Sound enters the auricle through the external passage. There, it amplifies and approaches the eardrum, which separates the middle ear from the outside. They are located inside the skull under the protection of the temporal bone. The Eustachian tube connects the middle ear to the pharynx and serves to pass air and regulate pressure from both sides of the eardrum.
Causes of Otitis
Inflammatory processes in the nasopharynx and reduced childhood immunity often lead to the transition of a cold from the nasopharynx to the auditory Eustachian tube. Inflammation of the middle ear is called otitis media. Most often, the disease lies in wait for weakened and premature babies. The child may suddenly have a fever, but the baby can not say anything. He cries and tugs at his ear, and if mom wants to touch him, the cry intensifies.
Otitis: symptoms, treatment
The human ear is conventionally divided into three sections: external, middle and internal. The disease is also conditionally divided.
External otitis media is very rare in children. These are inflammatory changes in the skin of the ear and they do not directly affect the auditory ability. The pain occurs due to the formation of an abscess, a boil that appears inside the ear canal.
Basically, in children, infection passes from the nasopharynx through the Eustachian tube. The structural features of the middle ear in infants are such that inflammation easily penetrates and causes otitis media. Treatment of otitis media is best carried out under the guidance of a pediatric ENT doctor. He will conduct all examinations with the help of special medical instruments, check the integrity of the eardrum, determine the presence of purulent inflammation.
In young children, the disease occurs suddenly. In the evening, the baby falls asleep and everything is normal, and at night he wakes up from fever and pain in the ear. When there is a suspicion of otitis media in children, treatment should be carried out without wasting time. Pain reliever and fever tablets should be given. With the inflammatory process, the temperature in the baby can be very high, up to 40 OS. As an external painkiller, you can advise moistening a small cotton swab in a solution of novocaine and put it in your ear. A well-pressed piece of fleece soaked in vodka is also used.
To relieve pain, it is recommended to do a warming compress. To do this, put a piece of compressor paper on top of a piece of cotton paper moistened with vodka and squeezed well with gauze, followed by a piece of cotton wool for thermal insulation. Heat will reduce pain. It is necessary to apply the compress carefully so that the delicate baby skin does not receive a burn.
When the diagnosis of otitis media in children is established, treatment is carried out using antibiotics, but if the high temperature does not subside within four days, then a simple operation is performed - paracentesis. This is a small incision to release the resulting pus that has accumulated behind the eardrum. An incision should be made by the doctor in the clinic. Usually, after this, the child begins to recover.
When otitis in children begins, treatment carried out in a timely manner will prevent the development of a purulent process. To do this, it is recommended not to delay the treatment of the common cold and inflammation of the adenoids. It is necessary to rinse the neck with a soda solution and a drop of iodine. All this is done in order to try to remove the source of infection that penetrates the ear. Please note that infection can spread to the other ear.
After the treatment, the child recovers, but it is equally important to prevent a relapse of the disease. So, if otitis media arose in children, the treatment of which gave the desired result, and the child recovered, now the primary task will be to strengthen his immune system so that the body is able to resist colds and inflammatory processes.