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What helps with otitis media

2020-08-12T03:10:21.742Z


Some children have them all the time, others never. Middle ear infections are painful - and affect children more often than adults. But why actually? And how do you alleviate the symptoms?


Some children have them all the time, others never. Middle ear infections are painful - and affect children more often than adults. But why actually? And how do you alleviate the symptoms?

Berlin (dpa / tmn) - Suddenly there is this severe earache, it gets hot and dizzy, you just want to go to bed. Acute otitis media is a sudden inflammation of the middle ear.

It often develops in the winter months following an infection of the upper respiratory tract - for example after a cold or in children during or after a cold.

Typical symptoms are earache and, especially in young children, fever. Infants and toddlers also often show symptoms that seem rather unspecific: slight diarrhea, vomiting, abdominal pain or restlessness, for example. That is why their ears should always be examined if their pain is unclear.

Children, especially between the ages of one and three, are generally more likely to have otitis media. There are various reasons for this, but the ear trumpet usually plays a role. This connects the middle ear and pharynx and ends near the pharynx - in children it is very narrow and does not yet work as it does in adults.

Illness usually goes away on its own

The ear usually heals by itself, as ENT specialist Linda Diederich says: "The disease is usually self-eliminating, so that general therapy with antibiotics does not make sense." It often helps to wait a day or two and during this time to use nose drops to improve the germs' flow, explains the senior physician at the Clinic for Ear, Nose and Throat Medicine at Charité Berlin. Medicines such as paracetamol or ibuprofen can be given for pain - as suppositories or juice, dosed according to age, of course.

In the case of small children, if there is severe pain or inflammation on both sides, antibiotics are given, says the doctor. But for the general development of resistance it is better not to give antibiotics so early or not at all. Antibiotics could also cause side effects such as diarrhea.

In some cases, however, antibiotics are very useful, emphasizes Diederich. For example, if the indication is correct, they protect against complications such as meningitis or mastoiditis, an inflammation of the mastoid process of the temporal bone.

According to her, the general condition of around three out of five children improves after 24 hours. And after two to three days, 80 percent of the children feel better. In addition to medication, a lot of care and distraction help with pain.

Sacks with onions and chamomile flowers

A popular measure for otitis media is the application of so-called onion bags. The naturopath and human biologist Isabell Wustlich from Wolfratshausen (Bavaria) has had very good experiences with it. "Especially when otitis media appears for the first time, you can intervene with naturopathic medicine," she explains.

For the onion bag, cut the onions into small pieces, wrap them in a cloth, place the packet on the heater to warm it and then attach it to the child's affected ear with a headband.

A chamomile steam bath may help with older children. Chamomile flowers are placed in boiling water and soaked, covered, for about five minutes. The affected ear is held over the chamomile flower steam for a few minutes.

According to ENT doctor Diederich, children who have had several middle ear infections a year can do tube training with a nasal balloon in the infection-free interval. Not having a pacifier also helps prevent inflammation.

© dpa-infocom, dpa: 200811-99-126689 / 6

Source: merkur

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