Advice needed please - desperate re child ear infection?

Question

My 5 year old son has chesty cough. headache and bad earache. High temperature for 3 days. Eating virtually nothing and not sleeping. Vomiting Nurofen painkiller. Has kept paracetamol down but not doing much for discomfort.

Yes so I took him to night doctor yesterday afternoon, waited over 2 hours who said lots of fluid causing pressure etc. he needs 2 painkillers alternately. But he just vomits one up. Now his ear drum has burst. Ear is raging red and boiling. Still high temperature and no sleep. I have appointment with my own doctor late morning tomorrow or do I get hold of this useless night doctor again?

Answer 1

I would take him to casualty poor thing, we had the same thing with an out of hours doctor when our daughter had a urine infection, he just sent her home on calpol and she ended up in hospital on a drip for 4 days

Answer 2

Shouldn't the doctor prescribe some antibiotics for him?

Answer 3

Can't you take him to A & E? The doctor you saw wants shooting, the poor little thing must be in agony.

Answer 4

He needs a 2 week course of antibiotics and steroid ear drops. My son has recurrent ear infections, and that is the only thing that has worked for him.

Answer 5

Take him straight to A&E sounds like he needs to be Seen pretty quickly and maybe a paeds/ent input, if he is not tolerating his analgesia and temp meds he made need rectal ones, to get it into his system.  They may well keep him in so don't worry if they do they often do it as a precaution.  Hope he gets better soon.

Answer 6

I would take him to the hospital.  If his eardrum has burst then he is at immediate risk of infection and needs to be on antibiotics.  He will also be in a lot of pain.  The doctor should have put him on some kind of medication already and clearly isnt doing his job.  The other thing is these symptoms are quite severe to have for three days and may be a sign of something more serious.  I dont mean to panic you but it is better to be safe than sorry.  So in my opinion s***w the out of hours doctor and take your son to hospital NOW!

Answer 7

Take him to the ER and demand that they check his ears...could he have had a bug crawl in there? Was he playing outside, camping....?

Answer 8

WHAT ARE YOU DOING!!!??? That is very serious. Stop making appointments with doctors that aren't paying enough attention GO TO THE EMERGENCY ROOM!!!!  

Answer 9

take him to a&e he needs antibiotics now  

Answer 10

sorry for your son. i'm no doctor, but i would see a professional. plus, put ice or a cool rag on him. to cool him down, help him take nice cold showers. another thing would to have a doctor give him an injection. this way he won' t puke it up and he will instead get better. i know you being a monm fear this at him being at an age where doctors might have to do this. my advice, is would you mkae your child take the shot and then get better. or have him get worse?

Answer 11

my child has sufferred with a burst ear drum. you don't mention if he is on antibiotics? I would definitely ring the on call dr they will be able to advise you over the phone if nothing else.

Answer 12

Since his ear drum has burst you need to take him to the ER immediatley.  It will become infected and much worse if not treated pain killers are great if he can keep them down, however this almost sounds like more than just an ear infection.  I would explain the entire situation to a better pediatrician immediately and see if they can get your son straightend out!  If it has been 3 day and he has had a high temp he needs to be in ER!

Momma_Bear

Answer 13

Dont take him to the out of hours doctor, in my opinion they are useless.

Wrap him up and get him to a&e dont worry about wasting there time they deal with alot of children with fevers.

They can also give you a stronger painkiller and wont discharge your son until his temp goes down Good Luck x*x

Answer 14

im not sure what country your in but its care doctor here and usually if you ring ur usual doctors number after hours they will have the number on the answering machine. you should paralink supositories to help keep temp down poor thing id take him to er with his ear if you cant get hold of a doctor

Answer 15

Take him to the ER- a burst ear drum can damage his hearing perm if not treated right away.  

Answer 16

He'll probably start feeling a whole lot better now it has burst, to be honest.

Don't give him the Nurofen any more (it does make some kids throw up) just give him paracetamol until you can see your own doctor. All a doctor can do at this point is give antibiotics and they take hours to kick in anyway - 12 more at this point won't make any difference.

Give it a couple of hours and see if it's settled - I'd expect it to now the pressure has been relieved. Don't try to stop the discharge from the ear - it's much better out than in. If he's not feeling better soon and he's really ill go back to the out of hours guy, of course.

And if he has another ear infection in the future you need to remind the doc that his eardrum burst - they'll probably want to give him antibiotics sooner than they might otherwise.

Answer 17

Get in your car if you have one and take him to A&E NOW. Any infection in the ear of this severity can be very dangerous.

Great advice from everyone, please take it, I feel very worried for you. He needs strong antibiotics.

Answer 18

my son has suffered with his ears for over a year, he had gommits fitted last year.

now the ear drum has popped he should fell alot better i was told that its better for the ear drum to go give him lots of cuddles, open the windows to help with his temp give him a cold drink and some capol for the pain and see your own doctor in the morning.

Answer 19

I would take him to the ER immediately.  If his eardrum has literally burst, they need to see him now.

Answer 20

poor lad, nurofen is the only thing that really helps! have you got antibiotics? Do you try the nurofen syrup? Call an our of hours dr for advice! Do they do nurofen suppositries?