Question

On suffering from an earache

Answer 1

Symptoms of earache from ear infection

a. Younger children who are bottle feeding may experience loss of appetite. The pain increases with increase in pressure in the middle ear when the child is trying to swallow food.

b. In some cases it causes irritation.

c. As the fluid inside shifts, it may cause lack of sleep.

d. Ear infections can also cause rise body temperatures up to 104 degrees Fahrenheit.

e. Some of them experience a sense of spinning or vertigo.

f. If the eardrum has ruptured there may be some discharge from the ear that is brown, yellow or a white fluid.

g. When the fluid builds up in the middle ear, the eardrum cannot function properly. The sound may not be transmitted to the bones and to the brain. This causes difficulty in hearing.

Diagnosis

The doctor will examine your ears using a device called otoscope. A healthy eardrum is transparent and pinkish gray in color. If there is infection it may be swollen, red or inflamed. He may check the fluid too. A small amount of air is blown into the ear with the instrument. If the fluid is present the eardrum will not move. Another test used for diagnosing is the tympanometry. The test is used for checking the fluid in the middle ear by using air pressure and sound. It may not be used for testing the hearing capacity.

Treatment for earache

Earache can be treated easily. Damage to the ear or hearing is rare these days with appropriate treatments. The treatment includes medicines for fever and pain, antibiotics for infection and observing the symptoms.