Tap Posted February 11, 2011 Share Posted February 11, 2011 DD12 has been sick for a week. Heavy, heavy congestion. On Tues night, she got a sudden and very painful earache. I got her through the night and on Wednesday she saw the dr. The dr said she had an ear infection and prescribed antibiotics due to the pain level (she prefers to wait a few days to see if ear inf. will clear on their own). She was in terrible pain for the hours after the appt. but slept through the night. She says she is still hurting but not as bad as the worst of it. Then suddenly, she says "why has my ear been leaking"? She says it had been leaking for about a day, but just didn't say anything. LOL As best as I can tell, it drips clear fluid, about one drip per hour. She is still hurting and can't hear. She says it sounds different today, as opposed to yesterday, when she saw the dr and we assume it was still intact. I will call the dr tomorrow, but aside from avoiding showers is there anything I need to know about a rupture? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ibbygirl Posted February 11, 2011 Share Posted February 11, 2011 I just went through this over Christmas. Identical thing. I was sick with the flu for 3 weeks and the last week it moved into my ear and I had INTENSE pain for about 10 days. My ear drum ruptured and was oozing for a few days, then it was literally running out and dripping on my shoulder and then it went back to oozing. The doctor prescribed me heavy duty anti-biotics and ear drops. The pain went away after 10 days to where I could touch it without it hurting. I'm still waiting for my hearing to come back completely in that ear, but it's better little by little. I'm so sorry for your dd. It is not a pleasant experience. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tap Posted February 11, 2011 Author Share Posted February 11, 2011 I just went through this over Christmas. Identical thing. I was sick with the flu for 3 weeks and the last week it moved into my ear and I had INTENSE pain for about 10 days. My ear drum ruptured and was oozing for a few days, then it was literally running out and dripping on my shoulder and then it went back to oozing. The doctor prescribed me heavy duty anti-biotics and ear drops. The pain went away after 10 days to where I could touch it without it hurting. I'm still waiting for my hearing to come back completely in that ear, but it's better little by little. I'm so sorry for your dd. It is not a pleasant experience. That sux! I hope it doesn't last that many days here! She says it is starting to drip more, and I see her wiping her neck so I am guessing it is true. :( Did you find anything that helped with the pain? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ibbygirl Posted February 11, 2011 Share Posted February 11, 2011 That sux! I hope it doesn't last that many days here! She says it is starting to drip more, and I see her wiping her neck so I am guessing it is true. :( Did you find anything that helped with the pain? The doctor told me to take Tylenol. It helped a very little bit, but a little is better than nothing. The most intense pain came from the fluid in my ear. As it drained, it got less and less painful and by the 10th day I could touch it without it hurting, but the first say 5-6 days were rough. I couldn't sleep at all for the first 3 because the pain was too intense. I actually started a thread on it when it happened looking for help because it moved into my ear on a Saturday evening and so I had to wait until Monday morning to get in to see the doc. Some of the good folks here recommended a heating pad or a hot water bottle on the ear. I used a heating pad, but it didn't really alleviate the pain much for me. Maybe it would work better with your dd? It's worth a try anyway. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ibbygirl Posted February 11, 2011 Share Posted February 11, 2011 FWIW, my the junk that was oozing out of my ear had blood in it. (sorry that's so gross I know :ack2: ) so I don't know if that makes any kind of difference or not to the level of pain or the number of days? If you're dd's is clear, maybe hers won't take as long to heal?? I really don't know... I'm just wondering aloud. Mine bled bright red at the beginning of the oozing and then it turned to more of a brownish red after the gushing part when it went back to the oozing. I hope your poor dd feels better soon. I hope she has a speedy recovery. :grouphug: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Donna Posted February 11, 2011 Share Posted February 11, 2011 My dd had two ear infections in her life...one at 12 months and the other at 5yo. Both times she went to the doctor for antibiotics and was given double dose amoxicillin (2nd time I warned the doctor it wouldn't work for her but he insisted it would) and both times her ear drum ruptured. She had a lot of pain right before the rupture but always felt better once it ruptured and the pressure eased. Warm compresses seemed to help. She was prescribed Augmentin orally and another antibiotic in an ear drop and she healed fine with no residual damage that we know of. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
In the Rain Posted February 11, 2011 Share Posted February 11, 2011 Both of my dds have had ruptures. In every case, the pain diminished once the pressure was relieved. I hope your dd feels better this morning. :grouphug: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
unsinkable Posted February 11, 2011 Share Posted February 11, 2011 We've had quite a few ruptures here. In our case, the pain diminishes drastically after the rupture b/c the pain was mostly from the pressure of the gunk behind the eardrum. You wouldn't believe the yuck that comes out. We use hot water bottles and motrin/tylentol (alternating) for the pain. :grouphug: Hope she feels better soon. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pippen Posted February 11, 2011 Share Posted February 11, 2011 Veteran of 8 eardrum ruptures here--all mine. I wouldn't worry too much about showers--I just used a foam earplug and it was fine. I'd start the antibiotic if you haven't already, along with taking a decongestant. I did better sleeping in a recliner or with head elevated as it was much worse when I went horizontal. A heating pad on low helped with pain. Do take any complaints of pain seriously. Some ruptures went pretty easy but with others the pains were as severe as labor pains and wouldn't ease up until the rupture occured. I haven't had one in years but I've had a lot of allergy shots, sinus surgery and an ear tube since then. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tammyla Posted February 11, 2011 Share Posted February 11, 2011 Poor kid:grouphug:. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tap Posted February 11, 2011 Author Share Posted February 11, 2011 Thanks everyone, I appreciate the advice and comfort. She has been on antibioics for almost 2 days and she is still hurting pretty bad. She is my tough kid so if she says she is hurting, I know it is bad. I put a call in to the dr to see if they will call in something a bit stronger for the pain, especially since the weekend is coming up. I called into work for the day so I can take her into the dr if she needs me to. Ugggh. Poor kid. Thanks for the ideas....we have been doing it all. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bootsie Posted February 11, 2011 Share Posted February 11, 2011 If you think that the eardrum is ruptured I would contact the doctor to see if any prescribed antibiotics should be continued. My dd has had this happen a couple of times and there are some drops our doctor said should not be used if the eardrum has ruptured. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tap Posted February 11, 2011 Author Share Posted February 11, 2011 If you think that the eardrum is ruptured I would contact the doctor to see if any prescribed antibiotics should be continued. My dd has had this happen a couple of times and there are some drops our doctor said should not be used if the eardrum has ruptured. Thanks for the thought. Her antibiotic is only oral so no worries. She had pain relieving ear drops, but they made it hurt worse so we never used them again. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ocelotmom Posted February 11, 2011 Share Posted February 11, 2011 Do take any complaints of pain seriously. Some ruptures went pretty easy but with others the pains were as severe as labor pains and wouldn't ease up until the rupture occured. Yes. I've only had one severe ear infection (which resulted in an eardrum rupture less than 12 hours after the pain started), but the pain was horrible. The rupture helped some, but it continued to hurt badly after that. I was alternating tylenol and advil as often as I safely could for days, and I avoid pain medication as a rule (including three natural births, with no painkillers after the birth either for two of them). And that didn't make things entirely better, just more bearable. It definitely gave me new sympathy for little kids who can't express themselves yet who get ear infections. I did have some hearing and minor balance problems for about a month after as a result of that infection, but it did eventually heal up without problem. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wapiti Posted February 11, 2011 Share Posted February 11, 2011 More than once, discussing a ruptured ear drum with the ped or ENT, the doc would chuckle and call it a "natural PE tube." Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tap Posted February 11, 2011 Author Share Posted February 11, 2011 More than once, discussing a ruptured ear drum with the ped or ENT, the doc would chuckle and call it a "natural PE tube." LOL, I was thinking the same thing. I guess that is one way to get it to drain! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pippen Posted February 11, 2011 Share Posted February 11, 2011 More than once, discussing a ruptured ear drum with the ped or ENT, the doc would chuckle and call it a "natural PE tube." Once when I was having one of my first ruptures I went to ER in the middle of the night and the doc looked in my ear and started singing "Ti-ny bubbles..." It always felt so much better when it was over. Sounds were off for awhile though. I did have one that didn't clear well and had to have that aspirated by an ENT. That was no fun either. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
justamouse Posted February 11, 2011 Share Posted February 11, 2011 they kill, and it will for a long time. When she goes outside the cold in her ear will be wretched. Make sure she stuffs it with a cotton ball. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wapiti Posted February 11, 2011 Share Posted February 11, 2011 Once when I was having one of my first ruptures I went to ER in the middle of the night and the doc looked in my ear and started singing "Ti-ny bubbles..." :lol: One time I looked down at my poor crying 11-week-old baby and saw the bubbles on the lower part of his outer ear and I kept thinking, how did he get spit up in his ear? But soon I put two and two together and went off to the ped. The ped didn't believe me and thought I was nuts until she looked in his ear. More than once I've taken someone in to get their ears checked based on crying/irritability alone, and more than once I've been right. :glare: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
unsinkable Posted February 14, 2011 Share Posted February 14, 2011 T,T,T.... Any updates? How's the ear? Better, I hope! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tap Posted February 15, 2011 Author Share Posted February 15, 2011 T,T,T.... Any updates? How's the ear? Better, I hope! Dd was hurting so bad the night that I typed this, I took her to the dr the next day. She confirmed the rupture. We had spent the night trying to control it with OTC pain meds and it wasn't cutting it, so the dr prescribed her some Norco (similar to Vicodin) and that is helping a lot. It is now day 5 and she is still hurting. :( The meds control the pain, and she is good about only taking it when she has to. She finally went back to school today and handled the day fine. That is a blessing as she missed 5 days straight. :( Oh, how I miss the days of homeschool, when I could have just shelved everything until she was better. She is now 5 days behind. :glare: One good thing did come of it. Totally off topic but I have to tell someone :D DD has been saying that she doesn't like the math at her private school. While she was off, she did 5 lessons of TT6 ( I already bought it before we knew she was going to private school this year) on the topics that she missed while she was gone from school. During class today the teacher was talking to dd12. DD remarked how much better she learns from TTS method of teaching, and she is talking to her teacher about her way of learning and the teacher's way of teaching math, not working good for her. It was nice to hear that dd started a dialogue with her teacher and the teacher asked her for some suggestions on making it a better fit. YEAH. Gotta love a kid who can talk about learning styles, curriculum choice and a teacher who is willing to listen/make changes. :D FYI: It isn't a traditional private school it is a multiple intelligences school and there are a total of 15 kids in 5th and 6th grade, so the teacher has a bit more control over the content/methods. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mommymilkies Posted February 15, 2011 Share Posted February 15, 2011 I ruptured mine at her age. It was excruciating. The drops were the worst part. Mine wouldn't heal so I had a tympanoplasty. I actually re-ruptured it in August and since it won't heal, I have to have another tympanoplasty next month again. :( I hope your dd feels better! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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