Middle Ear Infections in Children?

I had ear infections all the time. My brother and I ended up having to get tubes put in our ears. We were rarely prescribed antibiotics.

If children take too many antibiotics they end up become ineffective because they build up a resistance to them. Viruses end up becoming resistant to them and the child's immune system is weakened because it never fights an infection on its own - the child does not naturally build up antibodies and will get ill everytime a virus or bacteria enters. Children are increasingly becoming more prone to small infections and many are unsuccessful at fighting them off because they are continuously overmedicated from a very early age.

My hearing is perfect now. If the infections are truly severe than doctors will prescribe medication, but for something small and infrequent they shouldn't. Ear infections in children are fairly common, but hearing loss because of them is not.

So, you can assume that sometimes no treatment is best. If a child is continually treated, the antiboitics become useless.

Have these Docs ever heard the crying of a child with a middle ear infection, at 2 am in the morning?

I suppose you could ask them to medicate your child, even if it wasn't the best idea, just to get them to shut up. After taking medication time and tiem again it will stop working, so I'm not sure what you'll do then.

I'm sure that there are a few doctors who also have children that get ear infections. Again, if the infection is severe or harmful, they will still prescribe medication.

My previous response is the reasoning behind it. So be angry if you want, but I'm just letting you know. The messenger, as it were.

Miller, sozobe has posted on a couple of threads about the possible relationship between antibiotic use and later hearing loss. It seems the relationship is the reverse of what you're thinking. Maybe she'll pop by here sometime.

The problem is that doctors rarely take a swab of the infected area and then prescribe antibiotics, which only work if the infection is bacterial based. There is no medicine to cure an ear infection caused by a virus.
Hearing loss is caused by constant infections causing scarring on the ear drum, canal. However, if you are prescribe countless prescriptions they begin to lose effect and then you are back at square one. If a child can overcome a few days of discomfort it is much better in the long run. Immunity to meds will last much longer.

I meant to add that about antibiotics not working with viruses, so I second what Ceili says. There are some antiviral drugs out there, but not in this particular realm, at least that I know of (but don't trust me, not expert). But that is a tangent, I think, as ear infection aren't viral, are they?
What a thought.... noooooo.

I don't know what experts say at the latest national meetings, hmmm.

I had only one ear infection in my life, at eight, I remember it well, when the doctor came to our apartment and gave me a horrible large injection of penicillin in my tush.

Since I am so antique, that was fairly early in the history of antibiotics, and must have been a doozey. (doozy?)

My dog recently developed an ear infection. First he was prescribed a cephalosporin, which didn't help much. Today, he was put on a penicillin. He also has to have ear drops twice a day.

Vets must not be in agreement with Pedi-Docs on how to treat ear infections.

There is nothing wrong with giving medicine. It's the constant giving of it that makes it dangerous.

Yeah, as ehBeth mentioned, a leading theory (though not definite) of why I became deaf was because of heavy administration of ototoxic antibiotics when I was a kid.

Generally speaking (and separately from the above), antibiotics are way over-administered. They are often administered for illnesses that will not actually be helped by the antibiotics. The pain itself can be addressed in other ways.

My daughter has now had two ear infections, antibiotics administered both times, both times requiring a double run. (The first run didn't clear it up, another, stronger one was prescribed.) Neither was particularly painful, I am just very aware of these things and took her in to be checked out. This latest one only caused some discomfort at night. Never to the point where she was crying.

I have been researching, and it really looks like she shouldn't have had antibiotics this last time. (She needed to take a plane trip, so that makes it a little more complicated.) 80% of ear infections clear up on their own, and the recommendation seems to be that if it is not painful, just wait. There is the resistance aspect that Ceili mentions not only for the individual but for society as a whole -- as more people take antibiotics indiscriminately and more individuals develop resistance, stronger bacterium result to overcome that resistance, and become the scourge of everyone.

I have understood what Sozobe describes for decades, let us say thirty some years. Why, oh why is the matter of antibiotic overuse still up for discussion?

I think there isn't money in figuring out the nuances of when to go there or not, with a given child's ear problem of the moment.

But all those moments do add up, and add up not only for the child who may become hearing impaired, but all of us.

Most UTIs are treated with antibiotics, even though they tend to clear up on their own. However, there is some propensity for the UTIs to migrate to the kidneys. If this happens the consequences could be damaging to the patients health. No one wants to have to undergo dialysis for kidney disease.

Miller, I don't think anyone is saying "Never use antibiotics." They most definitely have their uses. They just seem to be over used.

Yup, I am the living example of that. I am resistant to over 20 kinds of antibiotics and i still have a chronic middle ear infection. Where I come from, they used to treat middle ear infection by puncturing the tympany with a long thick needle, now talk about a crying toddler, heh. I had that done about ten times, i guess it lets the stuff to drain or whatnot. I don't think they do that anymore, anywhere. Anyway, I got a severe infection when I was 19 and I walked through it, as I was travelling and didn't have an insurance. Antibiotics could have helped then, when they started to use them, it was way too late.

Today, many MDs are saying it's OK to use antibiotics in some cases of childhood ear infections.

As far as puncturing the ear drum, is that related to the situation where tubes are inserted into the ears of children to allow fluid to drain out?

I'm not sure what you mean by "today" -- there is more and more consensus, since this was written, that antibiotics are overused.

There are two separate situations when the ear drum would be purposely punctured.

Tubes create a semipermanent hole in the eardrum so that any fluid that develops from middle ear infections can drain.

Separately, one treatment for severe ear infections is to purposely puncture the ear drum, allowing the fluid to escape. This relieves the pain associated with the pressure of the infection pushing the eardrum outwards, and also usually restores hearing. (Punctures usually heal fairly quickly.)

By today, I mean 2013. Some physicians do Rx antibiotics to children for ear infections or for what appears to be an era infection.

Yes, of course. But there was even more usage in 2004. It's not like "well back then they didn't but today, they do."