One of my SILs has a huge ear infection that made his face swell and my DD took him to the E.R. They pushed an ear wick down through the swelling so the medicated ear drops could reach the ear drum. Makes me shiver to even think about it. She said he had tears in his eyes because the procedure hurt so badly. He had several sets of ear tubes as a kid but no ear infections since age 9 or 10 (he's 34 now) so he's always known he had bad ears.
I just thought it was a clever (though painful) way to treat it.
Are ear wicks a new fangled idea or an old idea that's "new" again?