Earaches and Ear Infections Treatment

Earaches are more common in children, especially those under the age of five. However, they can occur in adults too. At the Family Care Centers Medical Group, we offer quality care and treatment for earaches and infections, which is why a growing number of parents in Orange County, CA, trust our team of skilled medical providers to provide solutions for their family’s ear problems.

At Family Care Centers’ urgent care clinics in Irvine, and Costa Mesa, we offer:

Open every day
Online reservations to reduce wait time
On-site lab and X-ray for in-depth diagnosis
Certified, well-trained, & experienced providers
Friendly & compassionate staff
Virtual visits also available
Free parking

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Possible Reasons for Your Earache

An earache can be dull, acute, or burning. They can be intermittent or constant and can occur in one or both of your ears. Some of the common causes of an earache include:

Ear Infections: These can occur in your inner, outer, and middle ear, causing a watery or pus-like discharge from your ear.
Damage to the ear: This occurs due to injuries to the inside of the ear. These are often caused if you poke an earbud too far into the ear or scrape earwax using a cotton bud. This can potentially puncture your eardrum.
The buildup of earwax: Earwax accumulated in your ear or something stuck inside your ear can cause ear pain.
Throat infections: An earache can be a symptom of sore throat caused by throat infections such as tonsillitis.
Dental abscess: Ear pain can also indicate a dental abscess, a bacterial infection where pus builds up in your teeth or gums.
Referred pain: Referred pain occurs when pain is felt somewhere other than the site of the infection or injury, e.g., an earache triggered by a pain originating in your jaw.

How to Identify If Your Child Might Have an Ear Infection

Ear infections can be difficult to identify in children. If your child is suffering from an ear infection, they may not be able to really tell you what’s happening to them; however, there are a couple of symptoms you can watch out for in order to understand that your child may be suffering from an ear infection:

High temperature (fever)
Irritability or restlessness, especially at night
Loss of balance
Difficulty in hearing
Rubbing or pulling their ear
Cough or a runny nose

When Should You Seek Care for an Ear Infection?

You don’t always need medical attention if you or a loved one is experiencing an earache. Common causes of mild ear pain which may not be due to a medical problem include sleeping on a hard surface, tight headwear, ill-fitting headphones, ear piercings, or teeth grinding.

You must seek immediate care if you or a loved one experiences any of the following symptoms:

A persistent fever
Something stuck in an ear
Ear pain that does not improve within 2-3 days
Swelling around the ear
Bloody or pus-like discharge oozing from the ear
Severe headaches or dizziness

How We Diagnose and Treat Ear Pain and Infections

Diagnosis

To diagnose an ear infection, a healthcare provider will require information about your symptoms and conduct a physical exam using an otoscope.

Treatment

Once the cause of your ear pain is determined, you will be treated accordingly, depending on your age and the severity of the condition. Types of treatment include:

Antibiotics: If a bacterial infection causes your earache, antibiotics may be required to treat it. We will prescribe the antibiotics based on your age, the severity of the pain, and whether you are allergic to certain antibiotics or not. It’s important to ensure that you finish the entire prescription, even if your symptoms improve, to ascertain that the infection clears up completely.
Wait and Watch: This is used particularly in the case of children. Their condition will be evaluated to determine whether immediate medication is needed or to wait to see if the pain subsides on its own.
Discomfort Management: Our healthcare providers may advise you to try placing a warm, moist compress over the affected ear or provide pain medication to alleviate the earache.

Risks of an Untreated Ear Infection

You do not always need to seek medical help for mild to moderate earache symptoms. However, we highly recommend getting professional medical care in cases where symptoms are serious or persist. That’s because there could be several underlying causes for your earache, and at times chronic ear infections could cause severe conditions and even hearing loss. If left untreated, ear infections can lead to serious complications such as:

Hearing loss can occur if the infections are recurrent or never completely heal. For most patients, hearing loss is temporary.
Mastoiditis is an infection of the mastoid bone located just behind the ears. This condition needs to be diagnosed and treated quickly, or else it can lead to serious complications such as meningitis and brain abscess.
Meningitis is an infection that leads to the inflammation of the brain and spinal cord membranes. It can be fatal if it is left untreated.
A brain abscess is an infection that causes pus to build up in the brain.
Ruptured eardrums can happen due to pressure and fluid buildup in the middle ear. In most cases, this condition heals within 2-3 weeks.
Facial paralysis is a condition where the muscles of one or both sides of the face get paralyzed due to nerve damage.

If you are suffering from persistent ear pain along with other symptoms like fever, imbalance, headache or dizziness, and blood or pus discharge from your ear, you can visit our clinic to get diagnosed and treated. We cover a spectrum of treatments, including otitis externa treatment and middle ear infection treatment. Our urgent care clinics are located in Irvine, and Costa Mesa. Call us to book an appointment or reserve your spot online by clicking on the button in the location boxes below!

FAQs

Common causes include bacterial or viral infections, fluid buildup behind the eardrum, allergies, sinus infections, colds, impacted earwax, foreign objects, swimmer's ear, or pressure changes (such as altitude changes during flights).

An ear infection usually causes symptoms such as sharp or throbbing ear pain, difficulty hearing, fluid drainage from the ear, fever, dizziness, or feeling of fullness or pressure within the ear.

You should seek urgent care if your ear pain is severe, persistent, accompanied by high fever, dizziness, hearing loss, fluid drainage, swelling, or if symptoms worsen or don’t improve within 24-48 hours.

Ear infections themselves are not contagious. However, the respiratory infections (like colds or flu) that often lead to ear infections can be contagious.

Some mild ear infections may resolve without medical treatment. However, persistent or severe ear infections usually require medical intervention to prevent complications or prolonged discomfort.

FCCMG urgent care provides treatments such as pain relief medication, antibiotics if a bacterial infection is diagnosed, earwax removal, anti-inflammatory medication, and specific guidance on home care and prevention.

Yes, antibiotics are prescribed when the ear infection is caused by bacteria. Your FCCMG provider will evaluate and determine if antibiotics are necessary based on the severity and nature of your infection.

Yes, FCCMG urgent care providers safely remove impacted earwax that can cause pain, discomfort, or hearing loss using gentle methods such as irrigation or manual removal techniques.

No appointment is necessary. FCCMG urgent care centers accept walk-in patients for immediate and convenient treatment of ear pain and infections.

Before visiting urgent care, you can ease ear pain by applying a warm compress, taking over-the-counter pain relievers, staying upright to relieve pressure, avoiding inserting objects into the ear, and keeping the ear dry if you suspect swimmer's ear.