Instructions

• Instructions for new users

Call Your Doctor Now If:

• Your child looks or acts very sick
• Pink or red swelling behind the ear
• Clear or bloody fluid following head injury
• Bleeding from the ear canal (Exception: few drops following an ear exam by your doctor)
• Fever > 105°F (40.6°C)

Call Your Doctor Within 24 Hours If:

• You think your child needs to be seen
• Ear pain or unexplained crying
• Discharge is yellow or green, cloudy white or foul-smelling (pus)
• Clear drainage (not from a head injury) persists > 24 hours

Call Your Doctor During Weekday Hours If:

• You have other questions or concerns

Home Care (Read "Call Your Doctor…" first):

Earwax

Earwax protects the lining of the ear canal and has germ-killing properties. If the earwax is removed, the ear canals become itchy.

Call back if: begins to look like pus (yellow or green discharge).

Clear Discharge (without head trauma)

It's probably tears or water that entered the ear canal during a bath, shower, swimming or water fight:

• Don't overlook eardrops your child or someone else used without telling you
• In children with ventilation tubes, some clear or slightly cloudy fluid can occur when a temporary tube blockage opens up and drains
• Call back if clear drainage persists > 24 hours or recurs

Blood After Ear Exam

If your doctor had to remove ear wax in order to see the eardrum, about 10% of the time this causes a small scratch to the lining of the ear canal. Usually the scratch oozes 1 or 2 drops of blood and then clots.

This should heal up completely in a few days. It shouldn't affect the hearing. Don't put anything in the ear canal because it will probably re-start the bleeding. Call back if continues to bleed.

Suspected Ear Infection

Give acetaminophen (e.g. Tylenol) or ibuprofen for pain relief until the office visit. (See earache for details).