Ear pain but no infection

One of my boys is very prone to ear infections. He got an infection a few weeks ago and the ped put him on a stronger antibiotic (since amoxicillin doesn't usually phase his ear infections). He finished that antibiotic up a week ago and yesterday I took him back just to have the ped check and make sure his infection was gone. She said she didn't see any signs of infection and that his ears looked great. I also jokingly apologized for any ear wax in his ears since we forgot to clean them the night before after bath time. So we left the ped's office feeling pretty good and not worrying about his ears.

Then around midnight last night DS woke up saying that his ear hurt. I gave him ibuprofen and he eventually went back to sleep. Then this morning when we he woke up he was crying some saying that his ear was hurting again I gave him more ibuprofen and he seemed better after about 30 min. But now I'm trying to figure out what could be causing his ear pain. A coworker suggested maybe that it was ear wax buildup, which seems plausible. But when I called the ped's office her nurse said that if there would have been an ear wax impaction the doctor would have noticed that and taken care of it while we were there. Unfortunately the doctor is off today so I couldn't speak to her. Her nurse said ear infections could crop up quickly and that I would need to bring him back in to have his ears checked. He was there at 10am yesterday and was complaining of his ears hurting only 14 hours later. I just don't think it is an ear infection.

Has anybody else dealt with something similar? Also, what's the best way to (gently) clean his ears, in case there is some ear wax buildup?

We've taken him to the ENT twice in the past few months for his reoccurring ear infections. And the ENT prescribed Nasonex to hopefully keep the fluid off his ears, which seemed to be working - until this latest infection. We're scheduled for a follow up in mid-Nov, at which time we expect to tell the ENT to put in ear tubes. But I'm not sure what to do until then.

Thanks in advance for any advice!

 

It could be fluid. My daughter had a buildup of fluid in her ears last November but there was no infection. The fluid build-up is still very uncomfortable/painful. The doctors basically just wanted to check back a week later to make sure that no infection developed (it didn't) and that the fluid went away on it's own. If it hadn't, she probably would have ended up with ear tubes before long. I just gave her ibuprofen to help with the pain/discomfort until it passed. Unfortunately, probably only a trip to the pedi can determine if it's an infection or simply fluid or something else entirely. I'm sure that's not what you wanted to hear though!

 

I use a small drop or two of oil in my kids ears when they are itchy or first start bothering them. Any oil will do, I have a small bottle of baby oil that I use. If you can get them to lay on the opposite side for a bit so the oil doesn't run out immediately helps too, you can also try putting a cotton ball in, not actually inside the ear just tucked into their outer ear to keep the oil in...if that makes sense.

My mom used to warm up a bit of cooking oil to use on us. It seemed to help ear infections from getting full blown. The baby oil works for my kids too.

 

I guess its possible its fluid. But I would have thought she would have seen that too and mentioned it. When we took him to the doctor 3 weeks ago, when he first got this latest infection, he was seen by another ped in the practice. And that particular ped talked about how his right ear was pretty infected and said that his left ear wasn't infected (yet) but that it did have some fluid on it. Though this time he is complaining about his left ear. I even mentioned to the ped yesterday that he has mentioned twice about his left ear hurting (prior to last night and this morning's problems) and I forget what she said. But she kind of blew it off and said something like "sometimes the weather changes can cause ear pain" or something like that. At the time I wasn't too concerned because previously he never cried about his ear hurting. So I figured it was just some mild discomfort. But this morning was much more than discomfort.

I guess I can haul him back in there. But I'm worried I'll be paying a copay and missing work just to have the next doctor blow it off and blame the weather too. I sure wish the ENT wasn't booked up months in advance or I would try and move his appt up!

 

I did that this morning too. I usually use garlic infused olive oil (I read online somewhere that garlic and onions can help ear pain), but we were out of that stuff. So I just used regular olive oil. And I turned on a heating pad on low and laid a towel over it and told him to lay his head down on it (after having him tilt his head sideways for a few minutes for the oil to run down in it). All I know is within 20 min or so he was up and riding his fire truck around and he said his ear felt better Not sure if it was the oil, the heat, or the ibuprofen (which usually takes longer to work). I'm just worried he is going to wake up in the middle of the night with ear pain again. I hate not knowing what the problem is. But hopefully this is just temporary and he won't keep having reoccurring ear pain.

 

We had chronic ear infections too. I actually did have one child's ears looked at one day and they were fine and less than 24 hours later it was infected. They do show up fast, so I wouldn't rule it out completely.

 

I think it's an infection. It's most likely that she missed it because it was starting to heal and cropped up quickly. I would not do any kind of over the counter ear cleaner without talking to the doctor. Ear infections can result in holes in the ear drum that make such kits painful and potentially harmful. And it's not always apparent when the ear drum ruptures. We've had it happen without even a peep from the child. Crazy.

 

Well I am now starting to agree with other PPs that it may be an ear infection. This evening that particular ear started oozing some fluid. We happened to be at my brother's house, and my SIL is a speech language pathologist and knows a thing or two about ear infections. Unfortunately she couldn't find her otoscope. Anyway she said it could just be fluid draining and not a full blown infection, and at least it is clear and not discolored. But she said we should get the ped to check him out again. And once we left and he didn't have the distraction of playing with his cousins he said on the way home his ear was hurting. I'll be calling the ped at 8am sharp in the morning to take him back in! For now I just gave him a dose of ibuprofen to hopefully get him through the night.

Oh, and when I told my SIL I put some warm olive oil in his ear this morning...she said I shouldn't do that :unsure: I can't remember exactly why she said it wasn't good. But it was something to the effect of if its an inner ear infection it might help it feel better. But if its an outer ear infection it could make things worse. Or vice versa. I knew not to ever put anything in their ears if they are healing from a ruptured ear drum, but didn't think it would hurt to add a drop of oil this morning since his ears were in good shape yesterday :blush: Guess I'll leave the ear doctorin' to the professionals from now on.

Thanks ladies for the replies!

 

Poor buddy.

My BF's oldest had chronic ear infections and tubes. More than once he came down with an ear infection within 12 hours of going to the doc and having the all-clear.

 

I meant to update this last week and forgot. We took B to the ped again first thing Wed morning. Not only did he have an infection, but also a ruptured ear drum! This is like his 3rd ruptured ear drum, and probably 8th ear infection since birth. He is now scheduled to have tubes put in next week. Anyway, just wanted to update this and confirm what others have said - ear infections (and ruptures) can come out of nowhere super fast! Wish I would have taken B back to the ped on Tuesday instead of thinking "surely he doesn't have an ear infection so soon after getting the all clear yesterday". Anyway, he is fine now and on yet another round of antibiotic.