Good luck getting to the bottom of this!

If you haven't taken him already after the episode you described, I would maybe get a referrel and take him to an Ear, Nose and Throat and have a specialist take a look. Bless his heart,Best of luck!

you should take him to an ear, nose and throat specialist, ENT right away. blood from the ears is never normal. i can reccommend a great doctor if you would like. they also may want to do a hearing test as well.
good luck!
S. m

I think you should ask for a referral to an ear, nose and throat specialist. My daughter never had any symptoms for ear infections, the only way I found out she had one was when her eardrum "burst" and all this puss and blood ran out of her ears and she would scream then. She ended up having double tympanoplasty (eardrum replacement), and a prosthetic bone put in her ear when she was 10 or 11. It was all because the doctors didn't see any problems. Not trying to scare you, but I would take blood in the ear very seriously. My daughter hears fine now and her ears are great, but she did have to go through surgery.

Hi C.,
This just happened to me with my 11 month old son this weekend! It turned out his eardrum had ruptured. I'm sure others have told you this, but definitely take your child to the doctor. My son is going to be taking antibiotics for 10 days. In his case, the dr. said the rupture (hole) in his eardrum is small and will heal and be fine, but I've read in more severe cases it can result in hearing loss. I know it's so hard to see your child hurting--my son was acting the same way...he would scream and cry when it was time for a nap or bedtime. I guess it hurt his ear to lie down. Trust your instincts and take him to the dr. My son, like yours, tends to play with his ears a lot so I was just like you...not really thinking much of it until I saw blood.
I hope he feels much better very soon. My son was actually acting like he felt much better the very next day, even before we started the antibiotics. Best of luck to you and your sweet son!
J.

Do not wait to take him to a specialist ... go on and demand the referral. You need to see an ear, nose and throat specialist as soon as possible. My son who is now 10 started at 9 months with chronic ear infections and allergies. After months of antibiotics and tubes, we finally found a specialist who explained that all the scars from chronic infections were causing the sharp pains as he grew. He gave us some soothing sweet oil to put in his ears and eventually we had his adnoids removed to help stop future infections. He's been great since and his hearing is perfect. Good luck! We are praying for you and your little guy.

C.,

Not all Army Doctors are bad, like Beth infers. My husband's current assignment requires us to use a non-military doctor. And there are both good and bad civilian doctors on both sides of the fence.

Did you see the same pediatrician/family practice doctor at every visit? If you did you can request a different PCM. You can even request to an appointment with the doctor who is the head of the clinic.

Insist on a referal to an ENT. Also, ask the ENT if you should get the OTC ear drops available with your self-help card from the hospital pharmacy. But go see the ENT first and ask him if using them would be a cure or cause more problems for your son.

Take all of your concerns in writing so you can make sure you show them the written history of what has been going on, who you have seen when, and what medicines he has taken, if you remember this. If you don't remember every visit, check out your son's records and write down his history using his records as a reminder, and then return his records. If Ft Stewart has gone electronic already and doesn't have everything in hard copy ask for an electronic copy of his records through the FOI office/patient assistance office. Yes this looks to be redundant since the Army ENT has access to all of your son's records but it will help remind YOU what your son's medical history is when you are talking to the
ENT. Also, they may give you a referral to an off-post ENT who will be seeing your son's records for the first time at his visit. You don't want them to miss reading something.

Good Luck at your son's ENT visit!

Hi My oldest son had almost constant ear infections after he quit breastfeeding and it sounds like what your little one has ask for a referral to an otolarencologist the specialize in ear nose and throats, he may need tubes in his ears thats what help my son.Also and this is to all mothers, please be careful of insects, My son had a roach in his ear and I had a bee fly in my ear and thst is the most painful thing in the world after the bee I would put a bit of tissue in mine and my daughters ears before bed.

ENT. Even if you have to pay for it yourself. Tricare should cover it.

I would definately go to the Dr and see what they say. I have two boys who have both had tubes in their ears due to multiple ear infections. One is 2 years and the other nine months.

It sounds like all the other times were ear play. But if he is in great pain, then it's probably an infection. If there's blood, it could be "swimmers' ear." Especially if he's screaming like that. To ease his discomfort, you can put cornmeal in a clean sock and heat it in the microwave. I definitely believe this warrants a trip to a doctor or ENT. If you have to go thru military it may be a little more trickier to get through to an ENT.

hi,
if blood was coming out, i think with that kind of pain, it may have been an ear infection that got out of control...could his ear drum have burst? did he have fevers with any of this ear tugging? my oldest son had ear infections from the time of his first bday to his second, and then got tubes put in. best thing we ever did. i would take your son to an ear/nose/throat specialist, and remember that sometimes the ear may bother them before the doctor can see anything in there...in a matter of hours, though, an infection could appear...which may explain why the doctor always said it was nothing. after a certain point, they stop feeling the pain...and just live with it. if it is happening on a monthly or every other month basis, i'd schedule an appt with a specialist...if they can see him while he's in pain, it would help...but if it happens again, get him in there...they tell me that it's really hard to see what's going on in there, and that many pediatricians miss ear infections because of that. good luck!