Earache

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Ear anatomy

Medical findings based on ear anatomy

Otalgia; Pain - ear

The following steps may help prevent earaches:

• Avoid smoking near children. Smoking has been shown to cause millions of ear infections each year in children.
• Take steps to control allergies. In particular, avoid allergy triggers. Steroid nasal spray may help reduce ear infections. However, over-the-counter sedating antihistamines and decongestants do NOT prevent ear infections.
• Outer ear infections can be prevented by not putting objects in the ear, and drying the ear after bathing or swimming.

American Academy of Pediatrics Subcommittee on Management of Acute Otitis Media. Diagnosis and management of acute otitis media. Pediatrics. 2004 May;113(5):1451-65. Review.

Review Date: 11/08/2005
Reviewed By: Alan Greene, M.D., F.A.A.P., Department of Pediatrics, Stanford School of Medicine; Lucile Packard Children's Hospital; Chief Medical Officer, A.D.A.M., Inc., and Kevin Fung, MD, FRCS(C), Department of Otolaryngology, Division of Head and Neck Oncology and Reconstructive Surgery, University of Western Ontario, London, Ontario, Canada, and Daniel Rauch, MD, FAAP, Director, Pediatric Hospitalist Program, Associate Professor of Pediatrics, NYU School of Medicine, New York, NY. Review provided by VeriMed Healthcare Network.