911 warning

Ear - Pulling At or Itchy

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Does this describe your child's symptoms?

Causes

Main cause (infants): normal touching and pulling with discovery of ears. This behavior is usually not seen before 4 months of age
Main cause (older children): mild swimmer's ear from: (1) water accumulation during swimming or showers, (2) soap or shampoo retention, or (3) canal irritation from cotton-tipped swabs. Some children are reacting to a piece of earwax in the ear canal.
Not an ear infection: Most younger children (under age 2 or 3) who pull or poke at the ear are unable to confirm or deny the presence of an earache. Dr. Ray Baker examined 100 children with ear-pulling as the chief complaint. The main conclusion was that simple ear-pulling without other symptoms of an illness or infection was never associated with ear infections.

Child is mainly crying and not pulling at ears, see CRYING CHILD OVER 3 MONTHS OF AGE
Child reports earache, see EARACHE

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	Call Your Doctor Now (night or day) If
	Your child looks or acts very sick Fever over 104° F (40° C) and not improved 2 hours after fever medicine Age under 12 weeks with fever above 100.4° F (38.0° C) rectally (Caution: Do NOT give your baby any fever medicine before being seen.) You think your child needs to be seen urgently
	Call Your Doctor Within 24 Hours (between 9 am and 4 pm) If
	You think your child needs to be seen, but not urgently Seems to be in pain or crying without an obvious reason Starts awakening from sleep Fever or symptoms of a cold are present Drainage from the ear canal Constant digging inside 1 ear canal
	Call Your Doctor During Weekday Office Hours If
	You have other questions or concerns Pulling at the ear continues over 3 days Itching continues over 1 week
	Parent Care at Home If
	Normal ear touching or pulling Itchy ear canal

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Reassurance:
- Most of these children have discovered their ears and are playing with them.
- Some have an itchy ear canal.
- Ear pulling that is a new symptom and begins when a child has a cold usually is caused by fluid in the middle ear. Less often it's caused by an ear infection.
- Ear pulling without other symptoms is not a sign of an ear infection.
Habit: If touching the ear is a new habit, ignore it (prevent doing it for attention).
White Vinegar Eardrops: For itchy ear canal, use ½ strength white vinegar by diluting it with equal parts water. Place 2 drops in each ear canal daily for three days (Reason: restore the normal acid pH). (EXCEPTION: ear drainage, ear tubes or hole in eardrum)
Avoid Soap: Keep soap and shampoo out of the ear canal.
Avoid Cotton Swabs: Cotton swabs remove the earwax that normally protects the lining of the ear canal, and this leads to itching and irritation.
Expected Course: With this treatment, most itching is gone in 2 or 3 days.
Call Your Doctor If:
- Pulling at the ear continues for over 3 days
- Itching of ear continues for over 1 week
- Your child becomes worse