Ear aches are a pretty common ailment that affects children and adults. The three main causes of ear pain are infection in the outer canal or middle ear, blockages caused by swelling or mucus, and exposure to cold.
If your ear pain has lasted for more than a couple of hours it's recommended that you seek medical care, but in the event that a doctor is not around, there are various home ear ache remedies that will provide relief, at least for a short period of time.
Most home ear ache remedies consist of some type of gentle heat placed to the ear. This causes blood to speed to the spot which in turn helps to assuage the pain.
Here are the best home ear ache remedies:
1) Use a blow dryer set on low to blow warm air into the ear. It normally only takes a couple of minutes for this to work. Be sure to hold the blow dryer at a safe distance from the ear to avoid burning the ear. A minimum of 18 inches is suggested with a backward and forward motion just like you were drying your hair.
2) 1/4 cup of salt packed tightly into a handkerchief, clean sock, or other similar sized patch of material tied off with a rubber band around it is another ear ache remedy you can try. Warm it slightly in a microwave oven or low heat oven then lie down with your ear on the handkerchief.
3) Add 2 or 3 drops of warm oil such as vegetable oil or olive oil to your ear and add a bit of cotton to hold it in your ear. This generally provides virtually immediate relief from ear pain, but use care. If you have a pierced eardrum or if the oil covers your eardrum and the doctor needs to take a look at it, he may need to vacuum or flush your ear to remove it. That can be extremely painful so best to avoid it by using other low heat methods.
4) Heating pad, hot water bottle, or hot wash cloth. All provide low heat to help assuage an ear ache.
No comments:
Post a Comment