What To Do If Your Child Has An Object Stuck In Their Ear

Earache can be extremely painful and distressing, especially in young children.  Sometimes the problem is caused by a child inserting an object into their ear where it becomes stuck. Here's some advice on what to do if your youngster gets themselves into this predicament.

Establishing the cause of the pain

If your child complains of earache, and you think they've shoved something into their ear, you'll need to establish if the object is still there and if it is the cause of the pain.  This is not always easy, especially in very young kids who can't yet speak enough to tell you what they've done.

Resist the urge to poke inside the ear to see if you can feel anything stuck there, and don't try to flush the ear out with water.  This could make matters worse by pushing an object deeper into the ear canal or up against the eardrum.  If you can't see anything simply by looking into the ear, try testing if your child can hear you.  To do this, place your hand over the non-painful ear, stand behind the child and speak to them, focusing your voice on the painful side.  If the child can't hear you clearly and appears to be deaf in the painful ear, there may still be something stuck inside. 

If the child can hear you clearly, it could simply be the case that they have bruised or scratched the inner structures of the ear whilst inserting or removing the object and that the offending item is no longer in there.  If this is the case, the ear should just heal itself over a few weeks without the need for any treatment.

What to do next

If you're concerned that your kid has pushed an object deep into their ear, you should make an appointment for them to see your GP as soon as possible.  If something is trapped deep inside the ear, your GP may refer your child to a specialist at a local hospital to have the object safely removed.

In the meantime, you can make your child more comfortable by giving them a suitable child-safe painkiller, such as something you would use for teething.  You may also find that placing a warm flannel over the affected ear can help to ease the pain. 

It's not recommended that you use eardrops or olive oil in your child's ear until you have consulted your family GP.  This is because there's a chance that your child may have damaged their eardrum, in which case neither drops nor oil will be of any help and could actually make the earache worse.

In conclusion

If you think that your child has inserted something into their ear, try to verbally or visually establish whether it is still inside.  Rather than trying to get the object out, take your child to see your GP for further advice. For more information, see a service such as Travellers Medical Services

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