5 year old with ear infection, what are our options?

[cloudy48]

Our little one had ear infection last week, suddenly he started crying in the car, we came home, did a little warm compress and tylenol, we noticed his ear had discharge in the morning but he didn't complain much since then, then he complained about his other ear several days later, went to doctor who said one ear had infection but looks like it's clearing up but left ear (the recent pain) has some infection, she said we can wait a little and observe, 4 days later today his ear still hurts but not as bad, he complains twice a day but when he does we notice he has fever around 101-102.

I am extremely afraid that they will try to give him antibiotics, he had c-diff which he fought for more than 6 months and just recently he had some left over lingering issues, so what are our options, he does not do nasal sprays, but he can just sniff it off our hands, so we pour saline to our hand and he sniffs that, it seems to help, but runny nose returns soon after, when when nose is clogged, ear has issues. If the insist on antibiotics, are there safer ones? Any natural remedies/suggestions?

:(

[beth22]

The only natural remedy I know of is to breath steam or boil an onion in the water and then breathe the steam. If he can't take decongestants or antihistamines, then I don't know of much else. Breathing the spray off your hands is not really going to do anything.

[cloudy48]

Thanks, it's not the spray, it's just the saline that he is trying to get into his nose, we'll try to get the saline directly to his nose again, but he just doesn't like the sensation.
Never heard of boiling onions, we can do that definitely. Would decongestants/antihistamines taken orally help? We can do those definitely if they don't promote c-diff or other intestinal related issues. We've been boiling water and putting about 10-15 drops of eucalyptus and that helped but the effect is temporary. Can we boil the onion and keep it in a cup in his room?

[NanciT]

Make sure his pediatrician checks his ears, difficult to know if it is an inner ear infection. Under CDI we have a list of antibiotic's that are "safer".
Once checked, I would also ask the MD about Ear drops, I have used them several times through cdiff. But I do want to add my Pharmacist who I have known for years told me she felt warm oil worked better in the ears than the actual Cortisporin Otic drops. You can read about the oil online but check with the Peds first.
NanciT

[beth22]

The eucalyptus oil is good too. Yes, decongestants can definitely help. Every time I have had sinus and ear problems, they were recommended. Ask your doctor which ones and how much to use.

[cloudy48]

Thanks for the responses, we'll see how he does over the weekend, he actually doesn't complain during day, and thank god he's been active, except when it was bed time he complained and couldn't go to sleep so we had to give him the painkiller. We'll go back to dr on monday and ask her to check again, if necessary we'll stop by the ENT, I think they can see better than the pediatrician with more specialized equipment I suppose.

This explains exactly what he went through last week: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1Yjw4Sbrv_Y. I think hot compressed help relieve the pressure and had leakage at night, but may not have been enough, I hope that his body will be able to absorb what's left behind but it's taking longer on his left ear now.

Our GI already asked our Ped to call her if there was ever any need for any antibiotics, but I'd like to avoid them as much as possible, although in some situations we can't risk his health either, it's just a tough situation. :(

[beth22]

I have quite a hearing loss in one year from an ear infection that did not get treated in time, so you have to be careful with that as well. Antibiotic drops can help too sometimes, as was already mentioned.

[Lisa33]

I completely agree with Beth. My husband winded up with a ruptured ear drum because of not treating an ear infection and he has lingering problems with that ear now. My daughter who is now 5 had many issues with her ears. She had tubes put in them at 2 years old. Her issue was more with fluid in her ears that wouldn't drain due to allergies and upper respiratory illnesses rather than frequent ear infections. It winded up causing speech issues because of mild hearing loss. Ear infections can totally be viral, but it seems as if there is no way of knowing for sure. Our ENT and pediatrician will have us do exactly what your doctor did. Wait a couple of days and see if the pain subsides. If it doesn't and she is running a fever, they will usually want to treat. To be honest, most of the times, the pain does subside and will be controlled with ibuprofen. Now that she is 5 years old, her ears are working and draining properly. In your case, because of the risk of c-diff, if there is still indication of an ear infection with pain, maybe they can treat with the antibiotic drops in the ear, as I would think they are much safer for the gut. Obviously, you have to check with your doctor. I think they are called Ciprodex.

As far as natural remedies, saline nose spray is very helpful. I know kids absolutely hate doing it, as did my daughter at first. In the beginning, I would give her M&M's to eat while I did it. She winded up getting used to it, as it's a daily regimen for us still as she suffers from terrible allergies. There really isn't much available for young kids as far as decongestants, as they aren't allowed to take them. There is a brand called Hylands for children that makes different homeopathic syrups for mucus, cold, allergies, etc. I have used these a lot as well.

Another idea, if you can't do the saline spray is to buy "Boogie Wipes". I'm sure you know what these are. They are saline wipes, and if you wipe his nose with them and kind of stick them up his nostrils, the saline will get in a bit. But, the spray is really much more beneficial. :-( As a mom, I know how hard it is to get your child to do uncomfortable things. My daughter gets asthmatic with upper respiratory infections, and using the Albuterol mask was a big challenge when she was younger. We would literally have to pin her down. It way awful! But as she matured and got used to it, and with bribery of course, she now will do the inhaler herself. These kids will take years off your life! :-)

I hope his ears feel better and it's all viral and goes away on its own.
Lisa

[cloudy48]

Beth, thanks, we are going to watch him today and if there is any sign of higher fever or complains about ear, we'll go back to ped and discuss the drops. We'll let the Dr. check his ears to see what condition first, I hope to god at least his right ear is all clear now.

Lisa, thanks so much,
Since he is not in constant pain and so far we only had to give him pain killer 3 times (3 doses only) in last 5 days, I think he is doing better overall, but low grade fever lingers.
I thought ear drum rapturing releases the pus, but I guess it can cause permanent damage too. The main issue is his inability to clear his nasal passages so the drainage doesn't occur as much as it should out of his ear canal. Both this causes pressure so it doesn't drain through ear (like holding end of the straw) and also it's not letting it out through his nose. We bought Baby Ayr gel which our doctor suggested as well. I know boogie wipes but I don't think it will help much. I definitely think there might be some kind of allergy triggering this. I am going to buy a true HEPA air purifier for his room, maybe the one we have is not working well. I can't tell.

I wish there was a way to use those masks (which he doesn't mind using, we had to use that for some chest issues before) for Saline type of things. M&M is a good idea, but I am not sure if he will negotiate, maybe something else, I'll try! Thanks. I just wish he could do the spray.
I don't think Eucalyptus helped him much since it disappears fast and he won't sit with a towel over his head. :) So we just rub vicks all over him (not the baby one, that actually smells worst than the original, has chemical smell).

With weather warming up extremely quickly (it was 33 last week's lows, to 75 today) is not helping either.
Thanks for all the suggestions. Everyone is telling me boys his age will keep getting sick because of school. They are so little and full day of school does seem pretty long for these little fellas.


Update: He had 101 fever when he came back from school, doctor told my wife that his other ear closed up nicely and it's OK but left ear still has fluid behind and not drained. Prescribed AZITHROMYCIN which we will check with our GI about. He said we couldn't use drops because they wouldn't go past his membrane. Is this true? I asked her to get referral to a ped ENT as well but our Ped suggests we start asap. Ped called us back and he said the alternative is Ceftriaxone shots, he also talked to our GI at columbia who said she'd treat with vancomycin along with any antibiotics, but I am concerned that antibiotic will wipe away any good bacteria we've developed since his c-diff....
I am not sure if shots are better than oral ABX when it comes to cdiff.

[beth22]

You would have to ask your GI about the shots vs the pills. It is interesting that they are giving Azithromycin because when my daughter was young, they said that medication works ok for adults with ear infections, but not really for children. She got an ear infection while on it if I remember correctly. What about something like a sulfa drug? Or is he allergic to sulfa? Bactrim works well for ear infections and it usually works quickly. However, it can cause c difficile, but so can Azythromycin.

[cloudy48]

Our pediatrician said it's either Azithromycin or the shots and according to this site shots have higher chance of cdiff compared to Az.
The description on this site matches the prescription/instructions given by our doctor, 1st day high dose, +4 days lower dose. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/9711451

What was your DD taking it for? Our doctor did not mention any other drugs. I am going to try and get him to ENT tomorrow and get his opinion, I doubt it will differ but I'd like to get it first, in the meantime they put in the prescription for Vancomycin which we are supposed to take for 5 days while on the Az and few more days after that.

Our MD said we can wait but he is worried about possible mastoiditis (bone infection) since there is fever (101-102) I read about that too and I am worried about it, although he is overall fine, it's a gamble no matter what you do, ABX or no Medicine.. It's not easy being a parent, god bless those parents with multiple kids..