Mastoiditis

[stretch]

Long. Trying to give background.

Ds1 (9) has been unwell for the past month, various colds and stomach bugs. Has previous history of perforated ear drum which was treated with anti-Bs first time and then nothing second time (drs were happy)

We went on holiday on Saturday and on Tuesday he came down with yet another cold. He was complaining of ear ache and had a discharge from his ear. He got worse all week, barely ate, high temp. On Thursday eve we decided to take him drs in the morning. Friday am we noticed his ear at the back was red and sticking out. I thought mastoiditis and the drs agreed and gave him antibiotics and said to visit normal GP on Monday.
He's had his antibiotics for 48 hours now, and although the redness at his ear has faded a bit, , it's still sticking out a bit and he is very tender and sore at his nape of neck and all around his ear. His temp is still up and he's feeling unwell. We're giving ibuprofen/ paracetamol every two hours and in the peak of these he's still holding his neck/ear but he perks up.

My question is am I doing right? Googling produces some serious worries and things about requiring hospital admissions and surgeries 😳 Should I take him to OOH? Should the dr initially have admitted him?
TIA

Bump.

I had suspected mastoiditis, the gp sent me straight to ent a and e. I saw a doctor who also supsected mastioditis, she wanted to check with her boss but warned me if he thought the same I would have to be admited. Luckily he thought it was slightly to far down, gave me antibiotics and sent me home with the warning to go back to the doctors if thongs didn't get better or got worse.

I would take him to ooh.

My DD was diagnosed with mastoiditis, with very similar symptoms to your DS. She was admitted to hospital immediately and put on IV antibiotics for five days. They took it very seriously. Prior to the mastoiditis, my DD had suffered with almost constant ear infections - but after being admitted to hospital and the IV's, she has not had a hint of an earache (that was two years ago now). I would definitely take him to OOH. Best of luck - please let us know how you get on.

Thank you both.
We've just returned from the hospital. We took him OOH last night and he was admitted immediately. They were initially worried about meningitis as he was holding his neck weirdly and had high temp. After they ruled it out he was given iv antibiotics and got a bed in a ward. 24 hours later he was discharged. He's still weak and tender behind his ear but much improved.
They were very thorough I must say, but I think any hint of it in future I'm taking him straight to urgent care and bypassed the GP.
Thanks again. It's so hard to know if you're reacting enough or over reacting ☹️

I'm glad you took him in. I hope he's feeling better soon.