How do you get rid of ear aches?

Question

I had an ear ache for about 3 weeks, and then it went away. I went swimming and it came back, and that was like 2 months ago, I still have it. How do you get rid of it?! I'm in sooo much pain, every time I lay down on it, it starts hurting again, but worse. I really want it to go away, I'm not sleeping well at night anymore. Please help me.....

Answer 1

Get some antibiotics! You can rupture your eardrum if you leave it untreated.

Answer 2

Try useing a blowdryer in your ear on the lowest settings. If it keeps persisting you may want to see a doctor. He might just have to clean it out but it could be more serious. I have a friend who had a bad ear ache and he turned out to have lukemia, the sooner you get it checked the better.

Answer 3

Go to a health food store and buy some ear candles. They will draw every bit of excess junk you have in there. It is cool. Once it is lit and starts sucking the stuff out, if your ear is clogged you will hear and feel the "Pop" of it being extracted from your ear.

Answer 4

You need to go to a doctor but in the mean time you could try ibuprophen or motrin, plus warm a little olive oil on a spoon and put it on a cotton ball then put it in your ear. But seriously, see a doctor!!!

Answer 5

Ear candles?? NO WAY!! A hoax for the extremely gullible!
http://www.doctorhoffman.com/candling.htm
http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a5_098.html
http://www.quackwatch.org/01QuackeryRelatedTopics/candling.html
http://www.entlink.net/activities/committees/earcandles.cfm
http://www.cbc.ca/consumers/market/files/health/earcandle/

Colloidal silver?? Another Hoax.
http://www.quackwatch.org/01QuackeryRelatedTopics/PhonyAds/silverad.html

The other suggestions are worth trying, though.

Answer 6

Collodial silver ear wash which you can buy at health food shop, garlic oil or olive oil can help. When it clears up wear ear plugs when you swim or you can be prone to ear problems.

Answer 7

Sounds like you have a condition called Swimmers Ear or external otitis. You need to see a doctor.

Copied from wikipedia:
Symptoms
Pain is the predominant complaint and the only symptom directly related to the severity of external otitis. Unlike other forms of ear infections, the pain of external otitis is worsened when the outer ear is touched. Pushing the tragus (that tablike portion of the auricle that projects out just in front of the ear canal opening), so typically causes pain in this condition as to be diagnostic of external otitis on physical examination. Patients may also experience ear discharge and itchiness. When enough discharge in the ear canal is present to clog the opening, external otitis may cause temporary conductive hearing loss.

Because the symptoms of external otitis promote many people to attempt to clean out the ear canal (or scratch it) with slim implements, and self-cleaning attempts generally lead to additional trauma of the injured skin, rapid worsening of the condition often occurs. Worsening is also common in the vacationeer who continues holiday swimming despite symptoms of mild external otitis.


Causes, incidence, and risk factors
Swimming in polluted water is a common way to contract swimmer's ear, but it is also possible to contract swimmer's ear from water trapped in the ear canal after a shower, especially in a humid climate. Even without exposure to water, the use of objects such as cotton swabs or other small objects to clear the ear canal is enough to cause breaks in the skin, and allow the condition to develop. Once the skin of the ear canal is inflamed, external otitis can be drastically enhanced by either scratching the ear canal with an object, or by allowing water to remain in the ear canal for any prolonged length of time.

The two factors that are required for external otitis to develop are (1) the presence of germs that can infect the skin and (2) impairments in the integrity of the skin of the ear canal that allow infection to occur. If the skin is healthy and uninjured, only exposure to a high concentration of pathogens, such as submersion in a pond contaminated by sewerage, is likely to set off an episode. However, if there are chronic skin conditions that affect the ear canal skin, such as atopic dermatitis, seborrheic dermatitis, psoriasis or abnormalities of keratin production, or if there has been a break in the skin from trauma, even the normal bacteria found in the ear canal may cause infection and full-blown symptoms of external otitis.(Kang K, Stevens SR. Pathophysiology of atopic dermatitis. Clin Dermatol 2003;21:116–121.)


Treatment
The goal of treatment is to cure the infection and to return the ear canal skin to a healthy condition. When external otitis is very mild, in its initial stages, simply refraining from swimming or washing the hair for a few days, and keeping all implements out of the ear, usually results in cure. For this reason, external otitis is called a self-limiting condition. However, if the infection is moderate to severe, or if the climate is humid enough that the skin of the ear remains moist, spontaneous improvement may not occur.

The use of topical solutions and suspensions in the form of ear drops is the mainstay of treatment for external otitis. These drops both physically wash collected debris from shed skin and infected drainage from the ear canal, and contain substances that either kill pathogenic germs, stop them from multiplying, or do both. The drops generally contain drying substances (astringents), acidifying agents, antibiotics and/or anti-fungal agents. Some prescription drops also contain anti-inflammatory steroids. Although there is evidence that steroids are effective at reducing the length of treatment time required, fungal otitris may be aggravated by the use of topical steroids.

Answer 8

antibiotics