Of Emergency Rooms, Seromas, and Ear Infections

In the past three years, my husband and I have been in and out of the hospital emergency room so many times that I’ve already lost count of the number of times we were there. Most of those emergency room visits were due to either of the toddlers suffering from high-grade fever that wouldn’t go down despite constant sponge bathing and paracetamol intake. Some were due to my poor wound-healing capacity after my surgeries. I’ve had two caesarians, one herniorrapy, and, just a week ago, a minor excision surgery to have a mole removed and biopsied. The three major surgeries all resulted to seroma which entailed weekly or twice-weekly visits to the hospital to have the fluid drained. A couple of these procedures were done in the emergency room.

It is thus of no wonder that we are now comfortable in the hospital emergency room. I’m already so familiar with their procedure that I could probably volunteer as a clerk there and be great at the job too.

We had another emergency room run earlier this evening when my husband noticed that the incision site from my surgery last week was gaping open and there was a bit of fluid oozing from the wound. It was only a couple of centimeters long but it could be a source of infection so our surgeon advised us to proceed to the ER to have it re-sutured.

The ER was packed this evening so we had to wait quite a while. During the wait, a woman carrying a little boy who’s almost the same age as Jakei came in. They too had to wait a little while and were asked to sit on a chair beside mine. I really couldn’t help talking to the young mother as her little boy reminded me so much of my Jakei. (Separation anxiety attack again – I hadn’t been away for an hour yet but I was already missing my little ones!)

Aside from exclamations of “Ouch ears!” every now and then, the little boy seemed to be fine. He was an active two-year-old who had no qualms talking to strangers like me and showing off his antics. When the pediatric resident checked on him, she said that there was swelling in both ears. After giving the little boy some paracetamol to relieve the pain, the doctor then advised the mother to take her son to an ear specialist to have the ear checked further.

Upon arriving home, I did my own mini-research to determine what causes ear aches and how they could be avoided. Here are some of the things I found out:

• Infection in the outer ear canal is commonly caused by moisture or minor injury in the ear canal. Moisture, which creates an atmosphere conducive to bacterial growth, can be trapped during bathing, swimming, or hot humid weather which probably explains why there are many cases of ear infection in our country. Objects including cotton-tipped swabs inserted into the ear canal may cause minor injuries that lead to infection as well.
• Infection in the middle and inner ear may result from allergies, exposure to secondhand smoke, bottle-feeding while laying flat, family history of ear infections, and abnormal anatomy of the head and neck area. If you find yourself getting regular ear infections, you may want to try and Tracing your US Family history to see if this is a common gene/ medical condition? Besides, you might learn some unknown facts about your ancestors.
• Inflammation of the eardrum is due to local trauma or infection. Using a cotton-tipped swab or any hard object to remove wax or an insect can puncture the eardrum. Changes in pressure due to changes in elevation or an explosion or very loud noise can rupture the eardrum. With this being said, as there are products out there like hemp water (CBD) and Tea Tree oil that are said to help with inflammation, they could be worth giving a go if this has been a recurring issue.

Here are some things to keep in mind to help prevent earaches:

• Do not put objects in the ear. Clean only the outer area of your toddler’s or infant’s ears. Use a soft damp cloth to clean the ears. Using cotton swabs to clean the ear canal would also cause the wax to move further inside and may lead to hardened wax and inflammation.
• Always dry the ears after bathing and swimming.
• Do not smoke near children nor expose your children to those who smoke.
• If you’re looking for natural ways to relieve pain, you might want to consider using products that contain CBD like these essential oils for ear aches. A lot of people find that products containing CBD can ease the painful symptoms of ear ache. If you do use any natural products containing CBD always check to make sure that they are safe for children to use.
• Take steps to control allergies by avoiding allergens and keeping the environment clean.
• Do not bottle feed your children when they are lying supine. Always make sure that their head is properly elevated.

Although ear aches are very easily cured, they are still quite troublesome and cause much discomfort to our little ones. Do take proper precautions in cleaning their ears and in avoiding possible causes of ear aches.