came down with one thursday night. just knew it was coming but can't get to the doctors wil wednesday. don't really want to go to emergency room for this. any home remedies?????

I want to say warm olive oil but it was a long time ago I read it. I'll search online & see if that comes up.

YAY! My memory served me right this time. There are a lot of articles, here is one:
http://health.getridofthings.com/get...-infection.htm

Earaches are so painful. Maybe you could call the doctor and he could call in a perscription for antibiotic drops for you.

thanks for the information

When I get the first sign of an earache, I use ear candles. Some people like them and some don't. I have had great success, usually within a day or two they are completely gone. Out of 5 ear aches in the last 2 years, 1 has warranted a trip to the doctors.

I know from experience that this works. Cut an onion in half. heat one half through. Wrap in a cloth and place over sore ear, making sure not to burn ear. You can feel it drawing the pain away.

what are ear candles? never heard of them! i put a little vinegar on a cotton swab and it seems to help.

Decongestants are always what I need as mine start in my sinus area. If I start on Sudafed when I feel a bit stuffy then I can usually avoid a full blown ear infection.

I had a sinus surgery 11 years ago to supposedly "fix" this and have better drainage. That worked only briefly!!!

Warm some sweet oil and just a few drops in the ear. My Mother's favorite is fill a sock with salt and heat in microwave. Apply warmed sock to the ear several times a day. The heat from the salt helps with the pain.

IF you catch it early enough - like when you just feel it coming on, you can put a few drops of peroxide in your ear, let it bubble, dab with some tissue and repeat until it stops bubbling as much - do that a few times a day and it will be gone.. but if you wait until it hurts, you'll need a trip to the dr. I used to get LOTS of ear infections due to allergies and peroxide saved me a ton of trips to the dr.

Sweet oil is wonderfull. Will take the pain away. :P My mom used it when we where young. I keep a bottle of it in the cabnet. Just take a teaspoon and put a match under warm it up a bit. Make sure the spoon is not hot and pour in to ear put a cotton in the ear to keep air out. It works :thumbup:

Not every ear ache is an ear infection. I would try the peroxide or any other remedy listed here, but remember that if it is indeed an ear infection, most likely is a middle ear infection and none of these solutions will solve it. I ignored once an ear ache and ended up having a huge one that turned into a 2 moths agony. The pain was incredible and I could here my own voice inside my head. It was one of the most strange feelings. I know you may feel guilty for doing it, but a trip to the ER may prevent it from getting worse. Most ERs have a smaller section called Fast Track or Urgent care that are created exactly for cases when is not severe enough to be at the ER but when postponing treatment will make it worse. A middle ear infection can turn into inner infection, which means months of treatment, Dr visits, lost work days $$ in copays at the Dr and pharmacy and lost sewing time. And if it turns up not to be an infection, you get piece of mind. Good luck and feel better.

Its your ear.. I wouldn't play around with it , I would probaly go to the drs. when i was little my mother would blow cigarette smoke into it and put a piece of cotton in it. However its probably just the warmth that made it ffeel better.

Grate an onion, not a hot onion it will burn the ear. Place grated onion in cheese cloth to squeeze out the juice. One drop of juice in ear stops the pain. My kids swear by this. They are now adults. I used it on them all the time when little.

I use a blow dryer; not real hot

OK, will take the unpopular stance here. I am a nurse with almost 10 years pediatrics as well as over 25 years adult medicine. I also have a son who has had over 50 ear infections, even after tubes.
Putting sweet oil and onion juice only relieve the pain, and I would never put a food product, especially one as dirty as an onion in my ear unless I was looking to get an infection. Applying heat to the surrounding area can offer some comfort, but remember heat is going to increase the blood flow, so if an area is already inflamed it already has increased blood flow. The whole middle ear is a system of fluids and bones in a tube(OK that is pretty simplified). The system works to help balance by a delicate fluid balance. Increasing the blood flow will increase the size of the surrounding tissue and possibly create more pressure possibly leading to a burst tympanic membrane and/or increase in pain.
Hydrogen Peroxide can lead to drying out the tissues, that is why it is rarely used in hospitals much anymore for cleaning wounds and such. So I would use it judiciously, but that said, my mother used to do it to all of us kids at least every month 'to clean out our ears'. I have scarring and hearing loss from home treatments by mom, but that is most likely from that bobby pin she used after the peroxide.
As for ear candling, here is an article from WebMD on it
http://www.webmd.com/a-to-z-guides/f...n-ear-candling
So my advice to you is to try some antihistamines (be careful if you have high blood pressure with which ones you choose), drink lots of fluids because the antihistamines will dry you out. Avoid using a straw, drinking straight from a bottle or blowing your nose if you can, this can creat back pressure and force stuff further into the eustachian tubes which connect the throat to the ear. For pain I suggest acetaminophen or if you can tolerate it, ibuprofin because it has an anti-inflamatory effect you won't get from the tylenol substitute. Be careful with the use of ibuprofin (Advil) if you have kidney problems or stomach problems.
If your pain continues to increase, you develop a persistant temperature I would probably seek out an urgent care before Weds. Make sure and call the doctor every day to see if they have had any cancellations. I work in a doctors office now, and I hate to admit it, but with our front desk staff, the squeaky wheel gets the grease.
I know this is really long winded, but your hearing is very important, lots of folks have hearing loss because of ear infections and a lot of this could have been avoided.
Don't worry, there won't be a written exam on this. ;)

A lot of things work, but if you read these cures they mostly have heat involved in it. I think that is the main ingredient. I know this works, when DD had an ear ache, in the middle of the night, my MIL had told me to hold a pure wool cloth over the ear and rock her back to sleep. After an hour or so she sat up on my lap and said "Can I go back to bed now?"

A good article... nothing to fool around with... thanks for the info.

Ditto! Aleve Sinus saved me from dr. appt. this spring. Avoiding the sinus infections also avoids the ear problems for me. I also had the sinus surgery about 15 yrs. ago. Even standing in hot shower & blowing nose helps to keep sinus clear.

http://www.earthclinic.com/ has tried "folk" home type info. Some of it I've used. sharet

I KNOW WHAT YOU MEAN I HAD NOSE AND SINUS SURGERY IN AUG 96 THEY TOLD ME I WOULD NOT NEED ANOTHER ONE IN 3 TO 5 YEARS WELL ONLY 3 MONTHS I WAS BACK IN SURGERY FOR THE SAME SURGERY.GO FIGURE.

Don't put anything into your ear in case you have a hole in the ear drum and thus make matters worse. If you can't see a doctor can you go to a hospital?In the meantime, take pain - killers to tide you over.

If I had an ear infection and called my doctor and couldn't get an appointment for nearly a week I would be finding a new doctor. If you call you doctor sick you should be able to be seen either that day or at the latest the next day. Didi you tell them you had an ear infection when you called?

A natural antibiotic that I have used with all 3 of my children and many nieces and nephews is GARLIC OIL CAPSULES. Just poke a hole in end, squeeze out on spoon, wave match under spoon 2 or 3 times, pour into ear slowly, place cotton ball in ear, go to bed. Should be better next morning if really bad may need to repeat next eve or two. Has worked every time.

Dr Oz said Olive oil or a clove of garlic. Garlic has some antibiotic qualities.

As a child, my son had repeated ear infections. my doctor gave me a formula to follow-mix one cup alcohol with one cup vinegar and put it in the ear and let any of the gunk bubble to the surface of the ear. Follow with a few drops of sweet oil(olive oil) and put some cotton in the ear. If there is any fever make sure to call your doctor.He said the alcohol(rubbing kind) would help to dis-infect the ear and the vinegar brings back the normal PH of the ear. The olive oil helps to soothe the ear.

I had an ear infection once... did the home remedies... ended up with ruptured ear drum... I already had hearing loss but had to have another hearing test to make sure my hearing loss wasn't made worse..
Bottom line... Get Thee to the Dr....

This is the only thing used for earaches back in the time. It works if a Dr. can't be seen.
crack open an apricot or peach pit. Pulverize the kernel and mix with a about a tablespoon in hot water. Let cool until lukewarm and then strain the water and drop the water in the ear. This has stopped many babies and kids from crying all night. We were never allowed to throw away peach or apricot pit. The kernels are rich in healing properties. I read an article in Medical Digest that most ear infections clear up on their own and antibiotics doesn't do that much for earaches. Managing the pain is what's important and parents feel better if giving their kids the pink medicine so the pink medicine is what they get.

I use peroxide and swab with a q-tip. Really helps.

Our home remedy for the initial try is Campho Phenique - the liquid form. Heat up some in a teaspoon (make sure not too hot) and pour in. Cover with cotton swab. 9 times out of 10 that has helped me.

That product is DH's heal-all. He uses it similarly to the Dad with the windex in My-big-fat-Greek-wedding.

I have a small rice filled pad. I heat it in the microwave, not to hot and then place it on my ear.

Warm sweet oil.

Warm sweet oil.

You could go the the local health department, since they usually have a sliding scale for seeing a Nurse Practitioner.

OK you are going to think this is weird or maybe even disgusting. Fresh urine in the ear must be warm. The acid in the urine, uric acid, and the warmth helps with the infection. Urine is sterile, unless the person has a urinary tract infection. This is a very old remedy. How you get the urine in the ear is up to you!

I had an infection and ears plugged with wax and my docter
told me to mix olive oil, 1/2 milogram of peroxide and 1/2 warm water. Worked great. My DH had to help me put it in
but he is a great nurse maid. We did fine and I got rid of wax
and the infection.
The docter checked me at my usual office call.

It works.

My husbands mother said that was what her father used back in the early 1900's on her and her siblings. Thank God for modern drugs.

I personally would NOT attempt any home remedy for an ear infection.

Remember, the ear sits very close to your brain! My brother (who would have been a year older than me) died of meningitis secondary to otitis media at 6 months of age...AND HE WAS IN THE HOSPITAL AT THE TIME.
It is all too easy for an organism to enter the circulatory system and once that happens one really has an emergency on their hands.

Maybe you can locate a walk in clinic that many hospitals also maintain, as an option to the ER. Call the local hospital and see if they have such a clinic.

They - and you - will appreciate it.

I keep Polysporin ear/eye drops in the medicine chest at all times. You can buy them on the shelf here in Canada in the pharmacy department. If it is a minor ear or eye infection the drops will clear it right up.

I agree! Since we found this out we have never gone to the Dr. for ear infections. I was never quite sure if the children had ear infections (but they always got better quickly using garlic drops) until I had one of my own. Garlic drops worked like a charm. But it doesn't work for swimmer's ear. For swimmers ear the dr. told us that the medication that they give is basically vinegar to change the ph in the ear canal. The swimmers ear bacteria cannot survive then. So I guess the cure depends on what the cause of the ear ache is.