Middle ear infection not a contagious disease

21 September, 2012

Middle ear infections are common childhood problems that affect most of the kids at least once before the age of two. This middle ear infection is also known as Otitis media.

MIDDLE EAR infection is most often a bacterial or viral infection. These ear infections are very painful due to the inflammation and build-up of fluids in the ear. It is also a common problem in dogs and cats.

The ear infections are usually identified by the pain and discharge (water or thick yellow coloured) which is associated with it. This can affect one or both the ears at the same time. Usually it is caused due to virus or bacterium which infects the middle ear, but sometimes it can also result from cold, flu or allergy. The ear infection is caused when the eustachian tubes present in the ear fails to keep the germs out and when the number of germs increases inside the middle ear then it leads to infection.

The other factors that increases the risk of ear infection or develops ear infection are being exposed to tobacco smoke, not being breastfed and attending a nursery or a day care. The ear infection is not a contagious disease and does not spread from one person to another.

The symptoms of ear infection develop quickly and usually resolve itself within few days; this kind of ear infection is usually known as acute otitis media. As the children cannot tell us about the ear pain, the only option is to observe the symptoms of ear infections that are common in children like pain, difficulty in sleeping, pulling the ear, crying more than usual, difficulty in hearing or responding to sound, drainage of fluid from ear, high fever, loss of appetite, diarrhea and vomiting. The common symptoms of ear infection in adults are ear pain, drainage of fluid from the ear, sore throat and diminished hearing.

Most of the ear infections don't require any treatment and they cure by itself in a couple of days. Usually the treatment of ear infection follows a wait-and-see approach for a couple of days. But if their is no improvement then you can go to a doctor for treatment of ear infection, the treatment will help to lessen the pain. The treatments of ear infection includes a warm compression, pain medication and ear drops.

The medications for ear infection are acetaminophen or ibuprofen; these are used to relieve the pain. Ear drops such as antipyrine-benzocaine are also used for pain relief. The medications for ear infections should be used as recommended by the doctor and the instructions on the label should be read carefully.