Ear Infection

[Lucyd]

Is an ear infection usually caused by a virus. Also would it be right to give a toddler antibiotics to clear it. My previous doctor never would he always said antibiotics were useless for an ear infection and that it should just go by itself.. The new doctor we have has prescribed amoxillin and has a completely different idea.. I hate to use these but he seems so sure.. ?

[RATTER15]

I had a severe ear infection that lead to a perforated ear drum as it went untreated, I didn't know how bad the infection was as I was already on painkillers for toothache. I was prescribed antibiotics and the pain was gone in 24 hours but I still had a hole in my eardrum for a couple of months. I took amoxicillin!!

[Lucyd]

That's very reassuring.. We have obviously given him the Amoxillin as the doctor told us to.. I was just worried as my previous doctor would never do that and my daughter did always seem to get over it ok.. What happened to you makes me feel confident that the doctor on this occasion did the right thing.. Thanks

[Carakeel]

Hi Lucyd, I am at the moment suffering from a severe ear infection and today my doctor has put me on the antibiotic Erythromicin. To answer your question, yes an ear infection can come from a virus. I am just getting to the end of acute Bronchitis which is also caused by a virus, so it was easy for me to pick up yet another one as my imune system is very low at the moment. Hope your son gets over his ear infection soon. Best wishes to him. :o)

[Roughquest]

Gosh, you are going through the mill, first gastro enteritis throughout your whole family for weeks and now ear infections....it never ends....

[Lucyd]

Yes we have had two months of illness.. We moved to this rural area recently and before that we lived in thew same place in the heart of a busy town and I think we visited the doctor about five times in total.. We never had a stomach bug that lasted more than two days and that was rare... My daughter is extremelly thin now due to the stomach bug which the doctor believes was several different ones.. The hospital here is has closed some wards due to these bugs... When I posted my question about gastric flu someone suggested Acidphillos tablets and I have to say I think that was the turning point thay really helped.

[sandyg2244]

I have an ear infection right now i have been fighting for 2 weeks with 2 courses of antibiotics.when it comes to kids a lot of evidence suggests you should leave it.a lot of other eividence suggests anti-biotics work .the truth is you have to listen to your doctor, use a bit of instinct, if its getting worse on antibiotics or not clearing up thats a different story.its different i suppose when its your child, they cant explain how they feel.i for one am regretting looking to the net for advice, the eardrops i was prescribed along with anti-biotics-on the net it said i shouldnt be taking them.so i didnt.and i realised i just hadnt trusted my GP. a little research in medical books proved different,i have been to see a specialist and the first thing he did was administer these drops! i think we have lost trust in doctors, with random stories in the media.i know i had, and its learned me a hard lesson.you have to get a second opinion if you're not sure, but dont look for answers on here, unless its just to put your mind at rest.if you have doubts, speak to the professionals, they have a huge evidence base and years of medical training to go on at the end of the day.not exact but more precise than a stranger giving you advice.

[Lucyd]

Yes I suppose your right.. Although I will say when I was small the doctor gave me antibiotics for nearly everything and I always seemed to be ill with bronchitus and asthma.. We moved abroad for a while and the advice there was not to use antibiotics at least unless it was absolutly necessary.. I stopped taking them and my bronchtus and asthma just seemed to disappear..

[spudqueen]

Hope you're all better soon. We moved 200+ miles when the children were small and for about 3 or 4 months there was hardly a week went by when one of them wasn't ill. I think there must be different viruses in different areas and the kids obviously weren't used to the ones in the new area!

[gina32]

my grandson had an ear infection and when i phoned the nhs direct they told me that unless the ear is weeping then docs dont like to give antibiotics,