Treatment of otitis in children

Otitis is not a rare disease in childhood. Many parents, as well as grandfathers and grandmothers are sure that the child's otitis becomes ill after he is "pouted". This motivates the need to wear hats even in warm enough weather. But in fact, the probability of otitis on the "level ground" is quite small, and as a rule, it is a complication of a viral or bacterial disease, and also a consequence of a banal protracted cold. In many respects it is connected with age features of a structure of a nasopharynx - the eustachian tube (which connects a cavity of a nasopharynx and an ear) at children wide enough and short, therefore microbes easily to get into an average ear and cause inflammatory process.

When otitis, the child may have a headache, a fever may rise, but the main symptom is ear pain, which can be both permanent and periodic. If the child already knows how to speak well, he often describes the pain as shooting or stabbing. The most difficult to recognize the signs of otitis in children of the first year of life, who can not only say, but also show where they are hurting. Therefore, causeless crying, refusal to eat, attempts to touch the ear all the time, bad sleep, especially against a background of fever and any, not even too pronounced acute respiratory viral infection, are very worrying symptoms that make it possible to suspect that the baby has otitis.

Treatment of otitis in children

How does otitis treatment begin in children? From a visit to a doctor-otolaryngologist who will diagnose and determine the type of otitis (catarrhal or purulent), and also recommend certain procedures and medications. For example, with purulent otitis categorically it is impossible to heat the abdominal eye, and also instill in it drops on an alcohol basis, whereas in catarrhal otitis such manipulations allow a much faster recovery. If the child's ear has hurt, and it takes time to get to the doctor, you can give him paracetamol or ibuprofen in an age-related dosage that will help alleviate the pain a little, and also sip the nose with a vasoconstrictor. It is also possible to alleviate the condition of the child with special anesthetic ear drops (for example, otypaksom), but only if he does not have purulent discharge from the ear. If pus flows from the ear , nothing can be dripped into it! And if in such a situation it is not possible to urgently get a consultation with an otolaryngologist (for example, he only takes on certain days), it is necessary to call an ambulance who will take the child to that medical institution where they can provide emergency assistance.

Treatment of otitis in children does not always involve taking antibiotics - with catarrhal otitis, when the inflammation is not clearly expressed, the child does not have a high fever and is not too disturbed, the disease can often be overcome with more gentle methods. But if pus is secreted from the ear, then antibiotics can not be avoided. Parents need to follow the prescriptions of the doctor and in no case should they stop taking antibiotics ahead of time, because with irrational treatment, the otitis can pass into a chronic form that is fraught with various complications right up to irreversible hearing loss.

Treatment of otitis in children is inextricably linked with the restoration of free nasal breathing. To do this, special vasoconstrictive drops for children (for example, nasivin or vibrocil), as well as rinsing with saline solution (saline, aquamaris, etc.), with which you can get rid of thickened mucus. Also, the doctor can prescribe to the child various drugs that reduce swelling and promote liquefaction of mucus. Directly in the ear, special drops are dripped, or the medicine is applied to turundas (flagella from bandage), which are inserted into the ears for several hours.

Many parents are worried about the question: is it possible to treat otitis in children with folk medicine? After all, in many families from generation to generation recipes of miraculous compresses or drops are passed, which quickly help to cure sick ears. There is a simple rule - before you apply this or that folk remedy, you should consult a doctor (especially for various compresses and drops). One of the interesting and safe "grandmother's" methods of treating otitis is the use of a leaf of ordinary room geranium, which must be crumpled, twisted with a tube, inserted into a sore ear. After this simple manipulation, the pain in the ears goes away quickly.

Prevention of otitis in children is, first of all, in the fight against protracted colds. Parents should remember that if the snot of a child does not pass within a week, and especially if they acquire a yellowish-greenish color, this is an excuse not to delay a visit to the doctor (a good pediatrician or lor). Also for the prevention of otitis it is necessary as soon as possible to teach the child to blow his nose correctly - in turn closing each nostril and not exerting excessive efforts. And if the child is prone to otitis, priority should be given to the prevention of various respiratory diseases.