THERAPY of a purulent ear

Inflammation of the middle ear is mainly treated symptomatically. This means that the patient should drink a lot in order to dilute the mucus formed.It is also important to use decongestant nasal drops to restore ventilation in the ear. A therapy against the pain is usually done with paracetamol or ibuprofen.
Puss in the ear is usually a bacterial infection that requires oral antibiotic treatment.
In the case of external otitis, the ear canal should be cleaned. In the case of pus formation, antibiotics should be applied to the ear canal to treat the bacterial inflammation.
If the inflammation is caused by the penetration of a foreign body, it must be removed beforehand.
If a tympanic effusion is responsible for the formation of pus, antibiotics should also be administered here. If there is no drainage of the secretion, a tympanic tube is inserted into the eardrum.

There are several home remedies that are used for middle ear infection.

Firstly, a so-called onion compress (finely chopped onion in a linen cloth) can be placed on the ear. The onion has an antibacterial effect. Chamomile also has an anti-inflammatory effect.

For example, a bag of chamomile tea can be infused. The tea is drunk, the bag is squeezed out and placed on the affected ear. The tea can thus also be effective against bacterial inflammation of the external auditory canal.

Warmth can relieve the pain of middle ear inflammation and support healing. This can be applied by means of a red light lamp or, for example, by tamping warm potatoes in a linen cloth. You can find more information under: Treatment of middle ear infection Since pus in the ear usually indicates a bacterial cause, antibiotics should always be used.

In the case of an external ear canal inflammation, the antibiotic is usually applied directly into the ear canal. If the person affected has a severely weakened immune system (for example, due to a disease such as HIV) or an existing diabetes (diabetes mellitus), antibiotic therapy should be given in tablet form. In the case of an inflammation of the middle ear – which is usually caused by viruses – pus also indicates a bacterial event.

Further indications of a bacterial ear infection are a strong feeling of illness with high fever, discharge of pus from the ear and lack of improvement of symptoms within the first 2 days. Then antibiotic treatment should follow. Which antibiotic is used depends on the bacterium causing the infection.

The structure of the bacteria is different. For example, there are differences in the structure of the bacterial wall. Since antibiotics have different points of attack, certain antibiotics only work with certain bacteria.

In any case – especially if there is no improvement in symptoms after taking the antibiotic – a smear of the ear should be taken. This is a reliable way to determine the bacterium causing the infection. At the same time, a so-called antibiogram is made, which shows which antibiotic is effective against the bacterium.

A middle ear infection is often Streptococcus pneumoniae or Haemophilus influenzae. The antibiotic of choice is then the so-called amoxicillin.
If the external auditory canal is affected, another bacterium is often responsible for the infection: it is then often a Pseudomonas aeruginosa infection. Antibiotics from the group of quinolones (e.g. ciprofloxacin) are then used.