What Are The Best Medications And Home Remedies For Curing Your Earache?

Earaches are probably some of the most painful types of suffering you can experience and in some cases they are so bad, that you cannot even speak. If you are currently having a bad earache and you have no idea what you can do to feel better, don't worry about it. Below we're going to take a closer look at how to ease an earache and alleviate that unbearable pain as soon as possible.

The Difference Between the Symptoms of an Ear Infection and a Cold?

When you have a cold, the symptoms may be a burning, dull or sharp pain in the ear which is generally mild, but it can also get very painful. Even if the fluid that’s trapped in the ear isn't infected, it will still put some pressure on your eardrum causing it to throb and bulge.

While generally an earache can occur with a cold virus first, there are cases when a secondary ear infection can appear. Such infections are very painful in the beginning and generally sudden in onset. Why is that? Well, it's because the drum's sensory nerve endings will immediately respond to an increased pressure with pain. 

How Are Earaches From an Ear Infection or Cold Treated?

The good news is that ear infections can generally be treated with ease, since nowadays there are many effective treatments you can use. The treatment can include pain medications, observation of symptoms and antibiotics for bacterial ear infections. Some examples of treatments you may be recommended by your doctor include:

1. Myringotomy to relieve ear fluid: If you have repeated ear infections or if fluid will remain in your ear for more than 90 days, you may have to see your doctor right away. He will insert small plastic or metal tubes through your eardrum in order to keep the ear free of infection and fluid. It's generally a procedure that’s done mainly for children and only under general anesthesia. After the procedure is over, the tubes will remain there between eight to eighteen months and eventually fall on their own. Depending on the case, the tubes may be left in the ear for a longer period of time.
2. Antibiotics for an ear infection: Doctors will recommend you take antibiotics in order to kill the bacteria that caused the infection. However, you should know that they're not needed for treating earaches due to a virus or cold. Some of the side effects you may experience after using antibiotics include yeast infections, rashes, diarrhea and nausea.
3. Pain relief for an earache: Ibuprofen or Acetaminophen can help alleviate your earache with a fever or cold over one hundred and two degrees Fahrenheit. After taking them, the medications will reduce the pain within 1 to 2 hours.

Natural ways to treat your ear infection

Olive Oil has been used for a very long time for those who suffer from ear infections and that is because it provides fast relief. The reason olive oil is recommended to be used for treating ear infection is because it acts as a lubricant and thus clears out the infection. Not only that, but it's also very useful if you have buzzing sensations in the ear. Use it by:

1. Putting three to four drops of lukewarm olive oil as ear drops into your ear canal.
2. If you want, you can use a cotton bud and put it in your ear after you dipped it in olive oil.

Garlic

Garlic has very powerful antibiotic and analgesic properties and because of that, it's very useful if you want to alleviate the pain your ear infection is causing you. You can use it in the following way:

1. Get two tablespoons of sesame oil.
2. Mince one teaspoon of garlic and heat it in the oil.
3. Cool and filter the heated oil.
4. Put two or three drops of this mix in the infected ear.

Another way to do this is to consider extracting the juice out of a few garlic cloves putting it into the aching ear.

Onion

If you didn’t know, one of the most readily available cures for earaches is onion. That is because it has very powerful antibacterial and antiseptic properties which are going to make you feel better in no time. To reduce the pain your ear infection is causing you, you should:

1. Get a piece of clean cloth, crush a fresh onion and then wrap it in the cloth.
2. Next, you need to hold the cloth over the aching ear for five to ten minutes.
3. Repeat the previous steps a few times per day.

If you want, you can also consider extracting one tablespoon of onion juice after you’ve grated some onions and then heat it up over low heat. After that, all that’s left to do is put two to three drops into the aching ear two to three times a day.

Hot Water Bottle

Alleviating the pain an infected ear is causing you can be easily done by putting moist heat around it. To do this, you need to get a plastic bottle, fill it with hot water and then press it against the infected ear for 5 minutes.

Ginger

Due to its strong anti-inflammatory properties, ginger is a wonderful pain reliever if you suffer from an ear infection. Not only that, but it's also a natural and very effective painkiller. To use it, you should:

1. Get some fresh ginger, extract its juice and then put it in the inflamed ear. 
2. If you want, you can also mix a quarter cup of warm sesame oil with one tablespoon of fresh ginger. Make sure you leave it for a bit to cool off and then apply this mixture around the inflamed ear.

Earaches are definitely one of the most painful types of infections you can experience and if you don't have the possibility of going to a pharmacy or you just can't go there since it's too far or the pain is too great, then you don't even need to worry about that. With these natural cures for ear infections, you'll easily be able to alleviate your pain in just a few hours and without having to spend money on expensive medications.