Ear Infections

What is an ear infection?

An ear infection strikes when bugs—bacteria or viruses—trap themselves inside your ear canal or deep behind your eardrum. They breed, and the tissue swells. The ache might start dull, but it quickly grows sharp and heavy. In many cases, a short course of prescription drops or pills kills the bug, breaks the swelling, and clears the block to bring your hearing back to normal.

How long does an earache last?

A mild ache might clear out on its own within three days as your body fights it off. But if the throbbing holds on past three days, or if the pain spikes harder and keeps you awake, you must stop waiting. You need the right medicine to break the infection and stop the pain.

What causes ear infections?

They usually hit when water, sweat, or dirt pushes into your ear canal and gets stuck. Bugs breed in this dark, damp space. We often call this "swimmer's ear."

You can also catch an infection deep behind your eardrum when a heavy head cold or flu blocks your tubes and traps fluid inside. Children catch these deep infections often because their ear tubes run flat and narrow, making it hard for the trapped fluid to drain away.

What are the symptoms of an ear infection?

The signs hit hard and fast. You will likely feel:

• A sharp, throbbing ache deep inside the ear
• A heavy feeling of fullness or trapped pressure
• A harsh itch or dry, flaky skin in the ear canal
• Fluid or pus leaking onto your pillow
• Muffled sounds, as if you hear the world through water

Treatment for ear infections

You must fight the pain first. Swallow over-the-counter painkillers like paracetamol or ibuprofen to blunt the sharp ache and drive down the heat of a fever.

If the pain stays, you need stronger treatment. For an outer ear infection, our pharmacists can prescribe strong ear drops holding antibiotics to kill the bug and steroids to shrink the swollen skin. If the infection hides deep behind the eardrum where drops cannot reach, you might need antibiotic pills to hunt the bug from the inside out.

How is an ear infection diagnosed?

A clinician usually finds the infection by looking straight into your ear canal with a lighted tool called an otoscope. They check for angry, red skin, pools of fluid, or a bulging eardrum. However, if you know the signs well and the symptoms sit clearly on the outside, our clinicians can often assess your pain online, check your health history, and send the right drops straight to your door.