Earaches--especially in children too young to use my favorite remedies
(heat pad, hot tea or hot cocoa, super-spicy food)--can FTFO.
Tuesday, the pixie started getting really whiny, and clingy. She was worse, Wednesday, crying at the drop of a hat as well (and the imp wasn't being helpful--with how touchy she was, he was having a ball harassing her and getting reactions). I checked her temperature between doses of painkiller (still teething...and I'm starting to get a little worried about that, too), and it was elevated. Then, she told me her ear hurt.
I've been keeping up in the professional literature (not the parenting forums, but medical journals), and it's becoming more and more common for a doctor to do nothing for a child with a mild to moderate ear infection--they tell parents to give the kid anti-inflamitory, and a decongestant for a couple of days, to see if it goes away on its own. I can see the point: they've realized that a good majority of these are caused more by viruses swelling tissue and preventing normal drainage, and they don't want to create more antibiotic-resistant strains of bacteria.
That doesn't make a parent feel better when a child is hurting.
I gave the pixie Benedryl last night (she flat refused to take it Wednesday), and I'm going to be watching her over the weekend. Johnson's Soothing Vapors bubble bath seemed to help for a while. If anyone has any other ideas that might help, please drop me a comment or shoot me an email at heroditus.huxley@gmail.com.
But seriously. Earaches with fever can really FTFO.
Tuesday, the pixie started getting really whiny, and clingy. She was worse, Wednesday, crying at the drop of a hat as well (and the imp wasn't being helpful--with how touchy she was, he was having a ball harassing her and getting reactions). I checked her temperature between doses of painkiller (still teething...and I'm starting to get a little worried about that, too), and it was elevated. Then, she told me her ear hurt.
I've been keeping up in the professional literature (not the parenting forums, but medical journals), and it's becoming more and more common for a doctor to do nothing for a child with a mild to moderate ear infection--they tell parents to give the kid anti-inflamitory, and a decongestant for a couple of days, to see if it goes away on its own. I can see the point: they've realized that a good majority of these are caused more by viruses swelling tissue and preventing normal drainage, and they don't want to create more antibiotic-resistant strains of bacteria.
That doesn't make a parent feel better when a child is hurting.
I gave the pixie Benedryl last night (she flat refused to take it Wednesday), and I'm going to be watching her over the weekend. Johnson's Soothing Vapors bubble bath seemed to help for a while. If anyone has any other ideas that might help, please drop me a comment or shoot me an email at heroditus.huxley@gmail.com.
But seriously. Earaches with fever can really FTFO.
2 comments:
A hair dryer on low (just warm, not hot)aimed at the hurting ear for a little bit--my friends in college (whose mother was a hospital administrator) swore by it. Best of luck, and a giant FO to earaches as well.
Also, a huge FO to bitterly cold winter weather, a senseless accident in NJ (skipping a traffic circle, seriously?), and a seemingless endless round of funerals. Ugh.
Thanks, Kate--I tried it, but it scared the crap out of her.
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