Ear Infections Are Most Common In Children

The majority of people experience an ear infection at some point in their lives. Ear infections can be very painful and affect people of all ages. However, they are most common in children and infants.

Ear infections are extremely common in young children and infants who have a greater chance in develop them than older children and adults. The reason for the frequent ear infections is because they have Eustachian tubes that aren’t as developed as Eustachian tubes in adults and older children. The Eustachian tube is the part of the ear that connects the middle ear to the sinuses, which are also connected to the nose and throat. Children’s Eustachian tubes are usually smaller, shorter, flatter and more horizontal than they are in adults. This causes the tubes to get blocked when the child catches a cold or even during spring when pollen counts are high and cause allergies. This is very common in small children – mainly under the age of 5.

When the children grow older, their Eustachian tubes tend to develop and improve. Children also get less colds than they used to, and in turn, they often outgrow these phases of frequent ear infections. Ear infections become less common in children around the age of seven, but there are still some who get them after this age. Some adults are prone to ear infections as well, due to the Eustachian tube’s shape and development. While some reasons for ear infections are well known, we are not aware of all of the risk factors which lead to ear infections. These risk factors are the reasons ear infections are most common in infants and toddlers.

Important Risk Factors:

- The family may have a history of ear infections – The shape of the Eustachian tube is a genetic feature, as every part of our body. That means that if a parent is prone to ear infections (and upper respiratory infections), the child is probably going to have the same status.
- The child may be exposed to cigarette smoke – cigarette smoke is highly related to upper respiratory infections and ear infections in particular. Second hand smoking is not only a cause for infections and higher chances of illnesses; it is also known to cause cancer.
- Having your child in day care causes them to be exposed to more viruses/colds – Every parent knows it – if one of the kids in the day care is sick, the others will be sick as well in the following weeks. Children’s immune system is less developed, so they catch viruses and colds easily. In most cases, there is nothing to worry. However, if the illness lasts more than 2 days, and accompanied by high fever, a doctor’s advice may be needed.
- Season of the year also has an affect- Colds and flu are a main cause for ear infections, and these are most common in winter and autumn. As mentioned above, allergies may also cause an ear infection (or just pressure in the middle ear).

Take precautions!

It is not an easy task to keep your child from getting ear infections, but here are a couple tips:

- Keep your child away from individuals while they are smoking – do we need to say more?

- Breastfeeding a baby for 3 to 6 months boosts their immune system- This is thought to be one of the best ways to prevent ear infections in your child.

- Keep your child well dressed and minimize their exposure to cold air – if it’s cold for you, it is twice as cold for the child. The rule of thumb is to keep your child dressed with one more layer than you plan to put on.

Precautions didn’t help - your child got an ear infection

If your child gets an ear infection, you need some good ways to relieve the pain. the pain is what’s causing most of the inconvenience for the child. Pain relief is important because it will help your child feel more at ease and comfortable. There are many treatments and suggestions, but what is the best way? There is no concise answer, and each child will benefit from a different treatment.

Ibuprofen is a popular medication that some parents use to reduce pain. It also lowers fevers so this may help your child feel better as well. Make sure you follow the proper dosage recommendations that are listed on the bottle because it is very dangerous to give your child more medication than instructed.

Applying a warm washcloth on the ear is another form to relieve ear pain. Warm a washcloth and apply it to the ear and on the side of the neck to relieve ear pain. This treatment can be an alternative to painkillers.

Taking a warm bath and having steam in the room can also help relieve ear pain. Important: You should not leave your child alone in the bath and make sure the water temperature is regulated and not too hot.

There are many more ways to relieve ear pain, and some people prefer different treatments more than others. It is not easy to prevent ear infections in children because they are exposed to so many different environments and around so many different children at the same time. This makes them very prone to catching colds and viruses, which can result in ear infections. Use the preventative steps listed in the article to prevent ear infections, and hopefully your child will not have to suffer from ear pain.