Ear infection: viral or bacterial

amother

OP ↓

Fri, Sep 27 2024, 11:38 am

How can I know?

My baby has had ear infections in the past but I never gave her antibiotics.

Now she has a double ear infection and she’s taking medication, but it took about 48 hours after she first took it for me to notice a difference.

I’m wondering if I should’ve waited another day or two before giving her the medication.

Also, I read somewhere that you can ask a Dr to do bloodwork to see if it’s viral or bacterial. Not sure my pediatrician would cooperate.. Do they have to?

One last question: when would an ear infection be considered recurring? She had like 6 this year but it was mostly related to teething

amother

↑ OP ↓

Fri, Sep 27 2024, 11:50 am

Bc 95% of ear infections are viral not bacterial.

But since this was a double ear infection I wanted to be on the safe side so I gave her the medication. And now I’m thinking if it took 48 hours for the meds to kick in, maybe it wasn’t the meds at all and it was just viral so it went away on its own.

amother

Mocha ↓

Fri, Sep 27 2024, 11:58 am

Most ear infections in immunocompetent people, whether viral or bacterial, are self limiting.

If no fever, it's definitely safe to wait and watch.

It's very empowering to learn non invasive and risk free palliative (pain relieving) techniques and home remedies for ear infections so that you're not stuck having to make tough choices whether to medicate or not. Blood tests are not conclusive regarding infections, and especially ear infections because they're so localized.

Some things that can help are garlic mullein oil, breastmilk in the ear, essential oils rubbed behind the ear, homeopathic remedies to match symptoms, craniosacral session, Chiropractic adjustment. Motrin in a pinch is still a whole lot better than systemic antibiotics.

Also if you want to give up the never ending antibiotics, ear tubes, tonsil surgery, speech therapy merry go round, it would be good to address this at the root now.

Some potential causes for recurring ear infections are mouth breathing, tongue and lip ties, dairy sensitivity, and vaccine reactions.

amother

↑ OP

Fri, Sep 27 2024, 12:10 pm

amother Mocha wrote:

Thank you for all the info!

I think the root cause might be dairy sensitivity or mouth breathing.

She hasn’t gotten any vaccines yet and she definitely doesn’t have tongue/lip ties.

I guess I can always give her soy formula instead of dairy.

She eats mostly table food at this point but she still has a bottle or two a day.

amother

↑ Mocha ↓

Fri, Sep 27 2024, 12:25 pm

amother OP wrote:

Mouth breathing in such a young child is usually secondary to something else. Often structural. I would maybe get a second opinion on the ties? Or could it be she has a very high palate?

Getting off dairy is a good idea. Soy often cross reacts with protein antibodies because they have such similar structure. Maybe replace her bottles with almond or coconut milk?

amother

Cerulean

Fri, Sep 27 2024, 3:40 pm

amother Mocha wrote:

Until a year they need either breastmilk or formula. Coconut isn’t enough nutrition. Definitely worth seeing if soy helps, but 6 ear infections in a year is definitely concerning. Are these 6 confirmed infections or 6 times his ears hurt? If teething is leading to a full blown infection, somethings wrong and should be addressed (in my daughter it was fluid build up from allergies with the teething).

amother

↑ Mocha

Sat, Oct 05 2024, 10:04 pm

amother Cerulean wrote:

OP didn't say if her baby is under or over a year. She did say 6 ear infections in the past year, so I assumed her baby was at least a year old.

Ma3

Sat, Oct 05 2024, 11:49 pm

You can ask your Dr to do a CBC. It's not full bloodwork, just a tiny prick on finger. The little blood sample is enough for your Doctor to know if it's viral or bacterial. My doctor hates when I ask for it, but he does it anyways if I request it. He'd much rather just prescribe medication and move onto the next patient.

But even a double ear infection can be viral. Medication for a viral ear infection won't make anything better, if anything, it'll weaken the child's immune system even more, making him susceptible to even more ear infections.