Ear Pain

[Emmaaa1990]

I wonder if anyone can help.

We flew back from Malaga on Wednesday, lots of swimming and going under water since the week prior. No mention of any ear pain whilst on holiday however on the drive home my 3 year old said her ear hurt.

Didn't think much of it and she went to bed that evening, she woke up about 3am saying her ear hurt so I gave her some medicine and she went back to sleep. I took her to the doctor yesterday they checked her ear, said it wasn't red and she has no temp and she's eating fine so no infection. They did mention she had a lot of wax and advised me to use some olive oil and keep giving Calpol etc.

It looks absolutely fine so I'm confused as to why she's saying it hurts? Could it be the wax build up or fluid build up from swimming? Or could the plane have caused it? I used the olive oil spray tonight to see if it starts to help but just wondered if anyone had any insight or advice?

Thanks!

Could just be pressure from the plane if she’s got lots of wax.

@FlyingPizzaMonkey Thankyou! I didn't know it could still go on a few days after. She's woken up 2 nights in a row now. Hopefully it passes in the next day or so, just weird as she's been on a plane before and been fine!

Ears can be irritated or inflamed without being infected - one example is allergic irritation /inflammation

The combination of swimming and pressure on the plane may have caused temporary irritation/inflammation.

It will still be painful but regular painkillers should manage this whilst it settles.

If it's not settling within a few days, and there is fever or other signs of illness you might need to go back - pharmacies can now assess for ear infection in 1-17year olds and prescribe if clinically indicated.

@Womblingmerrily oh that's interesting! She did wake up again about 1.30 complaining. I will keep doing all that I'm doing for her and see how she is Monday and make a decision! Thankyou I didn't know pharmacies did that, that's really helpful!