Child Ear Infection, Did You Know?  

I had no idea that the usual round of oral antibiotics does nothing to help with an ear infectiong but I'll be sure to remember to tell my daughter that the next time one of the grandkids get one. I've never been a fan of putting anything in the ear but my husband puts peroxide in his ears every once in a while and says it clears them out. Thanks for the info!

I did not know that about the anti-biotic.
I am sure that her doctor would have
told me if it were ever an issue.

And yes, I did know that about mineral oil.
They used to do that, but it never worked.

It just clogs the ear more.

I did know some of the things you mentioned, but not all. I wouldn't say that oral antibiotics don't do anything, they did clear up the chronic ear infections I had as a child. But, I would fully agree that it's definitely the wrong way to go, and that there are far better options. Though the antibiotics helped alleviate my ear pain, as a child, and did get rid of the infection (until the next one that was inevitably just six months down the road), what they've left me with is an immunity to penicillin and amoxycillin. This is a bad thing if I ever need either of those antibiotics (or a derivative of them) in order to save my life some day.

My sister also had chronic inner ear infections, but my mother used a different method with her. By the time my sister was born, my mom had received her certificate in herbology and was fully immersed in the homeopathic lifestyle. So, she would cut an onion, have my sister lie down on her side, and place the onion (moist side down) on my sisters infected ear.

The end result of my sister and I having dramatically different treatments for the same problem (me having only the western medicinal type, and her having only the homeopathic "hippy" type), is that we both have ear problems today but mine are far more severe (my hearing actually goes out completely at times), and she has no immunity to any antibiotic which she may need one day.

The last time I had an ear infection though, which wasn't all that long ago, though they are far more rare for me since I've grown, I used hydrogen peroxide alone to handle it. It worked beautifully, and I didn't have to go to a doctor to get some strange antibiotic that's so strong I need to go off it gradually as opposed to cold turkey, otherwise I could die from the withdrawal symptoms (which is what they had to do for me the last time I had strep throat, since neither penicillin nor amoxycillin was working at all and the infection was just getting progressively worse).

The mineral oil I did know about though. Oh ~ and never ever give your child an alcohol bath in order to bring down a fever. This is something they used to do quite often, my grandfather actually did it for me once. Apparently, the fumes from the alcohol will kill off more brain cells then the fever itself, may cause other types of damage, and is ineffective ta boot.