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The Ear Infection Confession: What Your Doctor Didn’t Tell You

Ear infections (or, what we like to call “acute otitis media”) are one of the staple diagnoses of pediatrics. Most kids have at least one before their 3rd birthday. And most pediatricians see at least one every day by 11. You would think we would always get it right. But I have a confession–we don’t. In fact, children are misdiagnosed and over-treated at an alarming rate.

There are several reasons for our poor performance:

Ear infections are actually pretty complicated. In 2013, the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) issued a practice guideline called The Diagnosis and Management of Acute Otitis Media. It’s written for an audience that should already have a solid…

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Featured

 A smartphone app could help diagnose ear infections more accurately — and at home

One advantage is that the app is more accurate than an otoscope. The probability that our app will detect correctly if there is fluid in your child’s ear is 85%, which is comparable to specialist tools. But the difference is you can use our app in the comfort of your home.

 An antibiotic gel could treat kids’ ear infections with one dose

That time you had to pin down your crankypants kid every day for a week to give them antibiotics for an ear infection? One-time ear drops could some day end that drama.

 FDA Approves Device For Ear Tube Surgery Without Anesthesia

With ear infections being the most common reason for a child to visit a doctor, ear tube surgery is the most common surgery performed in children.

 That Is Not an Ear Infection

The bottom line is that ear infections are beguiling, yet they are also less common than you might have been led to believe and more innocuous as well. This doesn’t mean you shouldn’t take your shrieking, ear-clawing child to the pediatrician. You should. But don’t pitch a fit while you’re there—what do you mean you’re not giving Lola antibiotics? She’s been screaming for 17 hours!—and if your doctor prescribes drugs without skipping a beat, consider asking if a watchful waiting approach might work instead. Then, pick up some pain relievers on the way home— a bottle of children’s Tylenol for her, and some chardonnay for you.r?

Articles of Interest

Effort Seeks to Reduce Ear-Tube Surgeries for Small Children

Parents of young, otherwise healthy children fear them like the plague: ear infections. The infections can lead to the most-common surgery done with anesthesia in young children. Some 667,000 children every year, the majority of whom are under 5 years of age, have ear tubes inserted.

Ear Infections Could Cause Long-Term 'Lazy Ear'

The new study “opens up quite a rich system to study brain plasticity,” Hensch says. Researchers still don’t yet know how long each of the critical rewiring periods last in rats or, assuming the system is similar in humans, in people. Also unclear is exactly what effect the brain rewiring would have on hearing in people.

Ear infections in babies and children

The easiest way to tell if your baby has an ear infection (also known as acute otitis media) or any other illness, for that matter is a change in his mood.

Ear Infections Too Often Misdiagnosed, Then Overtreated

“Most of the unnecessary and inappropriate antibiotic use associated with treating ‘ear infections’ comes from treating conditions that are thought to be acute otitis media but actually are either O.M.E. or some other illness without ear disease, such as a viral upper respiratory tract infection,” Dr. Paradise explained.

For Young Kids' Ear Infections, Longer Antibiotic Treatment Works Better

Researchers looking into whether a shorter course of antibiotics would treat young children's ear infections as well as a longer course found that not only was the shorter treatment less effective but it didn't reduce antibiotic resistance or side effects.

Multiple Reasons Attributed To Lower Ear Infection Rates In Babies

A new study from the University of Texas has some good news for infants and their parents: ear infections in babies are on the decline.

When the Best Rx Is No Rx

Ear infections are a rite of childhood, affecting more than three-quarters of kids before the age of 5. They're also one of the most common reasons for visits to pediatricians, as parents seek relief for their crying, fussy young ones. But doctors and parents are deeply divided about how to treat them.

Where Have All the Ear Infections Gone?

There’s another factor that is probably contributing to the decline in ear infections, and it has to do with tightening the definition of what we call a true otitis media, and even beyond that, what we treat.

Resources

National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders

There are three main types of ear infections. Each has a different combination of symptoms...

MayoClinic

Because ear infections often clear up on their own, treatment often begins with managing pain and monitoring the problem. Ear infection in infants and severe cases in general require antibiotic medications. Long-term problems related to ear infections – persistent fluids in the middle ear, persistent infections or frequent infections – can cause hearing problems and other serious complications.

MedlinePlus

Ear infections are the most common illnesses in babies and young children. Most often, the infection affects the middle ear and is called otitis media.

Parents

Here's how to recognize the signs of an ear infection. Learn about treatment and risk of repeated infections. Plus: Everything you ever wanted to know about ear tubes.