Ear infection

Injury	Disease	Nutrition	Poison

Symptoms	Surgery	Test	Special Topic

Ear anatomy

Middle ear infection (otitis media)

Eustachian tube

Mastoiditis - side view of head

Mastoiditis - redness and swelling behind ear

Ear tube insertion - series

Overview

Symptoms

Treatment

Prevention

Ear infection - acute

Alternative Names:

Otitis media - acute; Infection - inner ear; Middle ear infection - acute

Prevention:

You can reduce your child's risk of ear infections with the following practices:

Wash hands and toys frequently. Also, day care with 6 or fewer children can lessen your child's chances of getting a cold or similar infection. This leads to fewer ear infections.
Avoid pacifiers, especially at daycare.
Breastfeed -- this makes a child much less prone to ear infections. But, if bottle feeding, hold your infant in an upright, seated position.
Don't expose your child to secondhand smoke.
The pneumococcal vaccine prevents infections from the organism that most commonly causes acute ear infections and many respiratory infections.
Some evidence suggests that xylitol, a natural sweetener, may reduce ear infections.
Avoid overusing antibiotics.

References:

Noble J, ed. Textbook of Primary Care Medicine. 3^rd Ed. St. Louis, MO: Mosby; 2001.

Gershon, AA, Hotez, PJ, and Katz, SL, eds. Krugman’s Infectious Diseases of Children. 11^th ed. St. Louis, MO: Mosby; 2004.

Long, SS, Pickering, LK, and Prober, CG, eds. Principles and Practice of Pediatric Infectious Diseases. 2^nd Ed. New York, NY: Churchill Livingstone, 2003.

Review Date: 6/24/2004
Reviewed By: Alan Greene, M.D., F.A.A.P., Department of Pediatrics, Packard Children's Hospital, Stanford University School of Medicine; Chief Medical Officer, A.D.A.M., Inc.

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