How to recognize otitis in infants at home? Symptoms, possible causes and correct treatment. Purulent otitis media in newborns

Children under the age of 1 year often have inflammatory diseases of the auditory organs. This is due to the anatomical features associated with the physiological immaturity of the ear. Such inflammation causes a lot of suffering to the baby and leads to serious complications. For this reason, parents need to have information about the characteristics of such diseases and know what are the main signs of otitis media in infants.

Characteristics and mechanism of the development of the disease

Otitis in an infant develops against the background of an inflammatory process, and can be external, middle or internal, depending on which part of the organ the problem is concentrated in.

How does this disease develop? The human ear is divided into 3 sections - outer, middle and inner. An important part of the auditory organ is the Eustachian tube, connected to the nasal cavity. Its main function is to provide equal pressure on the eardrums and protect the middle ear from bacteria. When otitis media develops in a newborn, the following occurs:

As a result of a cold or allergic reactions, mucous masses accumulate in the respiratory organs.
Then, through the Eustachian tube, these secretions enter the middle ear.
After that, the mucus enters the space behind the eardrums, putting pressure on them, which causes bouts of acute pain.

If, as a result of pressure, a breakthrough of pus occurs, the child's well-being improves and the pain syndrome disappears.

There are two types of otitis, catarrhal and purulent. In the first case, the disease occurs against the background of severe pain in the ear canals, and with a purulent form of the disorder, yellow or green pus is released from the ear.

Important! In most cases, otitis media in newborns and infants is not an independent disease, but occurs as a result of the development of inflammatory processes in the child's body.

Causes of inflammation in children under the age of 1 year

Otitis, which has developed in infants, occurs due to the negative impact of such factors:

injuries of the auditory organ due to inaccurate hygiene procedures;
inflammation of the adenoids, as a result of which the passage to the middle ear is partially or completely blocked;
a cold or an infectious attack localized in the nasopharynx;
allergy;
getting into the auditory organ of an artificial mixture;
pressure drops during flights;
weakened immunity of the child;
genetic predisposition to otitis media associated with structural features of the ear;
hereditary anomalies of the hearing organs.

Otitis can occur in both an adult and a baby, but children suffer from this disease much more often. This happens for the following reasons:

Almost after each feeding, the newborn regurgitates the remnants of food that can penetrate the auditory organ. As a result of the accumulation of fluid, an inflammatory process develops.
Babies more often than adults accumulate mucus in the nose. This is due not only to the anatomical features of young children, but also to the fact that they cry more often, resulting in the formation of abundant mucus in the nasal cavity, which can penetrate into the middle ear.

A baby, unlike older children, cannot be forced to blow his nose, and excess mucus accumulates in the nose. This can lead to the development of an inflammatory process.

The disease causes severe discomfort to the baby, and can lead to serious complications. For this reason, each parent should have information on how to recognize otitis media in infants.

How does otitis media present?

Signs that indicate the development of otitis media in an infant are as follows:

restlessness and insomnia;
an increase in body temperature up to 38–40 degrees, most often in the evening and at night;
redness in the nose and severe runny nose;
vomiting that occurs spontaneously and is not associated with poisoning or indigestion;
shortness of breath and rapid breathing through the mouth;
clear or yellow-green discharge from the ear;
lack of appetite.

The sucking movements made by the child in the process of eating provoke pain in the ears, so feeding can turn into real flour for the baby. The baby cries and shakes its head, and also tries to close the auricle with its handles.

When otitis media develops in infants, the listed symptoms appear simultaneously and are accompanied by frequent crying and anxiety of the child.

How to recognize the disease

Since the listed manifestations can be a sign of a number of diseases, it is important to know how to determine otitis media in infants at home. A child under the age of 1 year is not able to tell what worries him, so the diagnosis can be carried out as follows:

Pay attention to the child's behavior. If he often reaches for his ear with his hands, pulls and pulls it, this may indicate a problem with the auditory organ.
Observe how the child behaves while in a horizontal position. The fact is that with otitis media, the pain intensifies at the moment when the person lies. If the baby begins to worry and cry, this may be a sign of illness.
It is easy to press a finger in the area of the ear tragus and look at the reaction of the child. If he screamed, cried, began to twist his head or reached out his hands to his ear, this indicates the development of an inflammatory process in the auditory organ.

If signs appear that indicate the possible development of otitis, it is impossible to postpone a visit to the doctor. Delay threatens the occurrence of complications that can lead to serious health problems for the child.

Diagnosis of the disease

If there are signs that indicate otitis media, you should first visit a pediatrician to exclude the presence of other diseases. After that, it is recommended to carry out the following diagnostic measures:

Otolaryngologist consultation.
Instrumental diagnostics to identify the exact cause of the child's malaise.
Computed tomography of the temporal bones. This method is used in complex cases and with its help determine the severity of the violation.
If otitis media recurs, it may be necessary to consult a neurologist for examination for the development of intracranial complications.

If otitis media in infants is confirmed, treatment is prescribed in accordance with the nature of the disease and the reasons that prompted the development of the disease process.

Treatment of otitis media in infants

If otitis media is detected in an infant, complex treatment is prescribed. The course of therapy consists in the use of the following drugs:

Antibiotics (Cefuroxime, Amoxiclav and Ceftriaxone). These drugs allow you to destroy the pathogenic microflora that provokes inflammation. They are used intramuscularly or intravenously, as well as topically, when a doctor injects medicine into the ear. The course of treatment with antibacterial drugs lasts from 5 to 7 days.
Vasoconstrictor drops (Nazivin for children). These funds are necessary to maintain the patency of the Eustachian tube and relieve swelling that occurs due to a severe runny nose. The drugs should be used within 1 week.
Anti-inflammatory drops (Otinum and Otipax). These funds are intended for instillation into the ear canals and can not only stop inflammation, but also reduce pain. The duration of therapy is 10 days.
Antihistamines (Zodak and Suprastin). Designed to eliminate allergic manifestations and reduce the overall intoxication of the body. The duration of the course and the regimen are determined by the attending physician, depending on the condition of the child.
Antipyretic medicines (Kalpol, Children's Panadol and Nurofen). Designed to normalize body temperature and relieve pain. These drugs are used symptomatically, and after the disappearance of painful manifestations, the reception should be canceled.

Treatment of otitis does not require hospitalization of the child, you can do everything you need at home. But if the disease is advanced or complications arise, a surgical operation may be required, during which the pus accumulated in the eardrum area is removed.

Do not use any drugs arbitrarily, without a doctor's prescription or resort to traditional medicine methods. Such experiments can lead to a deterioration in the child's condition.

Possible Complications

If otitis media was not detected in time or the treatment was carried out incorrectly, the following complications cannot be ruled out:

damage to the paranasal sinuses;
disruptions in the work of the heart;
diseases of the respiratory system;
pathological processes in the brain;
partial or complete hearing loss;
paralysis of the muscles of the face;
purulent meningitis.

The main danger of otitis in children is that the process occurs very quickly and if you do not seek help in time, it threatens with serious complications.

How to prevent otitis media in babies

Any disease is easier to prevent than to treat. To avoid the appearance of otitis media in infants, you must adhere to the following recommendations:

Take good care of your baby's ears. Many parents make the common mistake of cleaning their ear canal with cotton swabs. In no case should this be done, this leads to the formation of sulfur plugs and mechanical injuries. Remove only those secretions that are outside.
After feeding, hold the baby upright for a while. Since babies most often spit up leftover food, this measure will prevent liquid from entering the ears.
Treat colds and runny nose in a child in time. The auditory organs in babies are not yet sufficiently developed, and even a slight inflammation of the mucous membranes can cause otitis media.
With a severe runny nose, give the child more to drink. Such a measure will help to remove mucus from the nose and prevent its accumulation.
Always wear a hat when walking. Even if the weather is warm outside, it is better to cover the baby's ears. This will help prevent not only a cold, but also protect the child's auditory organ from street dust.

These measures will significantly reduce the risk of inflammatory processes in the child's auditory organs and avoid health problems that accompany such diseases.

Otitis is one of the diseases that are very common in young children. For the most part, this happens with inexperienced mothers who still know little and can provoke this disease in a child by their own actions. The disease belongs to the category of simple, quickly stops, responds well to treatment, but only with timely assistance.

Features of children's otitis media

The diagnosis of "otitis media" is made at the moment when an acute inflammation in the ear is established. But it is different:

outdoor;
internal.

More often the diagnosis sounds like this: inflammation (otitis media) of the middle ear. Children's ears have a slightly different structure than adults. Behind the tympanic membrane is the middle ear, where the Eustachian tube is located. It serves to connect our nasopharynx with our ears. In an adult, it is longer and narrower than in a small child. It is because of the short tube that babies are more prone to ear inflammation. The infection penetrates faster, mucus appears. And if this mucus thickens, clogs the tube itself, otitis media begins. But what external diffuse otitis media looks like, and how it is treated, you can see

Most often, the doctor's diagnosis sounds like this: inflammation (otitis media) of the middle ear.

As the child grows, the structure changes, adenoids may appear. Adenoids are quite dangerous for babies, because they can become inflamed sharply as a reaction to the ingress of pathogenic bacteria.

But what antibiotics for otitis media in adults are used in the first place and what they are called, set out

Causes and risk factors

Most often, the cause is infectious. A light breeze on a wet baby's head is enough to provoke a disease. Bathing a baby in a cool room, drafts, hypothermia are all reasons for otitis media. Since the ear is closely connected with the nasopharynx, the mother should know that more often the ear and nose "solo" together or provoke each other. So, a clogged nose may well cause otitis media. It is recommended that the baby be extremely protected from such a combination, since the treatment procedure will bring pain and anxiety to the baby.

Otitis can appear in newborn babies, to whom the mother forgets to let her spit up after eating and immediately lays down. That is, otitis media largely depends not only on the structure of the child's ear, but also on the behavior of the mother herself.

But what tubootitis eustachitis looks like and how it is treated is set out. But you can tell a qualified specialist in more detail about it.

In addition to human and anatomical factors, there are several more reasons for the birth of the disease:

the presence of allergies;
pathology of the respiratory system;
low immunity.

You may also be interested in knowing which ones should be applied first.

Quite often, a child under one year old who is bottle-fed suffers from otitis media. No artificial nutrition can replace mother's milk. It is necessary to carefully monitor such a baby and protect it from cold and infections. A little later, when the baby becomes older, he will outgrow such a risk, most likely.

First symptoms

The first signs of otitis media are difficult to recognize even for an attentive mother.

The baby cannot show the mother the source of the anxiety. Therefore, the first signs, for example, the first “lumbago”, congestion, mom will miss. For her, the baby will still be completely healthy during the day, but by the evening he will begin to act up, cry. And here it all depends on the attention of the mother. A sick baby may show signs that indicate pain in the tummy. But at the same time there may be a high temperature, vomiting. The child may ask to eat, but at the first attempts to suckle the breast immediately rolls into hysterics. How to understand such a symptom in a child under one year old? Such crying is explained by the fact that sucking increases the pain in the ear.

To make sure that it is the ear that torments the baby, you need to touch his tragus. The tragus is a cartilaginous protrusion in front of the auricle itself. A baby with otitis will try to get away from his mother's attempts, the touch will cause a new attack of crying, as the pain will intensify.

But what acute diffuse otitis externa looks like, and how it is treated, is indicated

However, with otitis externa, the tragus may well be painless. Therefore, be sure to look into the very ear of the baby, if possible, dip the cotton inside. Some forms of otitis media produce discharge. But in any case, at the slightest suspicion, you do not need to try to recognize otitis and make a diagnosis yourself, the baby needs to be shown to a specialist.

You may also be interested in information about how

Diagnostics

Doctor diagnosing otitis media using an otoscope

The standard way to diagnose otitis media is to examine the ear with an otoscope. An otoscope is a special device similar to a short pipe with built-in lighting inside. The doctor inserts the device into the ear, moves it closer to the membrane and turns on the light. So the specialist will be able to establish the form of otitis media, determine the presence of fluid behind the membrane and decide on the advisability of paracentesis, shunting.

With complex otitis, an audiogram is additionally prescribed. A painless process in which the baby is put on headphones and they try to determine the degree of hearing damage. However, this is more often practiced on already grown up children, since the crumbs cannot yet show what they hear and what not.

But what bullous otitis media looks like in children and what treatment should be carried out is indicated

Treatment

Almost always, the baby is assigned to wash the ear and drops for the nose and ear. Here there will be difficulties, since babies are not given to bury their ears. It is necessary to lay it on a barrel, try to distract it with something, and the second parent warms up a little drop.

But what adhesive otitis media looks like and what can be done with such a problem is indicated

Do not drip cold drops into the baby's ear! This will increase the pain and cause the child to suffer even more.

Clean the passage carefully before dripping, but no sticks or matches. Just twist the cotton into thin “sticks” and clean your ears with them. The nose must be instilled with vasoconstrictor drops, no matter if the baby has a runny nose.

If you managed to turn to the ENT on time and otitis media did not develop to purulent, did not form a lot of fluid, then only therapy will be needed: antibiotics, vasoconstrictor drugs, warming up (in the absence of temperature).

If your doctor sends you to warm up at a temperature, change your doctor immediately! The presence of temperature indicates a progressive infection, and warming up will only spur its development.

Video

Watch a video about how otitis media manifests itself in babies, and why some get it often, while others do not:

Otitis is a rather serious disease even for an adult. Prolongation of otitis media leads to abscesses when the clock counts. Traditional medicine here is not only powerless, but can also hurt. The only time when it is appropriate is in the presence of a combination of otitis media, for example, with laryngitis or sinusitis. Here, decoctions and tinctures are allowed to reduce the effect of the second disease, but not otitis media. Otitis always requires strictly professional treatment.

A very common disease among young children, it may first occur in a child under one year old.

Causes of otitis media in infants: accidental household injury when cleaning the ears, a cold, ingestion of breast milk or mixture from the nasopharynx into the middle ear. The latter is due to the fact that the Eustachian tube connecting the ear to the nasopharynx in a child is shorter and wider than in an adult, so the infection can quickly get from the nasopharynx into the ear of the baby, who mostly lies in the first year of life. Otitis can be catarrhal, in which there is no discharge, and purulent, when the baby has a leak from the ear.

Otitis in infants symptoms

Firstly if your hungry baby, trying to suck on the breast (bottle), starts to cry, shows anxiety, turns his head and stops eating. This means that sucking movements provoke pain in the ear.

Secondly, as a rule, closer to the night, the child has a high temperature (38-40 o C), he begins to cry and turn his head.

Thirdly if you lightly pressed your finger on the tragus (the cartilage that is located in front of the auricle), and the baby, feeling severe pain, tries to escape from your hands and cries. In an infant, otitis media may be accompanied by vomiting and diarrhea.

Otitis in infants - treatment

If you find these signs, you should consult a doctor. But it is not always possible to do this quickly. How can you help your child on your own? Here are some recipes:

Dry warm compress

Heat relieves pain. Take a large piece of cotton wool, cover it with a sore ear, put a cap on your head or tie a handkerchief.

Wet warm compress

A vodka or semi-alcohol compress should not be done if the child has more than 37.5 o C with otitis media. This compress can be left for 2-3 hours or all night. In a linen cloth or gauze folded several times, make an incision according to the size of the ear. Place a compress soaked in warm liquid around the ear on the fabric, put a piece of cotton on top of the compress and put on a cap for the child.

"Blue Lamp"

By warming up for 5-7 minutes with a "blue lamp" you can relieve the baby's pain. Using this method, you need to remember that the stronger the lamp, the farther from the ear it should be.

Folk remedies

pick a geranium leaf, rinse it, roll it into a tube and put it in your ear (geranium relieves inflammation and pain);
squeeze the juice from the aloe leaf, soak gauze with this juice and put it in the ear (it will work more efficiently if the leaf lies down in the refrigerator before use - about a day);
soak a cotton turunda with fresh honey, put it in a sore ear.

Ear drops

Drops in the ears are prescribed by a doctor! Any ear drops are preheated to body temperature - lower the vial or pipette with medicine into warm water. After laying the baby on the side with the sore ear up, pull the auricle back and up (so you straighten the ear canal) and drip the medicine. Cover the ear canal with a clean cotton swab.

To relieve pain, you can give the child a children's analgesic (syrup or candle), it will also bring down the temperature.
If pus flows from the ear, then you can remove it with a cotton swab dipped in warm boiled water.
Be sure to show the child to the doctor, in order to avoid complications, the doctor will prescribe light antibiotics and, if necessary, nasal drops.
To avoid otitis media, it is necessary to observe certain conditions, as well as hygiene rules:

We clean our ears properly! Do not climb with a cotton swab (stick) further than the external auditory canal. Do not treat healthy ears with alcohol and ear drops.
If water gets into the ear while swimming, there is nothing to worry about. Wipe the auricle, blot the entrance to the ear with a cotton turunda.
After feeding, hold the baby as upright as possible.
Do not start diseases of the nasopharynx. Treat the child for a runny nose, so you do not allow infection from the nasopharynx to enter the middle ear.

What complications can otitis media cause?

With this disease, the following can be affected: the brain, paranasal sinuses, heart / lungs, kidneys and other organs. Inflammation of the middle ear - otitis media - can affect the inner ear, as a result of which the baby will have hearing loss or even deafness.

Babies of the first year of life are not yet able to explain to adults what exactly worries them. Caring and attentive mothers, by the movements of the baby, by the tone of crying and by the general symptoms, can determine the cause of the whims of their children and help them. But how will a baby behave if his ear hurts?

Otitis is a very common disease in infants, which affects every second baby in the first year of life. So that the inflammatory process does not harm the functionality of the child's hearing organ, it is important to notice the onset of the disease in time and begin its therapy under the supervision of a specialist. How to check if your baby's ear hurts? How to recognize the course of the inflammatory process in the organ of hearing of the baby?

Risk factors

Why is otitis media becoming such a common disease in infants? This is due, first of all, to the age characteristics of the ENT system.

Inability to blow nose and profuse discharge of mucus.

Babies are very naughty for various reasons, and during crying, the flow of mucus into the nasal passages increases. Babies at this age do not know how to blow their nose, and part of the discharge regularly enters the Eustachian tube, which connects the nasopharynx and middle ear. Since this passage in children has a very narrow lumen, even a small portion of mucus can fill it completely and reach the tympanic cavity.

If pathogenic flora is added to the mucus (for example, if the baby is ill with ARVI), its penetration into the tympanic cavity causes the development of an inflammatory process in this area of the organ of hearing. That is why otitis media so often develops in children's ears.

Frequent vomiting.

The defeat of the middle ear by pathogenic flora with frequent regurgitation repeats the mechanism described above.

Babies, regardless of the feeding option, regurgitate some of the food eaten with the air after feeding. Sometimes milk or a mixture can enter the nasopharynx, and from it enter the narrow Eustachian tube and middle ear of the newborn, where it will cause an inflammatory process.

Predisposition.

The ears of a baby can become a kind of “weak spot”, the first to react to the penetration of pathogenic bacteria into the body, hypothermia, or continuing the chain of a cold.

Experts have identified a number of factors that can contribute to the development of otitis media in an infant:

prematurity;
complicated childbirth;
intrauterine infections;
food allergy;
frequent viral and bacterial infections;
sleep on the back;
adenoids.

Signs of otitis media

How to determine that the baby has an earache? The course of otitis in the organ of hearing is accompanied by rather specific symptoms:

Most often, otitis media is accompanied by a strong increase in temperature - up to 40 degrees, but in some cases this symptom may be absent.
The child becomes moody, especially at night, he is worried and cannot sleep.
Since the sucking process increases the pain in the baby's ear, the baby will cry during feeding or refuse it altogether.
Increased pain from inflamed ears can lead to vomiting in the baby.
In an effort to alleviate pain, the baby begins to twist or shake its head like a pendulum.
The child tends to lie on the side of the sore ear and constantly rubs it.
When pressing on the tragus of the ear, the baby screams sharply, as this causes severe pain in the inflamed tissues of the organ of hearing. This is the most effective way to understand that babies have an earache.

Painful symptoms increase gradually, every hour the baby becomes more and more restless. Capricious behavior ends with a rupture of the eardrum - as soon as a hole appears in the membrane, the accumulated pus flows out of the middle cavity and ceases to put pressure on the nerve endings.

Most inexperienced parents, not knowing how to recognize the symptoms of the disease and determine whether the child's ears hurt, understand that the baby behaved restlessly due to otitis media only after the appearance of purulent masses flowing from the ear canal. But not always the breakthrough of the membrane occurs on its own. Pus can accumulate in the tympanic cavity for a long time and penetrate into the inner ear, hitting the nerve fibers. The inflammatory process can spread to neighboring tissues and even affect the baby's brain. That is why it is important to determine in time that the child has an earache, based on the symptoms listed above, and proceed with the treatment of otitis media under the supervision of a specialist.

What to do?

If you are sure that the baby's ears hurt, and that is why he behaves extremely restlessly, you should make an appointment with a pediatric otolaryngologist as soon as possible. Before a visit to a specialist, you can not use any ear medicines - self-treatment without qualified diagnostics can tremendously harm the functionality of the baby's hearing organ.

The only thing you can do to relieve an infant's ear pain is to give him a pain reliever at a dosage appropriate for his weight.

In no case do not warm the ear with compresses and do not instill boric alcohol into the ear canal. Before using such remedies, you should find out what condition the baby's eardrum is in and how extensive the inflammatory process is.

If taking a painkiller does not help much or yellow purulent masses begin to flow from the ear canal, it is better to call an ambulance and go to a hospital where a specialist will examine the baby and prescribe appropriate treatment.

Treatment

The program for the treatment of otitis media in children of the first year of life is complex. It includes the following drugs and activities:

Taking broad-spectrum antibacterial drugs to eliminate pathogenic flora;
use of antibacterial and anti-inflammatory ear drops;
instillation of vasoconstrictor drugs into the nasal passages to increase the lumen of the Eustachian tube and improve ventilation of the ENT system.

Prevention of otitis media

How to avoid the development of otitis media in an infant? To prevent the baby's ears from hurting, it is important to follow preventive measures:

You can not feed the baby in a horizontal position - it is better to keep his torso and head at a slight angle so that milk or mixture does not flow into the Eustachian tube;
after feeding, hold the baby upright for a while so that milk or mixture does not penetrate from the nasopharynx into the Eustachian tube when spitting up;
for colds accompanied by a runny nose, regularly suck out the mucus from the nasal passages of the child;
so that the mucus in the nose of the crumbs does not accumulate and does not stagnate, you should water the baby more often and ventilate the room;
the baby's ears on a walk should be covered with a cap;
while bathing, hold the baby in such a way that water does not get into his ears;
if the baby often suffers from otitis due to the growth of adenoids, they should be removed surgically - such drastic measures will help to avoid frequent and protracted illnesses of the baby in the future.

Otitis is a pathology most characteristic of preschool children, the main symptom of which is pain in the ear. Diagnosis and, consequently, the timely appointment of treatment in a newborn child is complicated by the fact that, due to his age, he cannot state complaints and indicate the place of the disease.

Otitis in infants can be determined by increased soreness with pressure on the tragus.

It is this symptom that is important for the diagnosis of the disease in infants. In addition, the following factors testify in favor of this disease:

sudden screaming and crying, especially at night;
an attempt by the child to touch the affected ear with his hand;
refusal of the child to eat, as sucking movements contribute to increased pain.

As well as in older children and adults, otitis media in infants is most often a complication of SARS. Therefore, a runny nose, malaise, fever preceding this disease are additional symptoms indicating the development of such a complication as acute otitis media.

Therapeutic measures for otitis should primarily be aimed at improving the patency of the auditory tube.

In this case, the mucus from the nasopharynx will not enter the middle ear cavity, causing inflammation. That is why it is so important to use nasal drops that can reduce the swelling of the Eustachian tube. Among the vasoconstrictor drops in the nose, naphthyzine, galazolin, sanorin are the most popular. When using them, it is imperative to pay attention to the dosage, and not to exceed the duration of administration. Otherwise, addiction develops to the drugs, and the effect may be the opposite of what is expected.

In addition, effective treatment of otitis media in an infant includes the whole range of measures aimed at keeping the discharge from the nose in a liquid state. It is thickening that leads to a violation of the outflow of mucus from the Eustachian tube and the development of otitis media. For this, the following activities are important:

plentiful drink, necessary as an antipyretic, detoxifying agent, and moisturizing the nasopharyngeal mucosa;
maintaining the air temperature in the room at the level of 18-20 degrees, regular wet cleaning and ventilation, which also does not allow the nasal mucosa to dry out, which means it prevents the discharge from thickening.

Painkillers

Otitis in newborns and infants occurs with severe pain in the ear. To reduce pain, the use of drugs with analgesic action is indicated. Otitis in newborns is an indication for the use of paracetamol, the safest of them, which also has anti-inflammatory and antipyretic effects. The existing form of release in the form of suppositories and syrup makes it possible to widely use this remedy in infants without resorting to injectables.

As a local treatment, otitis in an infant is an indication for the appointment of ear drops with analgesic, antiseptic and anti-inflammatory effects. Most often, these are Otipax and Otinum drugs. Despite the fact that these ear drops are approved for use from a very early age, their use should be under the direct supervision of a specialist. Otipax contains a local anesthetic lidocaine, which, on the one hand, helps to reduce pain, on the other, it can turn out to be a powerful allergen.

As for Otinum, the danger lies in the presence of a non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug among its components, which can have a toxic effect on the middle ear with an injured eardrum. The use of ear drops is possible under the direct supervision of an ENT doctor after an otoscopy.

Due to the peculiarities of the anatomical structure of the organ of hearing, insufficient development of immunity, exudative otitis media can quickly transform into. The appearance of a typical symptom, suppuration, indicates a bacterial pathogen in the development of the disease.

The presence of suppuration is a direct indication for the use of antibiotics in the treatment of otitis media.

It can be both ear drops and solutions. Tablet forms, widely used in the treatment of this pathology, are unacceptable due to the inability of the child to swallow the pill. For newborns, the drug can be used in the form of a solution or suspension for oral administration. Preference is given to antibiotics from the amoxicillin group, the most active against the causative agents of this disease. Among the ear drops for otitis in a newborn, Tsipromed and Otofa, which have an antibacterial component in their composition, are widely used.

The role of the specialist in diagnosis and treatment

Throughout the treatment, the patient needs to consult an otolaryngologist. This is due to the fact that therapeutic tactics depend not only on the form of otitis media, but also on the integrity of the eardrum. Depending on her condition, local treatment may vary, consisting in the use of ear drops. Many of the drugs needed to treat otitis media in newborns are toxic to the structures of the middle ear. They can only be used to treat otitis externa or in cases where there is no perforation of the tympanic membrane.

The drugs prohibited in the presence of a perforated eardrum include ethyl alcohol, non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs, as well as antibiotics gentamicin, kanamycin.

Since the results of an objective examination play an important role in clarifying the diagnosis and prescribing the correct treatment, timely consultation with a specialist is extremely necessary. Correct treatment helps prevent the development of acute purulent otitis media. Untimely initiated therapeutic measures can lead to the transition of the disease into a chronic form, the development of such severe complications as meningitis.

Suspicion of otitis in a newborn is a reason for urgent measures:

Purulent otitis media in infants is a difficult pathology to treat, since it is difficult to decide on the choice of a drug that will be non-toxic for such a patient by age. In this regard, measures for the prevention of acute respiratory viral infections and its effective treatment are of particular relevance.