Ear Infections and Antibiotics in Children

Doctors see thousands upon thousands of children each year for ear infections. Both of my children are prone to ear infections and so was I as a child. Not only is an ear infection extremely painful physically for the child, the amount of emotional stress can often be hard for the parent involved. Ear infections often come on abruptly and can cause your child to become very lethargic and sick.

How do you know if your child has an ear infection? Some of the most common signs of an ear infection are very noticeable. Many children will cry for long periods of time-often through the night. wake up every hour or two due to discomfort. If the ear infection begins during the night your child might Because of the pressure that has built up inside of the ear, your child may not want to ear or drink. Ear infections can cause high fevers in children. You might also notice that your child pulls at one or both ears when they are experiencing an ear infection.

An ear infection is caused when fluid builds up in the middle ear, which is located just behind the eardrum. Normally the fluid drains from the middle ear. However, when the fluid does not drain properly, bacteria grows inside of the ear. The bacteria can cause an ear infection. If you think that your child may have an ear infection, you should contact the pediatrician right away for an evaluation. Your doctor will look inside of your child's ear with a special instrument to determine if there is an ear infection present. If an ear infection is present, your doctor may prescribe antibiotics to treat the infection. Antibiotics are medicines that are used to kill bacteria. Antibiotics can stop bacteria from growing. If the ear infection is caused by a virus, antibiotics will not work. Viruses cause colds and the flu and antibiotics only treat bacterial infections. Your doctor will choose which antibiotic is the best for your child's infection. When you begin giving your child the antibiotics, you should give the full dose at the same time every day. Your child may begin to feel better before all of the doses have been taken. If you stop early, the infection might not be gone and your child's symptoms may reappear. You should give your child all of the doses that the doctor has prescribed.