I took my 19 month old son to the DR yesterday and he had a cold with a double ear infection. The dr had to clean all the wax out of his ears because it was built up pretty bad. She took a long skinny instrument with a loop on the end and scraped the wax out of his ear. When my son turned over a bunch of blood came out of his ear. She had scraped his ear canal and it made a cut. So now I have to put ear drops in so it does not become infected as well as use a oral antibiotic. Has this happend to anyone? If so did it seem to take longer for he/she to start feeling better? Any tips for putting in ear drops? Hopefully he will be feeling better by the end of the week.
I'm so sorry to hear about
I'm so sorry to hear about this. I know when my son was about that age he had a lot of wax build up also and the doctor did the same procedure in one of his ears. He didnt cut it, so I have idea what to recommend. I'd go to the internet and do a search for starters. There is so much information out there esp. on baby websites. Hang in there - I hope he feels better soon.
LisaMommy is a 38 year old discussion leader for arizonamoms.com from the Paradise Valley/Scottsdale area. Her two boys are ages 9 months and 3 years old.
My son had a double ear
My son had a double ear infection last month and when I took him in the doc also cleaned his ears. The doc told me that when they get sick their ears tend to get more gunk. He also told me to NEVER clean inside his ears because it could do damage. I never did have to put drops in, hopefully he clears up fast-good luck!
I thought the standard
I thought the standard treatment was to use drops to dissolve the wax. I would be more comfortable with that since little kids wiggle (it's in their nature), so I'm surprised scrapping out the wax works for anyone.
I had to use ear drops for
I had to use ear drops for my first son and they just freaked him out for some reason. The best thing I did was turn on TV, get him interested in a show and then do the drops while he was relaxed and distracted.
Susie is a discussion leader in the east valley for arizonamoms.com. She has two sons, ages 7 and 3.
I remember my mother doing
I remember my mother doing exactly the same thing for me when I had earwax when I was about 4. It freaked out your son because you can hear the wax dissolving. It sounds a bit like pop rocks.
I'm surprised to hear that
I'm surprised to hear that an MD would put an implement into a baby's ear. I too have heard that you NEVER put something into an ear - especially a squirmy baby!
Hmm...you know, for peace of mind, why don't you go to a Pediatric ENT (Ear, Nose, Throat) doctor? They are formally called Otolaryngologists....
Remember, doctors don't know everything and can be wrong somethings. I can't hurt to go see a specialist (instead of a regular pediatrician)...and just make sure you are doing both the right treatment and the right follow-up care.
Good luck!
Happy2BMommy, is a stay-at-home mom who just turned 40 (argh!) with a 7 yr. old daughter and a 5 yr. old son, and is a discussion leader for arizonamoms.com living in Scottsdale.
The doctors at my daughter's
The doctors at my daughter's ped. office (several of them) have used the same loopy instrument you're talking about, both a metal one and this last time about 2 weeks ago it was a hard plastic one with a light on the end so they could see better down in the ear I'm assuming. My daughter has had wax removed via those methods as well as via water pick method where they literally have used a water pick that you would normally use on your teeth to loosen up the wax, apparently the warm water and the vibration from the water pick works together to loosen the wax. I've heard never to put anything in babies/childrens ears either because you could damage their ear drums if you're not sure how far you're sticking something down in and or if there is a lot of wax you could be just pushing it down in further. However, I would hope that with a dr.'s expertise they would know how far they can go down in with out doing damage, although like in this case there was a minor slip-up, which isn't acceptible and probably was and is uncomfortable for your little one. Are the drops they gave to you actually antibiotic drops or are they numbing drops. I know in the past the dr. has given my daughter an oral antibiotic and a prescription for drops that are just numbing drops to be used for the pain, but not affiliated with the actual antibiotic treatment of the infection. I can understand where it would be difficult to have a little one sit still enough and keep their head down to one side long enough to get the drops in and have them go down into the ear before they put their head up and had them just drain back out. What about if you put the drops in and then put a little piece of cotton in his ear, the cotton isn't going to go down that far to do any damage and it's not a sharp instrument and is similar to if you were going to use it as an ear plug, maybe that might work to keep the drops in.
I have friends who have had
I have friends who have had this done - word of warning - when my girlfriend's son had blood after this was done it was because the doctor had puntured his ear drum. Needless to say she was not happy about. The doctor tried to blame the child for not staying still!! This doctor is in an office of 3 and she refuses to use him anymore. If one of the other doctors is not available, she will go to urgent care instead. Good luck.
KarilouMomof2 is a discussion leader for arizonamoms.com living in Tempe. Her daughters are 9 and 6.
That happened to me, but the
That happened to me, but the Dr. never told me to do anything. At least your Dr. owned up to the mistake!
Brooke Romney is an unbalanced mom of three young boys who constantly has too much to do, and too little time. She writes the Mom Beat column for The Gilbert Republic.