The weather is gradually getting hotter, parents are bathing their babies more and more frequently, babies have to run to the arms of the pool, and ear water will often occur. Therefore, summer is also a high incidence of otitis media in babies.
According to the survey, 62% of babies have suffered from acute otitis media within 1 year of age, and the proportion within 3 years of age is as high as 83%. If not treated in time, delaying the condition will lead to repeated pus flow in the ear, hearing loss, and even deafness due to perforation of the ear membrane.
Otitis media is a common disease in children and otitis media can easily lead to perforation of the eardrum Parents want to prevent the baby from otitis media in time, let's take a look at why children are more likely to suffer from otitis media.
To determine whether your baby has otitis media, you can make a preliminary judgment based on the following circumstances:
Early stage: children are manifested as lack of energy, loss of appetite, tinnitus, ear discomfort, etc., but the discomfort of the ear will affect the baby's play and sleep. Doctors may examine the eardrum during this period and find an inverted eardrum and an effusion in the middle ear.
Progression: high fever, body temperature up to 39 °C to 40 °C, children crying and restlessness, hearing loss and earache, accompanied by nausea, vomiting, diarrhea and other gastrointestinal symptoms. These manifestations are similar to colds or enteritis and are highly overlooked or misdiagnosed. After examination, the eardrum may be congested, red and swollen auditory bone, and convex.
Peak period: high fever, refusal to eat, severe graying, fluctuating tinnitus, hearing loss and earache radiate to the surrounding areas. Examination may reveal a convex eardrum and pus in the middle ear.
Later stage: generally after 4-5 days of illness, the child's body temperature drops, the earache disappears, and it is possible to fall asleep, but the eardrum ruptures, pus flows out of the ear canal, and tinnitus and hearing loss are still present.
If your baby has more than one of these symptoms, it is recommended to seek medical treatment to confirm the diagnosis.
After the baby has otitis media, he must see a doctor, follow the doctor's attention to serious treatment, and cannot take anti-inflammatory drugs on his own and leave hidden dangers for the baby not to be completely treated. If otitis media is not treated in time, especially if the baby's body resistance in infancy and early childhood is low, otitis media can expand to nearby organs, such as causing mastoiditis or even intracranial infections and other serious consequences.
How to prevent otitis media in children
Timely prevention and treatment of colds: Because many otitis media are caused by colds.
Keep your baby less of a pacifier: Because frequent sucking can easily get germs from the back of the nasal cavity into the Eustachian tube.
Stay away from secondhand smoke: Because inhaling secondhand smoke can increase your baby's otitis media infection rate by 19%.
Avoid lying down to drink milk and cry: Because when the baby is lying down and swallowing, nutrient-rich fluids flow into the Eustachian tube and accumulate, creating a very comfortable breeding ground for infectious organisms. If your baby lies there crying for a long time, tears will enter the ear pinna, and with secretions and dirty things, your baby's ears are easily inflamed.
Adjust sleeping position: lying on the back or on the side, because the sleeping position of the supine and side lying can increase the swallowing action of the baby when sleeping, thereby promoting the discharge of mucus from the middle ear, reducing the chance of germ retention and reducing the risk of infection.
Teach your child the correct way to blow his nose: when the child is old enough, he should be taught to blow his nose gently and not too hard, otherwise it will lead to ear infection. Children should also be taught not to pinch their noses and sneeze, as this will also allow the infection to enter the ears.
Most of the otitis media can be cured, that is, it can be completely cured under reasonable treatment and care, but if it is found too late, there will not only be a risk of infection spread just mentioned, but also due to the delay in treatment, there will be problems such as hearing loss.