Is this an ear infection and how do I treat it at home?

[Mama_2_Boy]

My son is 6 years old.  He had a high fever the last two nights - which we left to do its work.  He was also complaining of headaches.  This morning his ear is weeping a slightly yellow tinged fluid with zero smell to it.  He says his ear is sore, but not so much that he won't allow me to clean it.  So my DH is out now and I asked him to pick up some over the counter antibiotic ear drops.  Is this okay?  I'm still BF'ing my 16 month old DD and I'm thinking of dropping breast milk in his ear.

Please chime in, I am a little worried that if I DON'T treat this at hospital, something dangerous might happen.

[One_Girl]

It sounds like the ear drum may have ruptured and ear drops aren't supposed to be used for that type of ear infection.  It may go away on its own now that it has ruptured so giving him a pain killer and another day to see if it heals up may not be a big deal.  I don't think you should stick anything in his ear to clean it, that can do damage to the ear and cause an infection.  Can you call the doctor's office and speak to a nurse to see if you should go in.   I am not sure if they offer an Ask a Nurse type of service where you are, but some hospitals have those here so people don't have to rush in to get little things seen (and so they don't put off being seen for big things).

If it doesn't go away soon I do think you should bring him in.  I had an inner and outer ear infection a couple years back so my ear drum kept rupturing then healing because my ear canal was swollen (from using a cue-tip) so the bad stuff couldn't get out.  It was excruciatingly painful, even on twice the normal dose of painkiller, and not something to put off getting treatment for imo. 

[JudiAU]

Sounds like an infection and possible rupture. Do you have a pediatrician? If so, I would schedule an appointment. I don't think an emergency room is warrented but I do think medical attention is. A ruptured drum usually heals within a few month but you don't want to mess with hearing loss.