My 5 year old son had brown foul smelling discharge from his ear after bath tonight. I only used the q tip very lighting just on the outside but it took about 10 q tips to clean. Good news is he is in no pain. He just learned to swim underwater this week and has been in a lot of different pools all week. Every time I looked at him he was underwater. I will call doc in a.m. but just wondering if there is anything I can out in his ear tonight to help drain whatever is trying to come out. Any help would be great!
Thank you all! Doc said no infection just a lot of wax build up and hydro peroxide a couple times a day will help drain. She did pull a lot of wax out of the office.
sounds like swimmers ear which will continue getting worse. don't get anything in it, drops or anything, until you see a doctor. might recommend using earplugs if he's underwater a lot.
glad he's not in pain.
Brown foul smelling discharge is most likely a sign of infection. My guess is he has "swimmer's ear"
I don't think there's anything you can do tonight but I'm sure the Dr will prescribe some ear drops to clear up the infection.
I got swimmer's ear a few times as a kid, but my parents didn't notice it until the pressure built up and my ear drum perforated (that happened twice). It's good he's in no pain because it's very painful when that pressure in the ear builds.
Maybe have him lay with his ear down on some moist heat. A heated wet washcloth? The heat may thin the discharge so it can drain more easily?
I now use a product called Swim Ear for my kids after they swim. It's basically alcohol drops you put in their ears after swimming to dry up any water in the ears to prevent an infection. I get mine at Walgreens or Walmart.
I wouldn't do anything to it until you talk to the doctor. Has he complained of any ear pain recently? I ask because my daughter was up one night just crying and fussing like crazy and the next day I noticed a discharge. She had perforated her eardrum! So if this even remotely might be the case with your son you def. don't want to do anything until the doctor can get in there and look.
I'm not sure if you should do this but when that happened to me as a kid and later I would turn the hair dryer to cold and dry the inside of my ears out. Ask you dr if it's ok but it always helped me.
the swimmer's ear drops work the same way but I HATE ear drops.
You could have him try to lay on that side if it is not painful to help drain it. I would not put anything in the ear because the Pediatrician will need to look inside to make sure the drum has not perforated. If its just in infection of the ear canal he will be prescribed drops. If his ear drum has perforated from a middle ear infection (the painful kind, which pain can be relieved after the drum perforates) he may get an oral and drops. If the drum has perforated they are careful to pick which drops are best because some are safe for perforated drums and some are not. Good luck!
I have never had swimmers ear but we always used plain rubbing alcohol to get any water in the ear out. I wouldn't do it until the doctor has checked him out though in case there is an infection or perforation. My son did have an eardrum burst from an ear infection and it healed up well following a round of antibiotics.
I would say see the doc. and by wax earplug for when he is swimming. You can buy them at walmart,target near the pharmacy. They come in different colors and styles. My daughter had to ware them all the time. She had the same problem. She has not had any problemss ever sence.
Good Luck
