The article tells about what is otitis media

So, what is otitis media? It is an inflammatory disease that affects the ears of a baby. Physicians distinguish two types of otitis: acute and chronic. Inflammation of the external ear is common in children. It is caused in most cases by an infection falling into the ear canal in case of unsuccessful cleaning. Note that the skin around the ear has turned red, it has swelled and a translucent mucus is released, most likely the baby has an inflammation of the external ear.

Symptoms of otitis in children

In order to correctly diagnose a disease, you need to know its signs. What is otitis and what are its manifestations? At the very beginning of the illness, the child's temperature rises sharply, he is shivering, his appetite decreases. Another characteristic symptom is the swelling of the auricle, while it acquires a bright red color. On the skin in the ear can appear bubbles. Pain may occur due to a boil. The difficulty lies in the fact that often it is inside the auricle and is invisible to parents. If the child complains of pain during chewing, and his parotid lymph nodes are enlarged, most likely, the reason is in the furuncle. The abscess usually bursts on its own after two or three days.

Now you know what otitis is. We move on to the next point - treatment.
If in general the condition of the baby is not heavy, it is quite possible to resort to self-therapy. The pharmacies offer a fairly wide range of ointments and balms from otitis. If the case is serious, hospitalization is necessary. Most likely, the doctor will conduct treatment in two areas: local therapy plus antibiotics.

Acute otitis media

This species is the most common among children. Often they fall ill with those kids who have recently had SARS (this is due to weakening of immunity). In the middle ear, the infection penetrates through the inflamed nasopharynx, as in children it is much wider than in adults. In this case, the signs of otitis will be as follows: a sharp pain in the ears. The situation is complicated by the fact that a small child can not clearly describe his feelings and even localize the source of pain. As a rule, the kid loudly screams, can not fall asleep, constantly tries to scratch his ear about the pillow. In addition, the child may refuse to eat, because it hurts to chew and swallow.

Complications of the disease

The danger of this disease is that there can be quite serious consequences, the most common of which is mastoiditis, or inflammation of the process of the temporal bone. Also, the child may have a meningic syndrome: it is characterized by severe vomiting, convulsions, confusion in the mind.

Methods of treatment

If you have promptly turned to a specialist, he will explain in detail what otitis is and tell you about the ways of treating the disease. Most likely, the child will be given a course of antibiotics in the form of tablets or injections. Also, the doctor prescribes drops for narrowing the vessels and warming compresses (an alternative to them is heating with a blue lamp). Physiological procedures are very effective. To reduce the likelihood of the disease, observe a number of simple rules: the child should be warmly dressed; When feeding, keep the baby in an upright position; Do not give him antibiotics without a doctor's recommendation.