[Pam_and_Abigail]

Ok, I have a prescription for amoxycillan (sp?) for dd, but I'm not sure if I should fill it. She's been on antibiotics once before so I'm not really worried about a reaction, but I am worried about unnecessary use of them, and damages to the system.<br>
So, here's dd's symptoms: Sunday night she had a runny nose, and at night she started coughing. Her nose has leveled off to an intermittent drip, sometimes greenish-yellow. The coughing is worse at night, and is a barking cough. There has been a few times where she's felt warm, but any fever would have been mild and quick-passing. She seems to be getting better, or at least no worse, but I wanted to make sure that her lungs were clear, so we went to the doctor. Her lungs were ok, but the doc said her ears were red inside and she had an ear infection. I asked about testing, as I had told myself I wouldn't put her on antibiotics without it, but the doc said she can't test her ear fluid and that the redness was enough to warrant the abx. She also was concerned about treating it right away, as letting it go might lead to hearing loss.<br>
So how serious is the risk of hearing loss? This is her first ear infection. How bad are antibiotics? I have some flavoured yogurt in the fridge. I'm just not sure what to do here, and I want to decide soon if we're getting the drugs. I have a checkup for myself on friday morning (different doc), so I could maybe let it go till then and see if she's still red, but part of me is nervous about this risk of hearing loss.<br>
What can you tell me about the risks of letting the infection go on versus putting her on antibiotics?<br>
TIA

 

[Mama Lori]

hi, I'm no expert, but have some experience with this. My approach is to avoid antibiotics and at least try natural remedies. And in all cases but one (my son is 5), we've been successful with this. We use garlic-muellin oil ear drops with a hot water bottle. Works every time. The only time it wasn't enough was when he had a ton of pressure in his tubes that the oil didn't help with, and we succumbed to antibiotics. Then he got the infection back again a few months later and we did not do antibiotics, we did the oil/hot water bottle routine, and gave children's motrin for the pain. He was all better within a week. (You can also use Valerian or Skullcap tincture for the pain, instead of Motrin, but they taste nasty so it can be hard to administer it unless in juice or something sweet.) (You can also do chickweed/burdock root tinctures if the pain is caused by pressure; these are both natural anti-inflammatories)<br><br>
I have a book that I use called Natural Healing for Babies & Children by Aviva Romm. She says that in almost all cases ear infections can be resolved naturally by following appropriate diet and herbal recommendations that she gives in her book. She references medical doctors who have said that an ear infection could persist for a year or two without causing hearing loss.<br><br>
PM me if you have questions or need instructions.

 

[Pam_and_Abigail]

Well, I'm glad we decided to wait on the abx, cuz today we got to see our reg. doc, and said there's a bit of redness, but it's viral, so no need for the drugs. She also didn't seem concerned about hearing loss at this point. I think she's a great doc! yay! I like the idea of herbal remedies instead anyway. Thanks for the advice. Your post gave me the courage to hold off on getting the prescription, and now I am so glad that I did!

 

[Meiri]

From what I've read lately, the research is showing that most ear infections go away on their own without antibiotics. They've found no increase in problems from waiting a few days to see if the problem will resolve on its own or not, no increase in damage if you wait. And I think our own ped has said this too.<img alt="" class="inlineimg" src="http://www.mothering.com/discussions/images/smilies/smile.gif" style="border:0px solid;" title="smile"><br><br>
That doc is out of date.

 

[Mama Lori]

Yay!

 

[mackinsiesmom]

I know I am a little late but I can't stress enough that if your child has an ear infection please go see a doctor. I had cronic ear infections through out my life and now I am partially deaf in one ear because I waited too long to tell my parents that my ears hurt. Ear infections sometimes don't take care of themselves and can cause hearing problems. Doctors always told my parents that I would "grow out of them". I am 24 and still have cronic ear infections and now I just went through surgery to try and correct the hearing but I may never get that hearing back. I don't mean to scare anyone or critize anyone. I just want to let everyone know that sometimes they do cause hearing loss if let alone too long.<br><br>
Katie

 

[healthymom]

For a natural remedy to ear infections, I use tea tree oil mised with olive oil. This also happens to help soften ear wax. The wax in my son's ears gets really hard and without treatment to soften it, we have to go to the doctors to have it removed. We usually try this treatment and if it isn't better in 2 days, off to the doctors.

 

[mich]

Katie, just a thought.<br><br>
Have you ever been tested for food alergies? Alergies can cause cronic ear infections.<br><br>
Sorry to hear about your struggle.

 

[mackinsiesmom]

Yes I have been tested for allergies. The only thing that I am allergic to is freshly cut grass and peanut butter.<br><br>
Thank you for suggesting that.<br><br>
Katie

 

[Mama Lori]

Chiropractic and osteopathy can also heal and prevent ear infections. In fact even the American Medical Association published an article about this.

 

[hunnybumm]

Are those drops mentioned above safe to give an infant? My DS is only 6 mo atm but everyone in my family (my mom & her sister, all my syblings from my mom and me, cousins) have had ear infections which resulted in "needing" tubes in our ears. Will these drops help to not "need" to get tubs put in, or at least lessen the chances? I am trying to do some reasearch now so I am prepared if / when we get to this road.

 

[mse]

I worked at a chiro office and the adj. helped a lot of kids that had ear infections as well as a myriad of other prob.s