Most pediatricians claim that before noon, they see at least one case of ear infection. In fact, most children suffer from an ear infection at least once before their 3rd birthday. Ear infection is also known as Acute Otitis Media and is one of the primary diagnoses of pediatricians. Here are some best kept secrets regarding an ear infection, which your doctor is not likely to tell you.
Sometimes children are misdiagnosed and at a shocking rate. Many pediatricians diagnose and treat children for ear infections, when they don’t even have it. The reason for that is sometimes attributed to the level of difficulty in peeking inside a child’s ear. It is not easy and most kids don’t cooperate, especially when they are not feeling well.
Examining a screaming child’s ear can be quite difficult and the doctor holding an otoscope tries not to drill a hole through the kid’s eardrums. This can make their job of diagnosis quite difficult. Most of the time, a clump of wax is hindering the direct line of sight of the pediatrician and removing that makes the child cry harder.
There are some instances when pediatrician associate a red ear drum with an ear infection. However, red ear drums can turn red easily by a fever or incessant screaming of the child. Providing a perfect diagnosis is only possible for a pediatrician who has an experience of treating such conditions. Most parents make the mistake of taking their child to an emergency facility or urgent care where medical professionals don’t have specialized experience with kids or ear infections and there is little chance that they will get the diagnosis right. The best way for that is to take your child to a specialized facility where their treatment will be satisfactory and the diagnosis accurate.
Most parents insist that if their child is diagnosed with an ear infection, the pediatrician must treat them with antibiotics. But that is not always necessary. Some ear infections go away on their own because most of them are the result of viruses that remain unaffected by antibiotics, which can be taken care of by our immune system. Most pediatricians adopt the NNT approach of treatment also known as the Number Needed Treatment in which to improve the symptoms of one child, other children also get treated with antibiotics, which doesn’t cause any long-term damage to hearing.
If your child is over 6 months old and doesn’t exhibit any sever symptoms, it is a perfectly acceptable decision to wait for treatment to see if the symptoms will dissipate o their own. There is no danger or any side effects of that, is usually cost-effective, eliminates any chance of antibiotic resistance and doesn’t require small children to ingest medicines.
Support us in our aim to promote health and wellness for children of all ages. Contact us today to find out more about our services and how we can keep your child healthy through their most important developmental years.
