Earache

Earache is often one of the complaints of many school-age children and even some adults. The pain is often localized around the area of the ear, the ear (pinna) itself, and/or deep inside the ear canal.

It is usually a continuous aching pain of variable severity but may sometimes be characterized as stabbing or piercing pain deep inside the canal, fullness of the ear canal, and/or aggravated by manipulation of the pinna.

Earaches can manifest abruptly or insidiously and can have many causes. It can also be associated with other symptoms such as fever and jaw pain.

The primary cause of earache is an ear infection. It may either be a bacterial or viral infection of the middle ear or the external ear.

It is an infection nonetheless and requires immediate professional medical attention to minimize possible complications.

Another cause is improper ear canal hygiene leading to accumulation and consolidation of earwax. This causes an impaction of the earwax in the canal which gives a sensation of fullness of the affected ear and/or earache.

Impaction of earwax is often noted after taking a swim in the pool or at the beach. This is mainly because when you go underwater, the water enters the ear canals and is soaked up by the blocking ear wax which then expands and exerts pressure on the walls of the canal.

Another possible cause of earache is the accidental (or purposeful) entry of insects into the ear canal. When insects wander into that warm, inviting cave that you call your ear canal, they often choose to stay inside and claim that space as their own.

Sometimes they are just forced to seek shelter inside your ear to avoid that fingertip or cotton bud tip that's trying to squish them. That sudden discomfort you feel may be accompanied by sensations of movement inside the ear and may even be aggravated by the insect biting or stinging the soft canal wall or in some occasions, the very sensitive and easily irritable eardrum.

Of course, we cannot leave out the most obvious cause of earache – trauma. Here are some of the home remedies you can do to get rid of those earaches.

Natural Cures for Earache:

Chew Gum:

Yes you read that right. It's not the gum. It’s the action of chewing that can remedy the earache.

This is because when you move your jaw, you open up the Eustachian canal and release some of the pressure build-up in the middle ear, much like equalizing when in an airplane at high altitude.

Moving the lower jaw outward and down can have a similar effect but chewing gum makes you look cool!

Mineral/Baby Oil:

One effective home remedy for earache caused by an entry of insect into the ear canal is by instilling a generous amount of oil into the affected ear.

Five to ten drops can suffice, but depending on the size of your ear canal it may take more or less.

This will kill the squirming insect inside your ear. Do not expect them to crawl out on their own because very few of them ever do.

Mineral/baby oil will minimize the thrashing and squirming of the insect and can prevent them from biting or stinging you.

After doing this, go immediately to the nearest clinic or emergency room so that the offending (and hopefully dead) insect can be sucked out and any damage done can be assessed by a professional.

Over-the-Counter Pain Medications:

For children, age-appropriate dosages of acetaminophen may alleviate the pain. The same thing goes for adults but if you are allergic to acetaminophen or it doesn’t work for you then you can try another drug.

Reserve stronger medications like ibuprofen for when acetaminophen cannot relieve the pain or under your doctor's instructions only.

These are only bridging measures to alleviate the pain and minimize the damage to your ear until a medical professional can actually visualize and assess what's going on.

Prescription medications and some minor procedures can cure most of the causes of earaches when instituted by your friendly neighborhood physician.