Does an earache have to get checked by doctor or will it go away on its own?

[florencemum]

my dd1 2.5 yrs had a low fever and complained of itchy ear for two days. yesterday some gunk came out of her ear. she is better today. i sent her to nursery.
does she need to get checked or could it be over?

anyone?

Hi, sounds like her eardrum has burst. Don't panic but get a doc to check. Its quite normal for this to happen after the 'gunk' builds up in the middle ear. You can manage the pain with paracetemol and the time to take them to the doc is usually if it doesn't pass for them to check if an antibiotic is needed. I won't begin to tell you the long struggle we have had with ear infections with DS aged 3. It might be a one off for her but I would recommend watching out for them more now and keep her ears dry and don't poke anything into them. Avoid washing hair for a few days and still think the doc won't do any harm.

To measure the difference between a bit of gunk and a burst eardrum I'd explain my ds as having a brown little finger sized tube of fluid that came out of his ear and a fever and screaming to high heaven from the pain, so honestly I'm not an expert, just speaking from my own experience.

thanks. saffymum, sounds like the description you gave, but without the screaming. she did have a fever for two days, but she was at no point screaming with pain. just complaining and not all the time.
it is hard to get her to a gp until after the weekend. do you think that is ok? if her fever goes away and she is well can i assume its gone away?
Thanks for your help

by the way when i was a baby (my mother tells me) i had earaches for the second 6 months of my life. my mother said after tons of mediactions and different treatments, she just gave me vitaming c (which supposedley is not recommended until a cretain age) and they went away completely. (until i was older)

just a note in case you are fed up with the usual treatments.

If the fever has gone and she's well in herself, I'd say it sounds like it's on the mend. Just take the advice about being careful until burst eardrum heals.

oops i gave her a bath (a very long one) last night. she hadn't showered in two days.
i will watch it for the next few days.