Urgent please - is this a hospital job?

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Sorry. Im feeling stressed.
Ds age 6 got sent home from school at lunch in an awful lot of distress screaming that his ear and head hurt.
Been to gp just. He has

• Temp of 38.5 despite calpol and ibuprofen
• a large swelling behind his ear at the top of his neck
• a lot of pain in his head and ear
• very pale
• distressed / crying / falling asleep very quickly

She was concerned and did a full body check including testes. Told me she has no idea what's caused it and then noticed his ear is bleeding and has very weird brown spots in too.
Has prescribed antibiotics and an ear spray.
Wants to see him again Tuesday to review the swelling In neck (size of a golf ball but not as prominent)
Said if I'm concerned at all go to a&e immediately
Has anyone seen anything like this in an ear before? She said it looked almost like a rash but odd that it's bleeding.
It's also on his school collar.
He had a nose bleed earlier this week which I forgot to tell her. The first one he's ever had

You're concerned, she said if so go. So go. No one will judge you.

I’d have expected her to check with a senior since she couldn’t figure out what it was!

You could try NHS 24

Blimey, yes I'd take dc to A&E with that, it looks awful. You can't mess around with ears.

I think you should go with your gut, you're worried and there is no harm in getting it checked out at the hospital.

You could ring 111 if you're on the fence about whether you should go or not?

I would take mine , you will get replies on here telling you not to go but it's your child and nobody else's business, he's clearly unwell ,better safe than sorry.

Yes I would go. It might just be a very bad ear infection but better to be safe than sorry.

Better to go and it not be necessary than to not go and end up with an infection causing permanent hearing problems.

I would go to A&E. My friend’s son came out of school with a swollen, painful ear and ended up in hospital for a few days on IV antibiotics. They think an insect bite had caused a massive infection.

I'd take him. Just to have somebody that knew a bit more than 'Ummm, dunno - try painkillers and antibiotics for this mystery thing I can't Google' look at him.

I would go because the GP is at a loss as to what it is

Take him. Trust your gut and get him seen. Hope he feels better, ear ache is just awful 💐

If it were me I would take him.

I think I've seen most things (ds is v unlucky) but I've never seen that. I'd be at a&e and to hell with what anyone thinks.

Looks like a perforated ear drum, the brown spots are dried blood.
If he’s not responding to antibiotics in 24 hrs, or worsens in any way take him in

Ah, here you go - this what Google comes up with

https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/mastoiditis/#:~:text=Mastoiditis%20is%20a%20serious%20infection,mastoid%20bone%20behind%20the%20ear.

Requires hospital treatment if that's the case. So yeah, go now.

I think you should go as well.

Another one here saying definitely go,

Another vote for A&E here

Perforated ear drum I'm sure

I'd definitely go to A&E. I spent several days taking my then 2 year old son backwards and forwards to the GP - very distressed, high temp and lump on neck under chin. Antibiotics had no effect. Finally took him to A&E and a scan showed he had an abscess which required an op to drain. He was very poorly and in hospital for a week.

My threshold for A&E is very high, but agree that the lump behind the ear could be mastoiditis. I'd get checked- esp as both ibuprofen and paracetamol isn't bringing the fever down and that ear looks dreadful. He might need IV antibiotics rather than just oral.

YA definitely NBU to take him in. In your shoes I'd have probably gone straight there TBH! Don't mess around with ears.

I was about to say mastoiditis but someone else has done so.

You need to take your son to hospital.

Yeah I'd definitely go without a doubt.

Go.