Ear pain with a cold

No matter what time of year it is outside, none of us is immune from colds: in the summer heat, you want to drink some ice-cold liquid. The result of a moment of bliss is a cold. And instead of lying on the beach with friends, you have to sit at home, taking the necessary procedures. But the risk of getting sick especially increases in the fall - spring, when there is slush, cold and piercing wind, and you don’t want to “yet” or “already” put on a bunch of things, including a hat. It is in this situation that you can most often get hypothermia and, accordingly, ear pain with a cold.

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Causes of ear pain during a cold

Painful symptoms in the hearing aid can be a consequence of many diseases, but the most frequently diagnosed pathology is otitis, or as it is popularly called - a cold.

The causes of ear pain during a cold are often associated with a decrease in the body's defenses.

The second, most probable source of the symptoms in question may be pathogenic flora, bacterial or infectious damage to the tissues of the outer and/or inner ear.

But you shouldn't immediately make such a diagnosis, since the source of the pain may have nothing to do with the infection. For example, fluid accumulated in the ear is a consequence of an inflammatory process or a banal visit to the pool followed by going outside, which exerts pressure on the eardrum. Water that gets into the auricle, with a sharp cold wind outside or low temperatures, cools down, thereby causing an inflammatory process. In this case, all pain symptoms will disappear as soon as health is restored.

But a cold affects not only the tissues of the ear canal directly. Everyone knows that it usually begins with the throat or nose. As a rule, diseases localized in these human organs often give pain to the ear, although such symptoms are less intense.

Otitis is the most frequently diagnosed disease, which often develops after an untreated or "on the feet" cold, which had an infectious or viral nature. Otolaryngologists divide acute otitis into purulent and catarrhal. The essence of the difference is that the latter occurs without the formation of abscesses, and in the case of diagnosing the first, the ear canal is filled with pus produced by pathogenic flora, which must be removed, while sanitizing the cavity.

The cause of pain can also be swelling that has affected the tissues of the auditory tube; by eliminating the swelling with constricting drugs, it is possible to get rid of the unpleasant symptom.

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Symptoms of ear pain during a cold

We begin to feel the onset of a cold when uncomfortable symptoms appear that begin to bother the sick person. And the symptoms of ear pain during a cold are just one of them.

Usually, it all starts with a sore throat or itching inside the ear. Gradually, the cold begins to "grow" with other symptoms. This may be a combination of all the factors listed below, or only some of them may appear.

• Ear congestion, decreased threshold of sound perception.
• The emergence of sleep problems. Ear pain simply does not allow you to sleep normally, exhausting you.
• Feverish condition. Body temperature may rise to 40 ºС.
• A constant background noise that haunts the patient.
• Liquid discharge of a greenish, white or yellowish, less often brown, shade. This fact may indicate a perforation of the eardrum, which arose as a result of an infectious lesion of the organ.
• Irritability.
• Pain when swallowing.
• Dizziness.

After a person has caught a cold, the pain does not begin to bother immediately, but only after a certain period of time, when the inflammatory process has already started and is rapidly progressing. The main thing is not to waste time and start therapy during this period, otherwise the inflammation will affect the inner part of the auditory canal, which is more serious. The intensity of the shooting pain becomes unbearable.

Diagnosis of ear pain due to cold

Before determining the pathology, it is necessary to make an appointment with a doctor. In this case, such a specialist is an otolaryngologist. Diagnosis of ear pain during a cold begins with a specialist examining the ear canal using a special ENT instrument - an otoscope.

An eardrum that is not damaged by the disease has an even, slightly transparent grayish-pink hue.

An indicator of the disease is hyperemic mucous membrane of the canal, its swelling, and the presence of other pathological symptoms.

Using a pneumatic otoscope, the doctor checks for the presence or absence of fluid. A small amount of air is blown into the canal. This is to produce vibration of the eardrum. If the required response force is not observed, then there is a fluid accumulation in the canal.

When clinically indicated, tympanometry is performed to diagnose the infectious nature of the disease.

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Treatment for ear pain due to colds

A cold, it would seem, is not such a dangerous disease, but how many unpleasant hours and days does it bring to the person who suffers from it? Therefore, at the first signs of its onset, it is necessary to contact a qualified specialist who, having made the correct diagnosis, will give the necessary recommendations and prescribe treatment therapy.

Treatment of ear pain due to a cold has two main goals: relieving pain and stopping the inflammatory process, bringing the patient’s body to complete recovery.

If the patient starts solving the problem when the disease has not yet entered a severe phase, it is quite possible to get by with special drops that will suppress the inflammation and, therefore, relieve the person of pain. In this case, the otolaryngologist prescribes analgesics and anti-inflammatory drugs.

The following painkillers may be prescribed: paracetamol, spazgan, celecoxib, phenazone, maxigan, metamizole sodium, analgin, spazdolzine, meloxicam and others.

Paracetamol is prescribed to the patient in the following dosage:

• For adult patients and adolescents (over twelve years of age) – one to two tablets two to four times a day, but the daily amount of medication taken should not exceed 4 g.
• Younger children, aged between six and twelve years, usually take half or a whole tablet four times daily.
• For very young patients who are already three months old but not yet six years old, the dosage is calculated individually at 10 mg for each kilogram of the baby’s weight.

Contraindications to taking paracetamol include severe kidney and/or liver dysfunction, alcoholism, anemia, hypersensitivity to the components of the drug, as well as the first trimester of pregnancy.

To relieve inflammation, the following are usually prescribed: ibuprofen, tiaprofenic acid, indomethacin, naproxen, piroxicam, fenbufen, ketoprofen and others.

Ibuprofen is administered orally, immediately after meals. For moderate pain symptoms, the patient should take 1.2 g per day.

It is strictly forbidden to include ibuprofen in the treatment protocol if the patient has a history of ulcerative colitis, perforation or ulcerative lesion of the mucous membrane of the digestive tract, hematopoiesis disorders, vision problems, severe kidney and liver dysfunction, amblyopia, as well as hypersensitivity to one or more components of the drug.

If the inflammatory process has reached a severe stage, accompanied by severe pain and purulent discharge, then it will no longer be possible to cope with the problem without the help of antibiotics. Taking them will definitely rid the body of the infection and speed up the recovery itself.

The following may be prescribed: Anauran, Otofa, Sofradex, Normax (Norfloxacin), Otipax, Otinum, Cipromed, Kandibiotic and others.

Ear drops Candibiotic are applied locally. Four to five drops should be instilled into the ear canal three to four times a day. The duration of the therapeutic course is from seven to ten days, but relief can be expected after three to five days.

Contraindications include increased intolerance to the component composition of the drops, as well as perforation of the eardrum. Candibiotic is also not used to treat children under six years of age.

If the inflammation affects the tissues of the outer ear, antiseptic ointments and solutions are prescribed. Thus, warming applications based on boric acid or alcohol-vodka compresses can be used, which are applied to the affected organ for 10-15 minutes.

Homeopathic medicines are also used, but they are not as effective in severe forms of the disease.

In the presence of purulent discharge, doctors often prescribe myringotomy (ear tubes) to help drain pus and accumulated fluid. The attending physician takes this step if the discharge has been observed for more than three months. The second indication for its use may be frequent infections that recur in the ear canal.

To relieve the patient from the accumulation of pathological discharge, the doctor carefully inserts a thin tube made of special plastic or metal through a hole in the eardrum. Depending on the effectiveness of the treatment process, such a tube is installed in the ear for a period of eight months to a year and a half. After the need for it disappears, it comes out on its own. If necessary, this period can be extended, but this decision remains within the competence of the specialist.

Earache Remedy for Colds

When pain symptoms appear, many of our compatriots, ignoring a visit to a doctor, try to treat themselves, which is not only futile, but also simply dangerous, especially if the disease has entered the acute phase of the course. After all, in the acute form of the course, warming compresses are strictly prohibited, and it is unacceptable to use medicines in the form of ear drops. Therefore, a remedy for ear pain during a cold should be prescribed only by a qualified specialist. It is the doctor who is able to correctly assess the clinical picture and prescribe effective drug treatment.

In the treatment of ear pain, mainly topical medications are used. Often in the prescription list, for a mild form of cold, you can see such drops as otinum, otipax, sofradex and their analogues.

As the disease progresses and otitis passes into the acute stage, the above drops are usually no longer used, so as not to aggravate the situation. The emphasis is on stronger broad-spectrum antibiotics.

Quite often, modern methods of treatment in the fight against pyogenic bacteria in the middle ear use laser therapy.

The insidiousness of a cold is that its first symptoms are well felt by the patient, while it is almost impossible to determine a full recovery without the help of a doctor. Therefore, if a person did not visit a specialist, but took treatment on his own, relying on the recommendations of a pharmacist from a drugstore, then an untreated disease threatens to develop into a chronic condition with a sluggish pathology, which increases the risk of relapse of exacerbation of otitis.

Folk remedies for ear pain due to colds

Colds have haunted humanity since the moment it began to perceive itself as an individual, separated from the animal world. Over the entire period of conscious existence of humanity, it has managed to accumulate considerable experience in the treatment of this or that disease.

The range of recipes that can relieve pain symptoms in the ear area is also quite wide. Folk remedies for ear pain during a cold are numerous, but we will only provide some of them in the article.

• Lavender oil, thuja oil, calendula or mint tincture will help relieve the pain. You should instill five drops of the medicine several times a day, and the pain will gradually subside.
• You can apply a bandage of medical cotton wool or a napkin soaked in vodka or alcohol diluted with water to the sore ear. Keep the warming procedure for about twenty minutes.
• Simply chewing cloves can help relieve tinnitus, which often accompanies pain.
• You can try to relieve the inflammation using hot bags of salt. To do this, take a canvas bag and pour well-heated salt into it. It should be applied to the sore spot every hour and a half. The procedure should be repeated until the pain syndrome disappears and the inflammation is relieved.
• Horseradish juice is used as ear drops. Two drops three times a day are enough and the pain, and with it the disease, gradually subsides.
• Garlic oil is also used, which can be purchased at a pharmacy or prepared at home. For the medicine, you will need 100 ml of very hot, but not boiling, vegetable oil. Add two cloves of garlic, previously crushed or chopped with a knife. Let it brew and strain. Make a turunda from gauze, bandage or cotton wool (roll a flagellum), soak it in the resulting solution and carefully place it in the sore ear, leaving it for about ten minutes. This composition is an excellent disinfectant that inhibits fungal organisms and microbes.
• When you have a cold, you should eat lemon with its zest every day.
• You can make a propolis tincture. Take 10 g of the bee product and put it in the refrigerator for a while, after which it will be easy to grind on a grater. Place the resulting shavings in a dark glass vessel, where you add 70° wine alcohol. The liquid should cover the propolis. Seal the vessel and leave it to brew for eight to ten days in a cool, dark place. The preparation must be shaken several times a day (up to five). After this time, the tincture should be moved to the refrigerator for 10 to 12 hours. The medicine can be filtered and used. Before use, take a few drops in proportions of 1: 1, dilute the tincture with water. Moisten a turunda (cotton wool or gauze) in the liquid and place it in the sore ear for about twenty minutes. If a strong burning sensation appears, it is better to remove the preparation.
• Turundas soaked in onion juice and placed in the sore ear for half an hour work well.
• A fresh geranium leaf will help relieve pain and inflammation. It can be used both as a crushed gruel, which is placed in the ear canal, and as a rolled-up tube. But for this, the rolled leaf is cut at a right angle and placed inside with the cut side. Next, a piece of cotton wool should be placed on the ear and pressed with a scarf tied around the head. The leaf should be changed periodically.
• You can take a mixture of two oils: linseed and onion. Apply it to cotton wool and place it in the ear for three hours. After the specified period, change the tampon, putting in a new portion of oil.
• A prepared tincture of calamus rhizome is also suitable for compresses. Grind the raw material (ten grams) and pour 100 ml of vodka and put it in a dark, cool place for ten days. Three to four drops should be dripped into both ears daily. At the same time, this tincture is taken orally (inside) 30 drops.

However, it should be noted that no matter how safe traditional medicine methods may seem, they should only be used with the permission of the attending physician and, often, in conjunction with medical drugs.

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Treating Ear Pain During a Cold at Home

When diagnosing otitis, only if a severe form of the disease is detected can the otolaryngologist refer the patient for inpatient treatment. In most cases, ear pain during a cold is treated at home.

In this case, the doctor must fully describe the regimen for taking medications and the corresponding procedures. Quite widely in the treatment of the pathology in question, methods and recipes of alternative medicine are used. It should only be remembered that all these measures can be carried out at home only with the permission of your attending physician. In this way, the patient will protect himself from many problems and complications, while coming to a full recovery in a shorter period of time.

It would be useful to know a number of medical recommendations, the use of which will allow you to avoid a number of mistakes in treatment, preserving your health.

• Warming compresses can be used if body temperature does not exceed 38°C.
• Oil applications can also be used in treatment, but they are less practical. For example, heated camphor or vegetable oil. But the warming effect of such compresses lasts longer. It can be kept for up to six hours.
• Before introducing the medicine into the ear canal, it is advisable to rinse the cavity with a 3% solution of hydrogen peroxide. The procedure is carried out lying on the side. Seven to eight drops of liquid are introduced into the ear. You should lie like this for about ten minutes. If the inflammation affects both ears, a similar procedure is carried out for the other ear canal.

Ear drops for colds and ear pain

In the treatment of the problem under consideration, one of the first places is given to locally acting medications used in the form of a solution that is instilled into the ear.

Ear drops for colds have different pharmacodynamics, therefore, based on the existing accompanying symptoms, one or the other is prescribed. The most effective drug for the existing clinical picture is prescribed only by the attending physician.

These drugs may have vasoconstrictive, anti-inflammatory and/or analgesic properties.

In case of otitis, the medicine is administered warm using a medical pipette. The temperature of the liquid should be about 36 - 37 degrees.

Most often, when diagnosing otitis, doctors prescribe drops that have antibacterial and analgesic properties: albucid, otipax, anauran, sofradex, otinum, tsipromed.

Otium is usually prescribed for inflammatory processes affecting the middle ear, as well as in cases of acute catarrhal inflammation of the outer tissues. The active active compound of the drug is choline salicylate, which allows it to have an analgesic and anti-inflammatory effect on the body.

It is recommended to use the drug in question three to four times a day, introducing three to four drops into the sore ear.

The instillation procedure itself is simple, but it should still be followed. The patient lies on his side, with the sore ear facing up. The instillation is done in this position, after which the person should lie down for another two to three minutes.

Such medications should not be used if the patient has been found to have hypersensitivity to one or more components of the administered drug, or if there is a perforation of the eardrum.

Otipax is used to relieve cold symptoms of any etiology. In addition to its analgesic and anti-inflammatory effects, this medicine also has properties that allow it to destroy pathogenic microorganisms and inhibit their reproduction and development.

Like the previous drops, it is used locally, two to three times a day, four to five drops. This medicine has virtually no contraindications, so it is approved for treatment even for infants.

Contraindications include only hypersensitivity to the components of the drug, as well as mechanical damage to the eardrum, and the possibility of developing an allergic reaction to lidocaine.

Despite the fact that otipax is not an antibiotic, it is actively and quite effectively used in the treatment of otitis.

Sofradex can be found on pharmacy shelves, both in the form of ointments and drops. The pharmacological characteristics of sofradex allow to relieve symptoms of otitis of any etiological source. It has a wide spectrum of action: a strong antibiotic, effectively affecting pathogenic microorganisms, anti-inflammatory and antihistamine.

Sofradex is equally effective against both gram-negative and gram-positive bacteria.

The medicine is administered into the sore ear, two to three drops three to four times throughout the day.

The drug has a number of contraindications, which include increased intolerance of the patient's body to the components of the drug, viral or fungal infections, perforation of the eardrum, tuberculosis.

Therefore, sofradex can be used only as prescribed by the attending physician, excluding all contraindications. The duration of the treatment course is no more than seven days.

Anauran drops, due to their composition (polymyxin B, neomycin, lidocaine) effectively suppress the reproduction and further development of both gram-negative and gram-positive bacteria. Due to the lidocaine present in it, they have analgesic properties.

Anauran is indicated for use for no more than seven days. It is recommended to administer four to five drops into the ear canal, doing two to four approaches per day.

Contraindication to use is hypersensitivity of the patient's body to the components of the drug, including lidocaine.

Drops cipromed, the active substance of which is ciprofloxacin, act on the pharmaceutical market as an ophthalmological drug, but, nevertheless, it has shown itself to be excellent in stopping otitis. It has an antimicrobial effect, effectively influencing a wide range of gram-negative microflora, both active and passive action.

The recommended course of therapy with cipromed should not exceed 14 days. To achieve the desired result, the patient receives five drops three times a day. After instillation, the ear opening should be closed with a cotton swab.

The medicine is not allowed for use if the human body is intolerant to its components.

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Prevention of ear pain during a cold

When the first signs of a cold appear, a person instinctively tries to get rid of them quickly, preventing complications and worsening of the condition. Prevention of ear pain during a cold is absolutely identical for both adults and small patients.

• Pain symptoms in the ear area may be a consequence of some infectious disease, such as flu. Therefore, you should protect your body and your child's body from infectious damage. This is especially important during epidemics and the spring-autumn period, when the number of diseases increases sharply.
• It is necessary to maintain your immune status at a high level. To do this, it is necessary to regularly harden the body, properly and fully feed it, introducing a sufficient amount of vitamins and microelements into your diet.
• If necessary, it is worth getting vaccinated against particularly dangerous viral infections.
• It is worth giving up bad habits, and avoiding passive smoking, which weakens the body. It is dangerous for both children and non-smoking adults.
• Irritants that can cause an allergic reaction should be avoided. This fact also takes away the body's strength to resist diseases.
• It is advisable to feed infants with mother's milk until they are one year old. Breast milk contains antibodies that can protect the baby from colds and a number of infectious diseases.
• It is necessary to regularly carry out wet cleaning and ventilation in the living space.
• When the first signs of a cold appear, you should visit a doctor and begin treatment immediately.

Ear pain prognosis with cold

It is probably almost impossible to find a person who completely ignores the pathological symptoms of a cold, including pain in the ear. Therefore, the prognosis for ear pain during a cold is, in the overwhelming majority, favorable.

It is unlikely that there is at least one person who has never suffered from the symptoms of a cold. Ear pain is especially bothersome with a cold. In the acute course of the disease, its intensity is very difficult to bear. Therefore, at the slightest suspicion of infection, it is necessary to take adequate measures. But so that self-treatment does not lead to a worsening of the situation and complications of the disease, it is necessary to come to a specialist for a consultation in a timely manner. In our case, this is an otolaryngologist. And remember, your health is in your hands!