Absolute bloody disaster!! We're supposed to go to Disneyland in a few hours

[Sneakysloth]

We have to leave at 9am to drive to the eurotunnel and go to Disneyland and I've been awake since 2am with a sobbing 4 year old really distressed that his ear hurts. We've all had horrible coughs/colds this last week and I think his has developed into an ear infection. He keeps asking if we can still go and I'm telling him not to worry and just to rest but then he gets distressed that he doesn't want to not go. I phoned 111 at 3am but not heard back yet (I know that might sound dramatic, but it is the weekend and it seemed better than A&E?)

He's had calpol when he first woke, ibuprofen not long ago, got a warm flannel on his ear. I'm sat up so he can rest on me and be a bit more upright to try ease pain. We wait for the doctor to call. But in the mean time.. gonna have to shatter all my kids excitement about Disneyland aren't I?

Hope your little one is feeling better. Nothing worse than a child with an earache, makes me feel so helpless. My daughter had one when we went to Wales one year, poor thing. It just put such a dampener on the whole holiday that we ended up coming home a day and a half early.

I do a similar job. Antibiotic stewardship is so hard. People just don't care.

Hope you get off OK.

France has a very good medical systemic place, so I hope you didn't cancel cos you have colds that includes a poorly ear.

I hope you enjoy Disney in spite of the virus getting you all x

Audiologists I know do not recommend warming olive oil as it is not necessary, room temperature is fine, and there is a danger of getting it too hot and damaging the ear.

Also, it is not thought safe to use oil etc if there is any possibility of a perforated ear drum (which might happen at any point with an acute ear infection). Olive oil is recommended for ear wax for people with intact ear drums.

Mm I know they are trained for longer, but UK pharmacists can also use otoscopes. I'm not aware of anything more French pharmacists can actually do in terms of treatment though.

Eh?
If your child is in a lot of pain and calpol isn’t touching it and there is no other healthcare available “out of hours” then of course a&e.
BUT there are lots of alternatives to A&E but that all depends on where you live and if there’s a UTC/out of hrs (and if it’s open).
I’m more of a calpol and Peppa pig mum with private GP video call access.

I wouldn’t choose A&E for OP but I’m also not blaming people, with more minor ailments than life or death, from accessing A&E because massive under investment in healthcare (in a well off developed country) means it’s their only available healthcare setting.

Did you get away op?

I’m really hoping the lack of update is due to them having gone and having a fab time 🤞

I hope so too 🤞

It's awful going away when you're poorly. Hoping OP feels a lot better too.

For a child? I don't think they can prescribe online for a child.

@VitoCorleoneOfMNMafia
BUPA remote will prescribe for children online for certain conditions.

Although ideally a child with an ear infection should really be examined. (not sure if they would cover this.)

I have never come across a uk pharmacist who would examine ears. This must be a new development, which is great.

Hi. I am sorry for your situation.
You need to report your post and ask MN to move it, as a new thread, in the relationships section.
You will get lots of support and advice there.
It is likely to just get lost in the middle of this thread.

@endofthelinefinally
Details of the new pharmacy service launched1st February here

Ah yes. Thank you. Very recent, I haven't looked at the details of the training and service provision yet.
I used to train hospital pharmacists years ago in a different speciality. It took a long, long time to set up and get going.

I agree. Thanks to the lack of help with ear infections my DS now has an eardrum perforation so large that it will require surgery when he’s 10+. His other eardrum is so fragile that the next infection could perforate that one too. He gets antibiotics as soon as he sees a GP when he has an infection now, but I wish we had an emergency supply because ear infections never develop during GP opening times! Pharmacies in this part of the UK still do not help with ear infections.

@fjfjrufj ask your GP for an emergency prescription. At least one can find a pharmacy almost 24/7 nowadays.

My DIL suffers chronic tonsillitis episodes. Her GP has given her a spare prescription to cover weekends. Ask the GP for one.

Why move the thread?

Because it is a completely unrelated op about relationship problems and nothing to do with this OP's thread about her child's earache.
It isn't helpful to bring a new issue/ op into the middle of an existing thread. There are unlikely to be any replies.

MNHQ have deleted and moved it anyway now so hopefully that poster is getting support on the relationships board.

I hope you have sorted it and are on your way by now. I would just say that when we went by Eurostar rather than fly because my husband had had a Detached Retina, the pressure in the tunnel was enormous and may aggravate the ear issues.

You’ve probably already made a decision by now but I disagree with majority of posters here to just dose up and go. If you can change the dates then I 100% would do that. If you are all feeling unwell you’re not going to enjoy yourselves. They won’t be amazing precious memories - it’ll be memories of feeling crap, exhausted and unable to have fun. Good luck!

Aw bless, sounds like he may need antibiotic ear drops as this happened only a few weeks ago to my son. X