Dr Phil Kieran: Is there an alternative to antibiotics for my son's ear infection?

Frequent ear infections can cause hearing issues, and exposure to antibiotics every year is not good for the gut
Dr Phil Kieran: Is there an alternative to antibiotics for my son's ear infection?

Many ear infections are viral, and an antibiotic doesn’t have any beneficial effect in these cases.

Almost every year, my 10-year-old son gets an ear infection, which needs an antibiotic to clear. Is there another course of treatment available?

It seems like your son has a lot of problems with his ear. A child who requires yearly courses of antibiotics for ear infections would certainly raise my concerns. The causes of frequent ear infections can range from enlarged tonsils or adenoids to environmental issues affecting the sinuses or the lungs. The middle ear, the most common site for ear infections, is linked to the rest of your respiratory tract at the back of the throat via a tiny eustachian tube (this is what opens when we yawn and our ears pop).

One of the first things to say is that many ear infections are viral, and an antibiotic doesn’t have any beneficial effect in these cases. These ear infections, if left alone, will resolve fully by themselves without antibiotics. Even for bacterial ear infections, antibiotics have a modest effect in speeding up the recovery process and don’t reduce the risk of the eardrum bursting.

In your son's case, I would be looking to understand why his middle ear can’t drain properly. If he suffers from allergies or hayfever, the inflammation caused by the allergies will block the eustachian tubes, preventing drainage. Treating this will likely reduce infections. If your son is a heavy snorer, he may have large adenoids, large tonsils or polyps in his nose, which can also increase the risk of ear infections. For further investigation, it would probably be worth him seeing an ENT specialist (assuming the other possibilities I've referred to have been addressed).

Exposure to tobacco smoke is one of the biggest risk factors for ear infections. While I’m sure your 10-year-old is not smoking, we know that living in a house where people smoke increases the risk of all respiratory infections. This is true even if the smoker always goes outside to smoke as small particulates are carried on their clothing back into the house, which can irritate respiratory linings.

Overall, I think you need to look into why this is happening, as frequent ear infections can cause hearing issues, and exposure to antibiotics every year is not good for the gut. You are right to try and find an alternative to antibiotics, and if none of the things I have explored here clear it up, then I think it's time for your son to see an ENT specialist.

  • If you have a question for Dr Phil, please send it to parenting@examiner.ie 

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