Frequent earaches in 12yo

[tankgirl73]

My 12yo son has been getting a lot of bad earaches this past year. They were mostly when he had a cold, but not always... sometimes it seemed quite random.

It's the kind where it feels like it needs to pop, like when you go up and down a big hill. He ends up trying to pop them constantly... he plugs his nose and squeezes, wiggles his jaw, it drives me crazy that he does that constantly and I don't think it's good for him either.

Sometimes it gets so bad that he cries, and with his Asperger's and SPD and ADHD, he's a whiner when he cries... just moans and whines and becomes generally unpleasant. I feel bad for the poor kid, I know he's in pain, but it FEELS like he's exaggerating when he whines like that.

Things we've tried -- various 'recipes' for natural treatments, such as warm oil and garlic dripped in the ear. Warm compresses held over the ear. Claritin (antihistamine), Dristan (decongestant), Tylenol for the pain. Each one might help a LITTLE bit, but not completely.

I did ask our dr about it (we were without a dr for a couple years and just got one a couple months ago), she checked his ears and said he seemed fine, at least there was nothing like wax build-up or redness or swelling.

Any ideas?

[mattemma04]

I am thinking an allergin whether food or environmental is causing an allergic reaction and thus the swelling. Have you read the Healing childhood ear infection book? I forget the author.I had the book,but my kids never got EI's so I gave it away.

I would also invest in a low cost ear scope.That way you can look into the ear when there is no problems/problems and know when things are developing.Ear pain is the worst.Everything you listed I have used on myself.I get stuffy from allergies.

https://www.healthy.net/scr/conditio...onditionId=104

[34me]

I would tend to thing allergen too. Have you tried sudafed?

[tankgirl73]

Would there be a big difference in effect between sudafed and claritin? Claritin is used as an allergy relief... just a different drug I guess? We used Claritin because that's what DH uses for his seasonal allergies so we already have it in the house.

It's not an ear infection... that's about the only thing the dr was able to be sure about. The eustachian tubes are closing up, but there isn't an inner ear or middle ear infection.

That being said, I'm not against considering it might be an allergy! Just kind of stumped how to figure out what might be doing it. It seems pretty random, and it happened during the winter as well when there were no seasonal allergens... and anything that was food-related, well he eats pretty much the same foods all the time, so it's odd that it would only happen occasionally.

The idea of an ear scope isn't a bad one though... I'm very curious what's going on it there... just not at all sure what to look for.

[kjbrown92]

have you tried going dairy/gluten free (since a lot of people on the spectrum do)? that can cause mucous buildup/fluid in ears.

Claritin is an antihistamine and sudafed is a decongestant (and the sudafed behind the counter, that you have to sign for, is farrrrr superior to the lame sudafed out in the aisles at the drugstore). Different antihistamines work for different people. For instance, my DH likes allergra, but DD1 and DS do fine on zyrtec. The only one that works for me is benadryl. So it can be good to try different ones to see which works best for that person.

[WC_hapamama]

I always tend to have a lot more ear discomfort when my seasonal allergies are flaring. The only thing that works for me is using an antihistamine and decongestant in tandem. What works best for me is the old style sudafed and Zyrtec.

[Marnica]

Have you considered taking your DS to a Chiropractor? or getting him some cranial sacral therapy?