Home Remedies For Ear Aches

The connection between our ears, sinus, and tonsil health with our overall gut/ immune system health is an interesting one. When we eat unhealthy foods or expose our bodies to too many toxins that cause inflammation, we can end up with ear aches, sinus infections, strep throat, and more. Luckily, with a whole foods diet, or following a gut healing protocol like the GAPS diet, we can reverse chronic infections and help prevent new ones. Learn how to quickly overcome infections with these home remedies for ear aches.

Disclaimer: I am not a doctor. Always consult your physician if you have infections or want to try natural remedies at home. This post shares information how to relieve ear infections, pain, and help prevent future infections, but is not intended as medical advice.

Fastest Home Remedies For Ear Aches

While there is never a convenient time to have an ear infection, it seemed we always ended up with a child having the 2am kind with sudden onset and severe pain. Nothing feels worse than having a child in pain and feeling helpless to resolve the situation. Blessedly, we do not have frequent ear aches anymore since changing our dietary and natural living choices, but we still have one on occasion. In such cases, we know how to resolve quickly at home.

Antibiotics For Ear Infections

Most ear infections are caused by viruses, which antibiotics cannot combat. Yet, it is extremely common for pediatricians to prescribe antibiotics for children with ear infections. This can cause further damage, as antibiotics kill the good bacteria with the bad, leading to a compromised digestive and immune system.

When we have inflammation, our ear canals, tonsils, and sinuses become ripe for infection. Natural remedies, such as those mentioned below, can help combat viruses, bacteria, inflammation, and soothe pain.

Best Home Remedies For Ear Aches

1. Lymphatic Massage At Home

During a 2am severely painful ear ache, we were able to help our son have pain relief by administering a lymphatic massage. After several minutes of massage, he asked, “Did you hear that click? I think I will be fine now.” He fell asleep nearly immediately and slept the remainder of the night.

For a lymphatic massage, add olive, castor, or coconut oil to a small dish to dip fingers in. Optionally add in cloves, lavender, oregano, and/or tea tree essential oils, making sure the overall mixture is quite diluted (I omit any essential pils for children younger than 2 years old). These essential oils help with pain, inflammation, and/or are antibacterial and anti-viral.

Dip two fingers on each hand into the oil. Starting behind the ear, gently but firmly stroke behind the base of the year. Continue rubbing down the neck along the lymph nodes until you reach the collar bone. You should be able to feel the lymph nodes as you are rubbing downward (likely they are inflamed from infection). If you are unsure, try doing the massage on yourself first to know where to apply gentle pressure.

2. Chiropractic Adjustments

A friend’s chiropractor is the one who recommended the effective lymphatic massage trick. An adjustment can also help so much. When our son was about 18 months old and had a double ear infection, we brought him to our Chiropractor. After confirming an infection and a gentle adjustment, he had clear fluid drain from his ears, slept really well, and was much less fussy upon waking. I recommend finding a local Webster certified Chiropractor (baby and pregnant mom specialist) with good reviews to help with overall immune system function and also acute infections and pain management.

3. Homeopathic Remedies

Certain oral homeopathic remedies target different illnesses or conditions. They can vary between people with different symptoms. For our family, belladonna is often the best remedy for ear aches. We give the pellets orally. We have also used these homeopathic ear drops to help resolve.

4. Garlic Mullein Oil

Apply garlic mullein oil directly inside the ear using a soaked cotton ball or dropper. Alternately, apply around the ear where you would do the lymphatic massage (see info above). We have never had a perforated ear drum, but this can happen. When we first started having children with ear aches, we purchased an otoscope to look in our children’s ears to make sure the ear drum is intact before putting any oils, tinctures, or homeopathic drops in the ear canal. If you do not have garlic mullein oil on hand, you can also make your own garlic olive oil. In a pan, heat crushed garlic cloves in olive oil on low for 5-10 minutes. Alternately, set the garlic and olive oil in a glass container inside a cup or bowl of hot water. Strain the garlic through a coffee filter, cheese cloth, or fine mesh sieve. Allow olive oil to cool until warm (not hot) before placing a few drops in the ears.

5. Keep Your Head Elevated

Keeping the head elevated, especially during sleep, can help relieve pressure and pain. Our younger children seemed most content to fall asleep in their carseat (either in a stroller attachment or on a drive) or sleeping against my chest. Older children seem to rest more comfortably in a reclining chair or when using multiple pillows.

6. Probiotics In The Throat

As mentioned above, the connection between our ears, sinuses, and tonsils with our overall immune health is an interesting one. Having an active and regular plan to populate our bodies with beneficial bacteria is really important. We routinely eat probiotic foods, like fermented veggies and milk kefir. In times of illness or increased health need, we also use a high quality commercial probiotic supplement.

After brushing teeth and drinking water before bed, empty a probiotic capsule onto the tongue. Try to allow the probiotics to slowly work over the tongue and throat before swallowing. (This is not always possible with younger children, just do your best).

7. Warmth Over The Ear

Apply a warm, wet washcloth, a heating pad, or a hot rice pack over the ear. This can help provide pain relief and also stimulate blood flow. Leaning the head toward the heat, or laying on top of the warmth can increase comfort.

8. Warm Epsom Salt Compress

Put Epsom salt in a cloth tea bag or sock. Tie it closed. Heat on low in a pan until warmed through. Gently hold against the ear the way you would with the warm compress mentioned above.

Prevention Of Chronic Ear Infections

Sometimes, we can do all the right things and still end up with an ear ache. This most often happens in our family on the tail end of an upper respiratory infection. However, our incidents of ear aches have declined significantly since changing our diet. When we do have an infection, we use the acute remedies listed above to quickly resolve at home.

To help prevent ear infections from occurring:

1. Cut out inflammatory foods and replace with whole foods.
2. Consider a short-term gut healing protocol, like GAPS to restore the body and immune system to ideal functioning.
3. Address food allergies, which are a common cause of chronic ear infections. This is particularly true of cow milk. Our family healed our dairy sensitivities following steps 1-2 above.
4. Consume high quality probiotic foods often, such as fermented veggies and milk kefir.
5. Rest during illness and drink meat stock/chicken broth. This will soothe the ears, nose, and throat while providing many vitamins, minerals, and collagen to restore immune function.
6. At first sign of illness or pain, proactively begin remedies and nutrition to reduce symptoms and pain.

I hope your family does not experience ear infections! If you do, I hope these remedies are helpful to resolve the situation quickly.

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• essential oils
• garlic mullein oil
• belladonna
• homeopathic ear ache drops
• probiotic supplement
• milk kefir grains

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