Most children will get an ear infection at some point during their childhood.
Types of Bacterial Ear Infections
Different types of ear infections present with different symptoms.
Healthcare providers use the AAP guidelines to help determine when antibiotics are appropriate.
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A bacterial ear infection is diagnosed through a physical examination and by logging symptoms.
This is used to see how well the eardrum moves in response to sound.
Symptoms
Classic symptoms of an ear infection often begin after a cold.
Get our printable guide for your next doctor’s appointment to help you ask the right questions.
Are antibiotic prescriptions declining?
Antibiotics should only be used to treat bacterial illnesses.
Sometimes antibiotics have side effects that can make a person more ill than they were initially.
Common side effects include rash, dizziness, yeast infections, nausea, and diarrhea.
Get our printable guide for your next doctor’s appointment to help you ask the right questions.
Pediatricians handle this scenario in different ways.
Older kids may do well with just five to seven days of antibiotics.
These tubes fall out as the eardrum heals and need not be removed.
While this procedure (called amyringotomy) is more common in children, it is also performed in adults.
The 2013 AAP guidelines help healthcare providers to know when antibiotics are an appropriate treatment for ear infections.
Over-prescribing antibiotics can lead to bacteria resistant to antibiotics and unnecessary, or dangerous, side effects.
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