Are antibiotics necessary for treating ear infections?
While we don’t realise it at this stage, ear infections can take a pretty serious if they don’t heal by themselves. The infection may eat away at the bone in the ear, and may even start eroding the brain tissue, manifesting in meningitis. This is, of course, a delayed result, and only if the ear infection is consistently ignored. Thus if you are hesitant about giving your child antibiotics, you could wait for around three days for the infection to clear on its own. If it doesn’t, you should take your child to the doctor to get his opinion as to whether he needs to get started on an antibiotic course. Different doctors have different opinions. Some doctors are all too liberal with antibiotic prescriptions, while others are slightly more conservative. Are there any home remedies? Some of the best home remedies include steaming, and applying warm olive oil inside the ear (unless your child is allergic to it). It is best to start home remedies the minute your child complains of an earache,
