Does Your Throat Hurt When You Have An Ear Infection

What Are The Symptoms Of Otitis Media

Symptoms of ear infection include:

• Ear pain: This symptom is obvious in older children and adults. In infants too young to speak, look for signs of pain like rubbing or tugging ears, crying more than usual, trouble sleeping, acting fussy/irritable.
• Loss of appetite: This may be most noticeable in young children, especially during bottle feedings. Pressure in the middle ear changes as the child swallows, causing more pain and less desire to eat.
• Irritability: Any kind of continuing pain may cause irritability.
• Poor sleep: Pain may be worse when the child is lying down because the pressure in the ear may worsen.
• Fever: Ear infections can cause temperatures from 100° F up to 104° F. Some 50% of children will have a fever with their ear infection.
• Drainage from the ear: Yellow, brown, or white fluid that is not earwax may seep from the ear. This may mean that the eardrum has ruptured .
• Trouble hearing: Bones of the middle ear connect to the nerves that send electrical signals to the brain. Fluid behind the eardrums slows down movement of these electrical signals through the inner ear bones.

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What Are The Symptoms Of An Ear Infection

In addition to persistent pressure and pain in the ear, your child may also experience a fever and difficulty hearing. Young babies with an infected ear may frequently pull at or rub their ears, cry frequently, or have difficulty sleeping.

Once Dr. Jones confirms an infection in the ear, she can prescribe a course of antibiotics to clear the infection within a few days. She may also suggest over-the-counter pain relievers to keep your child comfortable and help them sleep.

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Symptoms Of Pain Behind The Ear And Down The Neck

Pain down the neck and behind the ear is not a condition in itself. Ear and neck pain are usually symptomatic of other health issues and will usually be accompanied by other symptoms. For example, an ear infection can cause neck pain behind the ear on one side of your head and could be accompanied by swelling or discharge from your right or left ear.

Associated symptoms of pain behind the ear and neck can include:

• Throbbing pain in the neck and on one side of your head
• Shock-like pains at the top of your neck and behind your ear
• Redness of the ear or behind the ear that is sore to touch
• Soreness when turning your head from side to side
• Intense pain from your jaw that extends behind one ear
• An aching toothache that radiates pain to your ear
• Increased sensitivity to light along with a thumping headache

Symptoms Of An Ear Infection

The primary symptoms of an ear infection include acute ear pain and hearing loss. You will have the sensation that your hearing is muffled or you’re experiencing hearing loss and you may experience referred pain in your throat or fluid in the middle ear.

When youre experiencing an ear infection, you may not necessarily see a change in color in or outside your ears.

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What Causes A Sore Throat

Infections by contagious viruses or bacteria are the source of most sore throats. Other potential causes include:

VirusesSore throats often accompany viral infections, including the flu, colds, measles, chicken pox, croup, or mononucleosis . Mono has the longest duration of symptoms, such as sore throat and extreme fatigue, and can last several weeks. Other symptoms include swollen glands in the neck, armpits, and groin fever, chills, headache, or sometimes, serious breathing difficulties.

Bacterial infectionsStrep throat is an infection caused by Streptococcus bacteria. This infection can also cause scarlet fever, tonsillitis, pneumonia, sinusitis, and ear infections. Symptoms of strep throat often include fever , white draining patches on the throat, and swollen or tender lymph glands in the neck. Children may have a headache and stomach pain.

Pertussis, also known as whooping cough, is a highly contagious respiratory disease caused by Bordetella pertussis bacteria. This infection can bring about violent, uncontrollable coughing, making it hard to breathe and causing you to make a whooping sound. Whooping cough can affect people of all ages, but can be especially serious, even deadly, for babies less than one-year-old.

AllergiesYou may also be allergic to pollens, molds, animal dander, and/or house dust, for examples, which can lead to a sore throat.

Can An Ear Infection Cause Swollen Tonsils

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Pharmacy First Scotland: Earache Treatment From Your Pharmacy

If you have earache you can get advice and treatment directly from a pharmacy. Find your local pharmacy on Scotland’s Service Directory.

Earache isn’t usually serious and can be treated by a pharmacist. Your pharmacist may recommend that you contact your GP practice if required.

You should only contact your GP or local out-of-hours service if:

• you or your child also have other symptoms, such as a high temperature , vomiting, a severe sore throat, hearing loss, swelling around the ear, or discharge from the ear
• there is something stuck in your or your child’s ear
• the earache doesn’t improve within a few days

Children And Certain Adults Are At Increased Risk

Anyone can get strep throat, but there are some factors that can increase the risk of getting this common infection.

Strep throat is more common in children than adults. It is most common in children 5 through 15 years old. It is rare in children younger than 3 years old. Adults who are at increased risk for strep throat include:

• Parents of school-aged children
• Adults who are often in contact with children

Close contact with another person with strep throat is the most common risk factor for illness. For example, if someone has strep throat, it often spreads to other people in their household.

Infectious illnesses tend to spread wherever large groups of people gather together. Crowded conditions can increase the risk of getting a group A strep infection. These settings include:

• Schools

• Up to 3 in 10 children with a sore throat have strep throat
• About 1 in 10 adults with a sore throat has strep throat

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Foreign Object In Ear

Getting something stuck in your ear that shouldnt be there can cause varying degrees of pain behind the ear. The foreign object could even cause an ear infection to develop which can then cause ear and neck pain.

Dr. Kenneth Buccino on eMedicineHealth says that pieces of food, beads, insects and even an accumulation of earwax can cause discomfort in the ear. Pain in the ear is usually the most common symptom. However, coughing, bleeding, or nausea can also accompany ear pain in the affected ear.12

Why Does Your Throat Hurt On One Side

If your throat pain comes from only one side, it could be a sign of a different condition or unique illness.

As your body helps to fight germs , it can cause the lymph nodes to swell up and become sorewhich can result in pain on one side of the throat.

Postnasal drip is another cause of throat pain. As mucus and fluid drain down the back of the throat, it can lead to the feeling of soreness, specifically on one side.

Inflammation of one or more tonsil, more commonly called tonsillitis, is another common cause of one-sided throat pain. Fever, difficulty swallowing and noisy breathing are symptoms that typically accompany the illness.

If you experience gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERDa condition in which the contents of the stomach back up into the food pipeyou may experience throat pain as well.

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How Long Will The Effects Of Strep Throat Last

The symptoms of strep throat may go away as soon as 24 hours after you start treatment. The symptoms rarely last longer than five days.

Not getting treatment for strep throat or not taking all the medicine prescribed can lead to rheumatic fever. Rheumatic fever can damage the heart valves and affect your joints, kidneys and brain.

How Can I Help Prevent Spreading Strep Throat Or A Viral Throat Infection

The following suggestions may help you prevent the spread of your strep infection to others:

• Avoid close contact with other people until you have been taking the antibiotic for 24 hours so they will not be exposed to the strep bacteria.
• Use tissues when you cough and dispose of them carefully.
• Hand washing is the best method of prevention. Wash your hands before you touch food, dishes, glasses, silverware, napkins, etc.
• Wash your hands after you cough.
• Be careful not to let your nose or mouth touch public telephones or drinking fountains.
• Use paper cups and paper towels in bathrooms instead of shared drinking cups and hand towels.
• Do not share food and eating utensils with others.

Audra Kolesar is a registered nurse and manager with Health Links Info Santé, the Winnipeg Health Regions telephone health information service.

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What Are The Treatment Options

A mild sore throat associated with cold or flu symptoms can be made more comfortable with the following remedies:

• Increase your liquid intake.
• Drink warm tea with honey .
• Use a personal steamer or place a humidifier in your bedroom.
• Gargle with warm salt water several times daily: ¼ tsp salt to ½ cup water.
• Take over-the-counter pain relievers such as acetaminophen or ibuprofen .

For a more severe sore throat, your doctor may want to do a throat cultureswabbing the inside of your throat to see if there is a bacterial infection. If it is negative, your physician will base their treatment recommendation on the severity of your symptoms and the appearance of your throat on examination.

If you have a bacterial infection your doctor will likely recommend an antibiotic that kills or impairs bacteria. Antibiotics do not cure viral infections, but viruses do lower the patients resistance to bacterial infections. When a combined infection like this happens, antibiotics may be recommended.

It is important to take an antibiotic as your physician directs and to finish all doses, even if your symptoms improve, otherwise the infection may not be gone and could return. Some patients will experience returning infections despite antibiotic treatment. If you experience this, it is important to discuss this situation with your physician.

You may also want to review these Sore Throat Prevention Tips.

Medical Treatment In Children

Doctors often take a wait-and-see approach when treating ear infections in children to avoid over-prescribing antibiotics, which can lead to antibiotic resistance.

A doctor may sometimes write you a prescription for antibiotics if symptoms are severe or dont resolve within 2 to 3 days. Alternatively, they may write you a prescription but recommend waiting first to see if your childs symptoms get better after 2 to 3 days.

Its important to finish your entire prescription. Often, a 7- or 10-day prescription of amoxicillin is prescribed.

You shouldnt give children aspirin without their doctors instruction. Aspirin is a preventable risk factor for developing Reyes syndrome, a rare disorder that causes brain and liver damage.

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What Are The Different Types Of Ear Infections

The most common type of ear infection is called acute otitis media . As mentioned above, this typically causes pain and fever. Other types include:

• Otitis media with effusion . This happens when the fluid remains behind the eardrum even after the acute infection clears up. A child may not have symptoms but the doctor can see the fluid when looking inside the ear with an otoscope .
• Chronic otitis media with effusion . This happens when the fluid is trapped for a long time or keeps returning. COME can possibly affect hearing or make it hard to fight off new infections.

Adult Tonsillectomy Risks And Complications

A tonsillectomy is considered a safe procedure for adults. However, all surgery comes with risks. A 2014 report found that 1 in 5 adults who had their tonsils taken out had some kind of problem afterward. These included:

• Infection. This is rare, but itâs a small risk with most surgeries.
• Pain
• Pneumonia
• Too much bleeding from the wound . Itâs rare. You may also have bleeding as you heal.
• Swelling. In the first few hours after surgery, your tongue and the roof of your mouth may puff up, which makes breathing harder.

Youre a lot more likely to have one of these issues if you have:

• A history of pus collecting on your tonsils
• Another health problem

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Itchy Throat And Ears: Causes Your Ear Get Your Ears Checked Out Your Itch May Be Caused By A Treatable Dermatologic Condition Both Sides Of My Nose Are Affected And Throat Specialist Can Test You To Confirm Whether Your Sore Throat Is A Result Of A Strep Infectionif Youre Plagued With Constant Irritation Of Your Eyes Or An Ear And How Do I

Allergens, Another possibility is nasal allergies or sinus congestion, One is that you are just in the early stages of getting a cold or a throat infection, or ear might itch if it affects cranial nerves close to your brain and spinal cord, the same symptoms also can be found in throat infections from other causes, It is dust, It causes people to have itchy mouths after eating certain fruits, the first symptom might be just an itch in the back of your throat, These causes can beAlthough strep throat typically produces red

How Can I Treat Earache At Home

You can ask your pharmacist about using over-the-counter painkillers such as paracetamol or ibuprofen to treat the pain. Children under the age of 16 should not take aspirin.

Placing a warm flannel against the affected ear may also help relieve the pain.

Your pharmacist may also be able to recommend over-the-counter eardrops for your earache, but let them know your symptoms and ask for their advice first.

Eardrops or olive oil drops should not be used if the eardrum has burst, and they will not help an ear infection.

If you or your child has an ear infection, you should avoid putting objects in the ear, such as cotton buds, or getting the affected ear wet.

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Southern Cross Medical Library

The purpose of the Southern Cross Medical Library is to provide information of a general nature to help you better understand certain medical conditions. Always seek specific medical advice for treatment appropriate to you. This information is not intended to relate specifically to insurance or healthcare services provided by Southern Cross. For more articles go to the Medical Library index page.

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How To Feel Better

Some ways you can feel better when you have a sore throat:

• Suck on ice chips, popsicles, or lozenges .
• Use a clean humidifier or cool mist vaporizer.
• Gargle with salt water.
• Drink warm beverages and plenty of fluids.
• Use honey to relieve cough for adults and children at least 1 year of age or older.
• Ask your doctor or pharmacist about over-the-counter medicines that can help you feel better. Always use over-the-counter medicines as directed.

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Who Is Most Likely To Get An Ear Infection

Middle ear infection is the most common childhood illness . Ear infections occur most often in children who are between age 3 months and 3 years, and are common until age 8. Some 25% of all children will have repeated ear infections.

Adults can get ear infections too, but they dont happen nearly as often as they do in children.

Risk factors for ear infections include:

• Age: Infants and young children are at greater risk for ear infections.
• Family history: The tendency to get ear infections can run in the family.
• Colds: Having colds often increases the chances of getting an ear infection.
• Allergies: Allergies cause inflammation of the nasal passages and upper respiratory tract, which can enlarge the adenoids. Enlarged adenoids can block the eustachian tube, preventing ear fluids from draining. This leads to fluid buildup in the middle ear, causing pressure, pain and possible infection.
• Chronic illnesses: People with chronic illnesses are more likely to develop ear infections, especially patients with immune deficiency and chronic respiratory disease, such as cystic fibrosis and asthma.
• Ethnicity: Native Americans and Hispanic children have more ear infections than other ethnic groups.

When Should I See A Health

If you have a sore throat and are unable to swallow liquids, you need to be seen as soon as possible. If you have been exposed to someone with strep throat who has not completed their antibiotics and is considered contagious, and now have symptoms, you should see a provider within two days. If you have a sore throat and have not been exposed to strep throat, see your provider if your symptoms have not improved after seven days of home care.

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