Ear Infections and Children (1) - Symptoms

	Symptoms of an ear infection: Pain - The most common symptom of an ear infection is pain. While olderchildren are able to tell you when their ears hurt, younger childrenmay only appear irritable and cry. This may be more noticeable duringfeedings because sucking and swallowing may cause painful pressurechanges in the middle ear. As a result of this discomfort, your childmay have less of an appetite. A child with an ear infection may alsohave more trouble sleeping because lying down can increase ear pain. Fever - Another sign of an ear infection is a temperature ranging from 100 to 104 F. Ear drainage - You might also notice yellow or white fluid, possiblyblood-tinged, draining from your child's ear. The fluid may have a foulodor and will look different from normal earwax. Pain and pressureoften decrease after this drainage begins but this does not always meanthat the infection is going away. If your child needs to travel in anairplane, or wants to swim, contact your PD for specific instructions. Difficulty hearing - During and after an ear infection, your child mayhave trouble hearing for several weeks. This occurs because the fluidbehind the eardrum gets in the way of sound transmission. This isusually temporary and clears up after the fluid from the middle eardrains away. Because your child can have trouble hearing without othersymptoms of an ear infection, watch for the following changes inbehavior (especially during or after a cold) that may mean he or shecannot hear well: 1. talking softly or in a muffled way 2. saying “huh?" or "what" more than usual 3. not responding to sounds 4. having more trouble understanding language in noisy rooms 5. listening with the TV or radio turned up louder than usual