To call 111

[ShoesEverywhere]

Last night my seven year old was screaming and crying from 10-3AM on and off complaining of a terrible ear ache. He went to bed normally at 7:30 and seemed fine during the day.

We gave him calpol at 10 but he was still in absolute agony all night, and crying so much I had to sleep with him so the others in the house could go to a different floor to actually get some sleep.

He eventually got to sleep and woke up at 8 and seems right as rain this morning. Says his ear doesn't hurt at all. There was no gunk on the pillow (I had wondered if it burst).

My question is aibu to call 111 on boxing day? Because he's fine now. I've never known anything like this - any thoughts welcomed!

If you're at all worried just call them. 111 will let you know what to do.

What are going to call 111 and say? My son is absolutely fine and says he is absolutely no pain at all?

Yeah, call.

Is it only sore when he's lying down? Sometimes ear infections can present like that.

I think if he is fine now I would just see how he goes through the day. You can always call later if he starts to have pain again.

I would just be tempted to take him to a walk in centre to get it checked out. This happened to my DD two weeks ago and it turned out she had a bad infection and needed antibiotics, her pain eased the following day too.

Last night probably would have been the time to call them.
He’s fine now, if it happens again call them

@Allybob88

What are going to call 111 and say? My son is absolutely fine and says he is absolutely no pain at all?

Exactly! I wondered if anyone else had experienced something similar. I've always had ear aches that have been constant so this morning threw me.

Maybe it was just Christmas excitement or something

Have a look at nhs choices website for advice.
It’s NICE guidance, evidence based information and healthcare advice.

111 will be absolutely overwhelmed.

@ColdShouldersWarmTummy

Yeah, call.

Is it only sore when he's lying down? Sometimes ear infections can present like that.

This is a good shout - I'll lay him down for a bit and see if it comes back.

Thanks all for your replies!

My dd has had earache like that - comes on suddenly then goes. They do say most ear infections are viral and will go by themselves within a few days. So personally I would wait and see and maybe call if it comes on again? Sitting him up will definitely help the pain, a hot water bottle helps my dd too.

My DD does this when she has a cold or snotty nose, I usually give calpol and prop her up. Has he had a sniffly nose at all?

Do a covid test.... both my children complained of ear ache... did a test and they were both postive on Lfd but only 1 positive on pcr.

I have heard other children having ear ache being a symptom of covid.

Don't worry about us being overwhelmed. We've been overwhelmed for weeks. Whatever we recommend won't change just because we are busier than normal.

First port of call maybe the pharmacy?

Awww ballbag I was thinking about call backs and priorities that’s all. Overwhelmed for weeks is probably an understatement, years and years is more accurate I think.

NHS choices is the most underused fantastic resource going I think.

Thanks for what you are doing 111 is an AWSOME service… when used appropriately and I know it’s a very difficult job, so thanks from me.

My son had this on the night of the 23rd so called doctor Xmas Eve - said if there’s no temperature then it’s probably not an ear infection but prescribed him some ear drops - 111 might say similar

To add - he hasn’t had any more problems since that Night where he screamed that it hurt so much - very odd

If he is relatively fine now I would hold off. There is always the option to call if he starts to feel ill again. No point IMO of burdening 111 with a toddler who has no symptoms at all right now.

Don’t really understand why you didn’t call them last night when he was in pain

My second son used to get ear pain like this and was often at the ooh gps in hospital. I bought a Cheap ear light where you can see the ear drum in the end. I wish I had bought one sooner. He had completely blocked ears both sides which used to get infected and leak gunk a few times a year.

Ear suction solved it in the end

If you said there was gunk in the pillow his ear drum didn’t burst did it?

DD has just been like this and she's in her teens up all Christmas Eve night in agony and vomiting once. Pain much better Christmas Day and fine today just full of cold.

Must just have been full of pressure from the cold.

Thanks all. Lft negative, no plain on lying down, but I did check his outer ear and it is full of orange gunk and so I think it may have actually burst last night. I'll call the GP tomorrow morning if the pain comes back, thank you all so much

Probably wrong but could his eardrum have perforated. That can be very painful and sometimes the pain goes away. Small perforations can heal themselves but it is important to keep water out of an ear with a perforation.

@Diditopknot

Awww ballbag I was thinking about call backs and priorities that’s all. Overwhelmed for weeks is probably an understatement, years and years is more accurate I think.

NHS choices is the most underused fantastic resource going I think.

Thanks for what you are doing 111 is an AWSOME service… when used appropriately and I know it’s a very difficult job, so thanks from me.

Aw Thankyou!! I'm not long in from work so just seen your comment.

It's nice to be appreciated, we do get a lot of flack, mostly from people not getting their own way or accusing us of sending ambulances for everything 🤦🏻‍♀️ a lot of people don't realise (in my area at least) that we are actually part of the ambulance service and do our best to keep the pressure off the 999's, and we can only go off what patients tell us over the phone!