Marrero is a small town in Louisiana with an amazing ENT specialist. You should get the best Marrero ENT specialist if you have an ear infection.
An ear infection happens when bacteria breeds in an ear resulting in a buildup of harmful fluids. Ear infections are very painful and uncomfortable, especially for children. An ear infection may also be symptomatic of more serious issues for example a respiratory tract infection. It is difficult to diagnose an ear infection and even harder to treat it.
The following are treatment options for an ear infection:
Table of Contents
1. Pain Relief
The first step in treating an ear infection is to ensure that you address the pain caused by the infection. Pain relief for an ear infection can be done in a myriad of ways.
Pain relief medication is often the solution doctors use in this regard. They may prescribe Tylenol or ibuprofen for the pain which also reduces the fever caused by an ear infection.
Another common way to relieve pain in an infected ear is to heat the ear. You can use a warm cloth or low heat from a heating pad to increase circulation in the ear and reduce the pain.
2. Antibiotics
Medication is the most common method of treating an ear infection. Because an ear infection is typically caused by bacteria, doctors will prescribe antibiotics to help deal with the bacteria.
The key to taking medicine for an ear infection is to do it consistently. If you do not, the infection may disappear for a while and then return worse than before. The bacteria in your ear is also likely to become resistant to the prescribed antibiotic if you stop taking it consistently. Therefore, it becomes harder to deal with the infection if you stop taking the medicine.
3. Draining the Ear
The bacterial infection causes a buildup of fluid in the ear. To treat an ear infection, you will have to get the liquid drained by an ENT specialist in a process called a myringotomy.
The doctor will create a small hole in your eardrum to ensure that liquids like water and pus can drain from your ear. The doctor may also leave a tube in your ear to drain any residual fluids.
The tube will then fall off on its own after it has served its purpose and there is no more fluid to be drained from your ear. It will usually take six to eighteen months for the tube to fall off and significantly helps the ear to heal.
4. Surgery
In cases where an ear infection has gone too far, the only solution might be surgery. Younger children who get draining tubes in their ears also require surgery to do so.
The surgery is usually a short and sharp procedure that rarely takes more than half an hour to complete. The surgery will help prevent many long-term consequences that may arise from a severe ear infection.
Surgery is the last option so you should consult your doctor to ensure you have tried all possible solutions.