Any hearing loss and fluid in the ear may take up to several weeks to clear completely.
Sometimes ear infections can last a lot longer even with antibiotic treatment.
They will look for the visual signs of ear infection, such as redness and inflammation.
Verywell / Katie Kerpel
A majority of children will get an ear infection at some point during their childhood.
By their third birthday, five out of six children will have had at least one ear infection.
Ear infections are the most common reason a child will see a healthcare professional.
Do You Need Antibiotics?
Your physician may recommend awatch-and-see approachrather than prescribing antibiotics right away.
Typically, you will keep an eye on symptoms for three days to see if they improve.
If the infection does not clear up, you will need antibiotics.
First-line antibiotics are Amoxil (amoxicillin) and Penicillin VK (penicillin).
Amoxicillin begins working against an ear infection with the first dose.
How to Take Oral Antibiotics
Its important to always take your antibiotics as prescribed.
You should avoid alcohol while taking antibiotics.
Because of this, you may want to consider taking aprobioticsupplement while you are on antibiotics.
Antibiotic Ear Drops
Antibiotics can also come in the form of ear drops.
Because of this, antibiotic ear drops can kill bacteria faster than oral antibiotics.
you might also speak to your pharmacist or doctor for advice on using them.
The following instructions will help youuse ear drops correctly.
Who Shouldn’t Use Ear Drops?
Your doctor may prescribe an oral antibiotic or an antibiotic ear drop to treat your ear infection.
The hearing loss and fluid, however, may take up to several weeks to clear.
Sometimes ear infections can last a lot longer even with antibiotic treatment.
Antibiotics for ear infections work the same way they do for other parts of the body.
Some antibiotics seek out bacteria and attack the wall surrounding them.
Your doctor may prescribe moreantibiotics for a longer duration of time.
The doctor may also changethe way you take them, such as intravenously, meaning directly into yourbloodstream.
Kids Health.Middle Ear Infections (Otitis Media).
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.Ear infection.
Institute for Quality and Efficiency in Health Care, Cologne, Germany.Outer ear infection: Overview.
InformedHealth.org [Internet].
National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders.Ear infections in children.
