posted
Natalie, my oldest was complaining of her ear hurting, I looked at it seemed to be just a pimple inside the ear. So I told her just to be careful of it and it would go away.
Well, 3 days later she came downstairs after bedtime saying she was trying to sleep but her ear hurt too badly. Her entire ear was bright red, almost purple. I of course kept her home from school the next morning and took her to the doctor, which was yesterday.
He said it looks like a staph infection and it's already spread some beyond the ear, there is some pinkness around her cheek and upper jaw. The ear is swollen, and still purplish and hot. She's on antibiotics and he has her applying dry heat three times a day but he wants to see her Monday if it hasn't gotten any better by then.
She's taken every med, and is doing the heat but it's not improving yet, I know it's only one day. But the doctor seemed worried, and that of course makes me worry, especially after my cousin's bout with flesh eating bacteria.
So good thoughts and prayers will be appreciated. Thanks guys.
Posts: 14428 | Registered: Aug 2001
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An RN at church looked at it and recommended we return to the doctor tomorrow. She said with it being most likely staph (we need a culture to be sure) her next step could be IV antibiotics.
Posts: 14428 | Registered: Aug 2001
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posted
BTW, when we were in AL we got staph infections a couple of times (and they were exquisitely painful). I had one on my leg and it hurt just to walk. Aside from visits to the doctor, colloidal silver (both topically applied and a small amount ingested orally) seemed to work well. The swelling and pain went down rather quickly. They stopped not long after we moved back to AZ.
Posts: 1346 | Registered: Jun 1999
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posted
(((Natalie))) I had mastoiditis as a little kid that made my ear turn the wrong way and landed me in the hospital. Prayer seemed to work just before I was to go under the knife. The surgeon thought there might have been a chart mixup.
Posts: 2010 | Registered: Apr 2003
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posted
That's hard, especially for a kid. I hope it gets taken care of soon. My sister had a staff infection once that required IV antibiotics. We could watch it spreading before she got treated. I know that sounds difficult, and getting the IV is hard but it worked very well.
Another thing that works topically is something called Tea Tree oil. It is penetrating too, so it doesn't just work on the skin. My sister got the same infection a couple of other times, and we were able to stop it in its track with this stuff.
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Please know that little Natalie is being prayed for by hundreds of people as we speak. May the Lord's healing hand be upon her.
Posts: 56 | Registered: May 2005
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The doctor was disturbed that it hadn't gotten better, but he did note that according to the notes her chart about the extent of it on Friday, it hadn't changed or spread any further, either. It was exactly as it was, he said the notes could have been written that day.
She's still in pain, obviously, and there is some crusting and weeping in the middle of the external ear. Thankfully the ear canal itself is not affected.
Since the antbiotics seem to be holding it at bay, he wants to keep doing what we're doing but he added a topical antibiotic and steroid to be applied to the area in addition to what we're already doing.
She went to school today, said as long as she doesn't bump or tug on her ear it doesn't bother her much, but this child has extremely high pain tolerance - she's the one who had a broken bone in her thumb and didn't tell us it was bothering her because it only hurt "a little" And she's the same one whose ear drum almost ruptured before she asked us to take her to the doctor.
We'll just keep praying that it heals, though I don't think there's been much change today.
Posts: 14428 | Registered: Aug 2001
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posted
As I wrote in response to quidscribis bout with ear infection
quote:...considering the prevalence of antibiotic-resistant strains of otitis-causing bacteria. It may be that all you are doing is breeding greater [antibiotic] resistance into your [daughter's] bacterial colony.
If you click on the link, you'll see that the recommended dosage for treatment has been bumped up considerably. And your physician may not have been informed about the CDC's new recommendation. So you may want to talk to your physician about high-dosage treatment.
Posts: 8501 | Registered: Jul 2001
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Does anyone talk to Belle on the phone? Maybe someone who does might call her and tell her about aspectre's post? And give us an update?
Posts: 9871 | Registered: Aug 2001
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posted
Good idea. I switched to the higher dosage of antibiotics, and two courses later, it still didn't work, so had to switch to another antibiotic to finally kill the thing.
Posts: 8355 | Registered: Apr 2003
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Hey guys, we have been dealing with a new crisis. Natalie is doing better, thankfully. Either the addition of the topical antibiotic made the difference or the oral antibiotic finally took hold, but it has gotten much better, not nearly as red and the swollen area is much smaller.
Emily was treated the same day for an earache, and all the doctor found was a build up of wax. He had it irrigated, told me to put drops in her ear as well and it should be fine. Well it hasn't been fine, she's still in pain and today was sent to the nurses office crying, and the nurse called me to say that there was still a bunch of wax in the ear, she couldn't see the eardrum.
So I decided to take matters into my own hand and irrigate it some more at home. Note to anyone else attempting this - don't give up. Ear irrigation is a long process. I was poised to quit after getting very little out after a good five minutes of squirting water in her ear when finally we got some major chunks of icky stuff. (sorry for the faint of heart or weak stomached)
So I kept going, and was finally rewarded with what probably caused the whole thing - a tiny blue tube. Yep, she had tubes placed surgically when she was 11 months old, and this one had never fallen out. It had probably fallen out of the eardrum and become lodged in the ear canal, where the ear's natural defense systems treated it like a foreign object and wax got built up around it for a long time, maybe years, I don't know. At any rate, it's out now, she says she feels tons better. Bet she can hear better too.
So Natalie's better, I saved the day with Emily, and if I can only get rid of the impetigo that Abigail just came down with I'll be doing good. Posts: 14428 | Registered: Aug 2001
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Glad to hear that Natalie is doing better. We hope that all of your children are illness/injury free soon. Still praying for complete recoveries all around! JenniK and Kwea
Posts: 325 | Registered: Aug 2002
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That's awesome, Belle! Thanks for the encouraging words about earwax and persistence. That's an issue with my daughter too, though not because of tubes. I'll remember for the next time I have to irrigate her ear. It's my least favorite thing to do. Rainy doesn't like it much either.
Posts: 5948 | Registered: Jun 2001
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