How to use ear drops correctly in Children

How to use ear drops correctly in Children

Your child has been diagnosed with a condition that requires you to put drops of medicine into his or her outer ear(s). This sheet gives you information about how to do this. Your child’s health care provider may also give you more specific instructions.

Supplies needed:

  • Cotton ball.
  • Medicine.

How to put ear drops in your child’s ear

Follow these instructions, as told by your child’s health care provider:

  1. Wash your hands thoroughly with soap and water.
  2. Have your child lie down on his or her stomach on a flat surface. The head should be turned so that the affected ear is facing upward.
  3. Hold the bottle of ear drops in your hand for a few minutes to warm it up. This helps prevent nausea and discomfort.
  4. Gently shake the bottle to mix the ear drops.
  5. Pull on the affected ear:
    • For a child who is 3 years and younger: Pull the bottom, rounded part of the affected ear (lobe) in a backward and downward direction.
    • For a child who is 3 years and older: Pull the top of the affected ear in a backward and upward direction. This opens the ear canal to allow the drops to flow inside.
  6. Put drops in the affected ear as instructed. Avoid touching the dropper to the ear. Try to drop the medicine onto the ear canal so it runs down the side and into the ear, rather than dropping it right down the center.
  7. Have your child stay lying down with the affected ear facing up for 10 minutes so the drops remain in the ear canal and run down and fill the canal. Gently press on the skin near the ear canal to help the drops run in.
  8. Before your child gets up, gently put a cotton ball in your child’s ear canal. Do notattempt to push the cotton ball down into the canal with a cotton-tipped swab or other instrument.Do notwash out (irrigate) your child’s ears unless instructed by your child’s health care provider.
  9. If both ears need the drops, repeat the same procedure for the other ear. Your child’s health care provider will let you know if you need to put drops in both ears.

Follow these instructions at home:

  • Use the ear drops for the length of time prescribed, even if the problem seems to have gone after only a few days.
  • Always wash your hands before and after handling the ear drops.
  • Keep ear drops at room temperature.
  • Keep all follow-up visits as told by your health care provider. This is important.

Contact a health care provider if:

  • Your child gets worse.
  • You notice any unusual drainage from your child’s ear.
  • Your child develops trouble hearing.
  • Your child develops more pain or itching.
  • Your child develops a rash around the ear.
  • You have used the ear drops for the amount of time recommended by your health care provider, but your child’s symptoms have not improved.

Get help right away if:

  • Your child is very dizzy.
  • Your child has trouble breathing.
  • Your child has itching or swelling of the ear, head, mouth, neck, or throat.

Summary

  • Ear drops are a medicine that is placed in the ear.
  • Use the ear drops for the length of time prescribed, even if the problem seems to have gone after only a few days.
  • Always wash your hands before and after handling the ear drops.
  • Contact your child’s health care provider if you have used the ear drops for the amount of time recommended but the symptoms have not improved.
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