10 month old with stubborn ear infection

[HappyTomato]

My DS has been on two types of antibiotics back to back for a stubborn ear infection. He's still pulling at his ear. The doctor also prescribed Zinotic ear drops which kill bacteria but even with insurance the drops are $100. I don't want to waste $100 but I don't know what else to try except for maybe a chiropractor which would also be a chunk of change. What are some tried and true home remedies? My DS is not running a fever at the moment. He is sleeping ok and eating SO much better since the first round of antibiotics. But he's still pulling at the ear and fussy/clingy in the mornings. I need some ideas. Thanks!

[mbravebird]

My son pulled at and itched his ear after his infection last year, but it wasn't an infection anymore -- I had it checked. It seemed that there was some wax buildup, which eventually came out on its own, and it also could have been just that the infection made the ear feel funny and itchy, even after it cleared.

We liked garlic/mullein oil. We took him to a craniosacral session after that infection, and he has never had another one.

[danipoppins]

we use garlic infused olive oil for ear infections and it works like a charm. crush a few cloves of garlic in a pan and saute with a few tablespoons of oil until the garlic starts to brown. strain, cool, put a few drops in each ear 2 -4 times a day.

you should also take dairy out of his diet (if he's eating any) and your diet (if you're nursing).

if you can swing a chiro, or a DO who does manipulation therapy (more often covered by insurance than chiros), that would resolve any structural issues that aren't allowing his ears to drain.

[mellowjello]

Craniosacral therapy can work wonders.

Also, if there is yeast in the GI tract that means that it is also growing in the mouth, and from there it's a very short trip up to the ear. I had chronic very painful ear infections as a child and now realize it's from yeast. I am still getting slight pain in ears with yeast flares.

Antibiotics can cause yeast flares because they kill off both the good and the bad bacteria. Lack of good bacteria can cause yeast flares because they normally help keep pathenogenic species from growing, but if they've been killed off they can't do this. Taking probiotics could really help your son. He can take them directly and/or if he is breastfeeding he can get them through you.

[tanyalynn]

DS's only ear infection came when I let him have one of the foods he's intolerant of when he was getting over a cold. I'd consider food intolerances (dairy's a biggie, but I can attest that it can be other foods) plus something structural to help the ears drain.

The advice I got (and it helped enough that first night to stop the poor kiddo's crying, and he went to sleep for the remainder of the night) was to rub the LO's face starting at the midline in four places--forehead, nose, upper lip and chin--straight out to the edge of the face, and then turn down to the collarbone. Also rub behind the ear, starting at the top, down past the dip behind the earlobe and again down to the collarbone. And for infants/toddlers, gentle earlobe tugs out and down (up at the top of the ear for kids older than 4-ish because growth means the eustachian tubes are more up than down somewhere around there).

I've read that onion juice in the ear, assuming the drum hasn't ruptured, is also helpful. DS hated liquids in his ears, I tried warm and cold, so I can't say it helped us, but it's less messy than oil. (I tried oil too, he was not thrilled).

[dulce_mami]

I second tanyalynn's advice: try to eliminate dairy, and maybe even gluten for a week. It is amazing what difference it can make! For our son it stopped ear
infections and bed wetting. If you can totally eliminate it for a week you will see if it is worth it, many statistics show that this solves 70-80% of all cases
of recurrent ear infections.

A quick search will give you lots of home remedies for ear infections. I LOVE Wally's ear oil, I think it solved few ear infections here. I put the drops in every couple of hours, give regular doses (even small) of sodium ascorbate. There are other remedies that you can find in this forum.

Hope your little one feels better soon!

[HappyTomato]

Thanks for all the info ladies! He is back to himself and sleeping all night which he hasn't done in quite a while. I guess my little man is so laid back that I need to be more concerned when he wakes just once in a night. For my other children, waking once a night until after 1 yr was normal. I think for him its going to indicate that he's not feeling so great. But no more tugging at his ear that I've noticed. I'm filing this information away for the future about the oils and dairy and gluten. Its only his first ear infection and it came after a nasty cold. We drink raw milk and its supposed to be less allergenic. I'm hoping that when he starts on raw milk too it will not be a problem for him.