Ear Infections - what worked well to get rid of them???

[Papillon]

Besides antibiotics?

a little warmed sweet oil and plug it up with a cotton ball when I was growing up.

time unfortunately My dd gets them and really you can only ease symptoms...

the doctor gave a nasal spray and told me to put cooked onion next to ear. Seems to reducing the pain and drawing out the yuck.

I heard yesterday about cotton ball in ear trick Jabberwocky

Read on net, that a rolled up newspaper can be filled with water then set alight with end in ear... bit scary all those flames though!!! Have used hopi ear treatment for sinus which worked really well.

Have been giving abit of homeopathy to reduce sinus and mucus.

Antibiotics apparently speed recovery up by 24 hours, but nothing else.
Warmth, calpol, a good dvd and some chocolate.

I'm not sure about the oil in the ear thing - is that safe if the ear drum is perforated?

No not good at all to put things in a perforated ear. I had a consultation with the doctor so I knew the condition before trying anything at home

Cutting out all dairy!

My DS who had at least 2 a month, has never had another one since we took dairy out of his diet.

Have you also had your DC tested for glue ear - they go hand in hand too

My doc told me that the littl tubes in the ears slope slightly the 'wrong' way and are very tiny in young children. That's why gunk builds up so easily, setting off those horrible ear infections. He told me that most children will grow out of them as the tubes grow wider and slope the 'right' way so they drain better. Certainly proved to be the case with my children.

It is not true that "antibiotics speed recovery by 24 hours and nothing else". Ear infections do sometimes go away on their own, but you do need to see a doctor and you do sometimes need antibiotics. Ear infections can have complications which are simply not worth the risk.

But having said that, I thought dd would be doomed to a childhood of ear infection after ear infection (she was prone to them, and had emergency surgery for mastoiditis) , but they stopped happening when she was 3 without my making any changes at all.

Yes to cutting out dairy here too Soapythelistmaker. Was giving alot of milk recently and fattening up the children for Xmas but its had adverse effects.

Message withdrawn

Xylitol used to be praised on MN for preventing ear infections. It's an ingredient in many toothpastes, chewing gum and sugar free mints. I think there was a rush on the Boots' Crocodile toothpaste when that thread happened!