Editor’s Note: This article is a reprint. Originally published on September 21, 2016.
Ear pain can be caused by a variety of reasons. Although it can be painful and irritating, most of them are not dangerous. As with most symptoms you experience, it’s an indication that something is wrong. It is important not only to treat the symptoms, but also to know the source of the disease.
More children suffer from ear pain than adults. Your child’s pediatrician will prescribe antibiotics or pain relievers for the earache; However, research shows that most middle ear infections are uncomfortable and resolve spontaneously within a week.1
Neither are the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).2 or the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP).3 They recommend immediate use of antibiotics to treat ear infections. But an ear infection isn’t the only reason you or your child may experience earaches.
Before exploring the causes of ear pain and the most effective ways to treat it at home, it is useful to have an overview of how the ear is structured and where the pain comes from.
in your ear
Your ear is a complex structure designed to collect sound waves from your environment, bind them into delicate bony structures, and send signals to your brain that you interpret as sound and language.
Each part of your ear has a specific function. This short video examines the structure of the outer ear, which is important for the first stage of hearing.
The way your ears are set up on the side of your head helps sound waves pass through the canal. The outer ear ends once the sound travels through the ear canal and hits the tympanic membrane, also called the ear drum. When sound hits this membrane, it begins to vibrate.4
The eardrum then enters the middle ear, which includes three small bones and the entrance to the Eustachian tube. This tube travels between your middle ear and nasopharynx, at the back of your nose and mouth to maintain pressure in your ear.
From there, sound enters the inner ear and the fluid-filled cochlea. Tiny hairs in the cochlea pick up sound waves and transmit the information to your auditory nerve, which transmits the information to your brain. The process from sound generation to your mind’s interpretation is in milliseconds.
Keep the wax, leave the Q-Tip
You can wash your outer ear after your shower as part of your daily hygiene routine, but you need to reconsider. Ear wax removal It has protective, lubricating and some antibacterial properties to protect the outer ear.
A BBC report explains that there are at least 10 antimicrobial peptides in earwax to prevent bacteria and fungi from growing.5
Normally, earwax builds up in the outer third of the external canal and naturally migrates out carrying dirt and debris. Constantly wearing earplugs, headphones, or hearing aids can slow or stop the process.
If you have earwax from your eardrum, you can use a Q-tip, a rolled-up napkin, or something else in your outer ear canal to make a very strong note. If you don’t have signs of a build-up or blockage in your canal, it’s best to leave the earwax alone. These symptoms include:
- Ear pain
- Itching, smell or discharge from your ear
- Partial or progressive hearing loss
- Ringing, ringing or ringing in your ears
- A feeling of fullness in the ear canal
Dr. Peter Swider, an otolaryngology resident at Wayne State University in Michigan, spoke in Time magazine about using cotton swabs in the ears. He shared that they are the leading cause of ear-related ER visits for US adults, adding:6
“Swab incidents are a common clinical thing we see. The way the cotton swab is designed – it’s really not a good tool to remove wax. You want to get it in instead of pulling it out.”
What causes your ears to hurt?
There are many reasons why you may experience earaches, including earwax build-up from the eardrum. Common causes of ear pain include:7
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Arthritis of the jaw |
Short-term ear infection |
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Prolonged ear infection |
Ear damage due to pressure changes |
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Something stuck in the ear |
A hole in the palm of the ear |
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Sinus infection |
Sore throat |
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Temporomandibular joint syndrome |
Dental infection |
Although there are many solutions to relieve the discomfort of earaches, it is important to understand why your ears hurt, so if necessary, seek medical help for the root cause. Start by evaluating your own symptoms and history of ear discomfort. If you can’t find a reasonable cause or the problem persists, it’s time to see a doctor.
Evaluate your symptoms
While most middle ear infections clear up without antibiotics, you or your child will need medical attention. Other common causes of ear pain are obvious at home or require the attention of your orthodontist, dentist, or primary care physician. To assess whether medical attention is necessary, begin by asking yourself the following questions about your symptoms.
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Is the pain related to a cold or flu? |
This pain is more likely to come on slowly, like congestion during a cold. It usually goes away when the cold settles. |
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Is there pus around the outside of the ear? |
It may be a ruptured eardrum due to fluid build-up in the middle ear. When the ear drum is cracked, the pain is about to disappear. |
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Have you been flying or scuba diving? |
You are experiencing altitude change barotrauma. If you experience other symptoms after scuba diving, seek medical attention immediately. Translated to the ear, most cases are resolved by chewing gum, sucking on hard candy, or yawning repeatedly to balance pressure.8 |
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Do you brush your teeth at night? |
This increases muscle tension in the jaw and can be interpreted as an earache. Seek the attention of your dentist or orthodontist for night relief to stop grinding and prevent permanent damage to your teeth. |
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Is earache related to tooth pain or discomfort near the back of your mouth? |
This results from damaged wisdom teeth or cavities. Your pain won’t go away without a dentist paying attention to your cavity or wisdom tooth. |
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Does the pain in the ear get worse when you pull on the outer ear? |
This may indicate the main ear. You may also feel a fever, discharge, and pain that spreads to your face and neck.9 If you don’t get quick relief with home remedies, seek medical help to reduce hearing loss or cartilage damage. |
Delay antibiotics and pain relievers until necessary
Here, a massage technique is shown to help drain the Eustachian tubes and reduce the pressure in the middle ear due to fluid build-up. Although infections can occur in three parts of your ear, an infection inside is the most dangerous for your hearing. Common middle ear infections do not require medication unless they are severe in young children.10
If possible, avoid using antibiotics or pain relievers. Antibiotics can damage your gut system, destroy your microbiome, and increase your risk of other health problems.
The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends that antibiotics for ear infections be given with caution because they don’t always kill the bacteria present, and the bacteria left behind are more likely to develop resistance to the antibiotic and develop chronic ear infections.11
Pain medications create another list of problems for you and your children. When it looks harmless and is often sold on the table, it takes even a little Too much acetaminophen It will have serious, even fatal consequences. There are several at-home options listed below that can help reduce your pain and discomfort without the risk of additional pain medications.
Reduce earwax buildup and pressure in your middle ear
When considering these options at home, remember not to insert anything into the ear canal if you think your eardrum is cracked or you know you have a small hole in your ear. Fluid or oils can leak through the hole and damage the delicate bones behind the eardrum, leaving you with permanent hearing loss.
If you have wax build-up near your eardrum, you will experience pain and a feeling of fullness in your ear. You can easily adjust the conditions at home by using a liquid to soften the wax and make it flow out or use ear irrigation to remove the wax.
Acceptable solvents are saline solution, coconut oil, hydrogen peroxide, carbamide peroxide or olive oil. To remove it, it is necessary to irrigate the auditory tube with a syringe. However, if done improperly, it can damage your eardrum. If you have diabetes, do not irrigate your ears, a tube in the palm of the earIf your eardrum is perforated or your immune system is weakened. Removal in these cases requires the care of an ear, nose and throat doctor.
When an earache is associated with a middle ear infection, the fluid behind the eardrum increases, causing the pain. There are many ways to reduce stress and reduce pain. Massage techniques help to open the Eustachian tubes and increase the flow of fluid from the middle ear.
Similarly, yawning or chewing on hard candy encourages the flow of thick fluid through the Eustachian tubes. Lying down also helps to increase fluid and reduce the pressure on the ear which is the cause of the pain.
Gargling with salt water helps to loosen the thick fluid in the Eustachian tube and destroy the viruses in the back of your throat, reducing the length of the viral infection.12 Gargling with apple cider vinegar can also help with fungal infections.13 If you are feeding your baby with a bottle, it is important to feed in a more upright position to reduce the amount of formula entering the Eustachian tube.
Reducing ear pain and infection at home
Hot and cold packs are used to reduce pain.14 Applying a cold, wet washcloth to the area for 20 minutes will help numb and reduce pain, while a warm, wet washcloth for 20 minutes will help relax muscle tension around the ear and improve circulation. Another option is to heat a hot pack with a cup of salt or rice, in the microwave or in the oven and put it in a sock. Place it on the ear for five to 10 minutes when you can tolerate it on the skin.15
White garlic It has natural anti-microbial and pain-relieving properties.16 Eat two to three raw cloves of garlic daily and make ear drops by cooking two cloves in 2 tablespoons of sesame or mustard oil until it darkens, then strain. When the oil is cool and not too hot on your wrist, apply one to two drops in the affected ear.
The same can be done with onion juice. Chop a small onion and cook it in olive oil for one to two minutes. After cooling, filter the liquid and put one to two drops in the ear. Leave it on for a few minutes and then turn your head to rinse.
Breast milk has natural antibodies that speed up healing and reduce inflammation, it works for both adults and children. Use two to three drops in the affected ear every three to four hours as needed. At the onset of cold or earache symptoms, a few drops of 3% hydrogen peroxide in each ear will improve symptoms within 24 hours.
Chiropractic adjustments can be effective if your ear pain is from neck and shoulder muscle strain or middle ear fluid. In the first case, a chiropractor will assess your posture and give you exercises to reduce the problem of uneven muscle growth in your shoulders and back, which is causing the tension. Adjustment also helps to open the Eustachian tube so that fluid can flow freely from your middle ear and reduce your pain.
