Is there a doctor in the house? (Yes, it’s one of these)

[holdingoutforagptiltheendofthenight]

know MN hates these types of posts but please bear with me:
It’s past 6pm on a Thursday so GP is closed and I have 3 small children in bed so trying to work out what to do for the best/if this is urgent or simply something that needs a walk-in centre tomorrow (or not even).

My 2 year old has had a fever for 3 days and a shocking cough/lots of snot etc (delightful). Yesterday evening (it’s always the evening when everything is closed isn’t it) he started to cry a LOT about his ear hurting which he’s never done before. There was no visible issue/he said he hadn’t put anything in it and I was alone with all 3 juggling bathtime so I thought it best to assess when DH came home an hour later. By then he was asleep. He didn’t mention his ear at all today and was happy. At bathtime I noticed quite a lot of blood in his ear that wasn’t there before. Now I’m worried because Dr Google seems to think that’s v concerning but I am unclear on the level of concern as generally he seems to be getting better and he is saying his ear does not hurt? I tried to clean it gently though and he wouldn’t let me so perhaps it does still hurt…

If anyone has experience please advise!

not an AIBU more of a WWYD and I apologise for posting for traffic

What will the water do?! Now a little worried as he had a bath tonight before I noticed the bleeding. Will keep it dry from now on obviously but hopefully no water went in this evening? Might see if our local pharmacist will have a little look tomorrow to check it’s all fine - they do a bit of minor triage

Will also call the Gp it can be hard sometimes to get a call
back same day though

This is a very good website to help parents decide when to get medical help for their child.
Healthier Together

What a brilliant website!!!! Many thanks

We've spent more time than I'd like at A and E with admissions for my son who really struggles to fight off a virus without being put on a drip, antibiotics and oxygen. I would say I'm pretty laid back about what constitutes A and E now. For this I would let them sleep and then phone GP in the morning. I don't think I'd worry too much about it.

They should always call back for under 5s

I’m sorry to hear about your son. This particular child of mine had a period of a year where he was very unwell with an underlying condition (now fixed with surgery) so I really get it/I am not keen to repeat the nights in a and e without a clearly reason. Hope your son is alright

the ear falls under a category of “not yet experienced” in this house with any of mine so great to get thoughts/see how to couch it appropriately. Thanks

Good to know, thank you

Mine were prone to this.. when it bursts they do appear to get instant relief so I'd let him sleep. He will need a course of antibiotics though as he takes a while to grow back.

Walk in centre, sounds like a perforated ear drum. My DS has had this 3 times and has reoccurring ear infections requiring antibiotics

Do you think it must have burst yesterday evening as he didn’t complain about it at all today?

Yes my son has had this on two occasions. It gets really sore then bursts and is not sore anymore because the pressure has been relieved. I'd Get him checked tomorrow providing nothing changes.

We've just had the same horrendous cold/cough and my 4yo DD also perforated her ear drum overnight. She was screaming when it happened but fine after. Took her to GPs next morning who fit her in straight away.

GP said it was a full perforation due to the virus building up mucus in the canal, and her canal being too small to allow it drain away, hence the pressure building up and coming through the ear drum. We didn't have any bleeding etc but he was right, she was in no pain after it. She's had a 5 day course of antibiotics, she can't get her head/ear/hair wet for three weeks and we go back next week to see how it's healing.

The antibiotics were to stop any infection building in the now open canal, and the same with the water/hair washing. We made it two weeks before washing her hair last night with assistance (DH at sea and I'm pregnant!) so my aunts held her like a burrito over the bath while one washed her hair. Thank god for nurses 😂. Kept her ear perfectly dry. No further pain or issues, her cough cleared up nicely but my god that was the worst cold she's ever given me so I can only imagine how horrible it is for them!

Any road, apologies for the life essay, but I think if it has perforated he will be absolutely fine to get him into the GP or a walk in centre tomorrow.

If you can get them onto there bad ear side with a tissue under see if anything else drains out in the night

I actually really really appreciate the “life essay” - it sounds like EXACTLY the same situation/same bitch of a cough etc etc, we are just a day later than you with realising and now I feel dreadful as I genuinely totally forgot given he didn’t mention the ear at all today. Also now very nervous as he will have gotten it wet in bath. Thank you so much for all the information and hope your little one all fine. Hope the baby doesn’t get it as they have the same cough!

When we've called 111 they've send us to an out of hours GP in a local community hospital. Slightly less dramatic than a and e and absolutely no waiting time. Could you ask for that if they suggest a and e?

Don’t clean it out with water. If the eardrum has burst it’s imperative water does not get in.

Could also be an ear abscess, DM gets them. When they burst, the ear bleeds and the pressure /pain subsides.

I’d wait until the morning and see a doctor- they refer you to ENT I’d have thought.

nothing needed tonight . GP in the morning

As pp have said it sounds like his eardrum has burst, my DD had it happen a lot when she was young. She got immediate relief once it had burst. Most of the time I didn't bother with the GP.

I might actually go to walk in as I originally thought - opens at 8am so he will be seen the quickest that way - as I’m now just a bit worried it may have gotten wet in the bath/want him on antibiotics if necessary

I feel so awful I didn’t know that this was a thing that could happen!

@holdingoutforagptiltheendofthenight my little one is fine now. After recurrent ear infections he had tonsils, adenoids out and grommets fitted. He was only two bless him. We have just had a hospitalisation for flu though so I feel your pain. Hope everything is well tomorrow, you sound really sensible so I'm sure you'll make the right decision.

There is loads we each don't know! We all only know a subset of the entirety of things that can go wroong with kids.

DD had lots of bleeding from an ear once. She had no pain but it was a lot of blood and had completely soaked through 2 pillows and was consistently running from her ear for about 10 hours. I took her to the GP who sent us straight to A+E as she couldn't see in the ear due to the blood. Most GP surgeries do not have the equipment to look in the ear if it is block slightly and are unable to clear the blood from the ear to look. Just keep that in mind as even if they think it is infection if they can't see they will send you to an A+E with a paed ENT which might not be your local A+E (it wasn't for us)

Ds2 was really prone to these from age 1 to 6, at which point he got grommets/adenoids out and he's not had one since.

It's the classic heavy cold + pain+ sudden relief when the eardrum bursts.

You can clean up outside the ear but leave inside alone obv.

The dr generally didn't prescribe antibiotics and there was never any reoccurrence of pain after the perforation.

We'd follow up at the dr after the gunk/cold cleared to check healing.

I'd let him sleep and go to the drop in /GP in the morning.