My older girl is still sick. She was first ill a few days before Christmas, and it just got worse. The doctor couldn't find anything wrong and said she'd have to ride it out. That was fine, except after Christmas, she had a 105 degree temp and her ear hurt. Ear infection!

This is her second course of antibiotics on this one infection, and I don't feel too good about this. Do any of you have any advice on keeping the damage from the antibiotics to a minimum? It's an outer ear infection, not otitis media. I have read that taking Lactobacillus helps keep the good bacteria in the intestine at a healthy level; where can I get this? Any other thoughts?

Totally unrelated, we have turned the television off. Charleen's t.v. death was the inspiration we needed to turn it off, and the kids and I are all so much more relaxed. The girls play so nicely with each other, now, and their play has become so colorful and imaginative! In just this past week, they have gone from "I wanna cartoon" to "can we paint?!" I wonder why I ever thought twice about turning it off in the first place!

-- Dawn (olsoncln@ecenet.com), January 18, 2002

Answers

A couple of things: live cultured yogurt is great when someone is on antibiotics...kids usually can be talked into this yummy treat and it replaces all the good bacteria which are destroyed by the antibiotics; secondly, an outer ear infection which outlasts a 10 day course of antibiotics should be cultured for fungus VS bacteria....the medication is different for both...thirdly, outer ear infections are often caused by pooling of fluid in the ear canal, encouraging bacteria or fungi to hang out there. In my practice, I always had the parents start using a blow dryer on LOW to gently air dry the outer canal after bathing..no Q-tips at all (I always have folks read the box where it says "do not put these in your ear" LOL), lastly, in 31 years of practice, I never had a child of any age who had a fever of 105 with the sole cause being an outer ear infection. Lots of times, kids get a funky virus, run a fever, their immune system gets too overworked and then things such as a minor "otitis externa" crop up. This is more than you asked, but I can't help myself! Habit, habit, habit...LOL..make sure you use live cultured yogurt..it works wonders in a short time. God bless.

-- lesley (martchas@bellsouth.net), January 19, 2002.

You might talk to someone at a health food store about mullein and ear candles. The candles can pull infection out. Improves hearing. Dannon and Breyer's yogurts and what you need.

-- Cindy (SE. IN) (atilrthehony@hotmail.com), January 19, 2002.

Thank you. Lesley, the more info the better. I'm one of those people who like to get every bit of knowledge on a subject before I make a decision, just to be safe. The yogurt thing sounds great. Caitie eats that by the bucket anyway, so I guess she's all right.

Is augmentin an antibiotic that will cure a fungal problem, or is it something other then antibiotics that is used for that? Also, what will the doctor do to check for fungi? Is there a way that I could tell?

-- Dawn (olsoncln@ecenet.com), January 19, 2002.

When I lived in PR kid got "impataigo" (surely spelled wrong) commonly in the outer ear. What did the doctor diagnose this as, or did he know?

-- charles (cr@dixienet.com), January 19, 2002.

Augmentin is Amoxicillin with a "kicker" medication added to increase it's strength..it's a good drug, but one of the harsher ones on the gut..causes more diarrhea than others of the penicillin family. No it does not kill fungi....I would ask for some "CORTISPORIN" ear drops...thses are what I used to treat 100% of outer ear infections and they whack out thses things in 5 days with zero side effects...if she still has a problem, see an ENT and get it over with.....sooner rather than later...IMPETIGO is a skin infection caused mostly by staphlococcus bacteria, or streptococcus...It presents as a honey- colored oozing scabby lesion, usually in an area of skin which has already been compromised: i.e. kiddo falls down and scrapes kneee, picks at the scab and gets it infected....right under the nose is another frequent place after a bad cold for some kiddos. It is highly contagious and can spread to other normal areas of skin...one or two lesions are treated by cleaning the lesion with warm soapy water three times a day, cutting fingernails short, and a topical antibiotic such as Triple A (over the counter)..for a kiddo who has more than two lesions or has it on their face, a systemic antibiotic from the penicillin family is used in addition to the other measures..Interesting that before the advent of antibiotics, it used to be thought a mother was a slob if here kids had impetigo! More poor kids had it in those days because it is so contagious, especially in crowded living conditions and untreated, etc....they used to treat it by scapping the scabs off and soaking the skin with a boric acid solution..it worked, but not well....

-- lesley (martchas@bellsouth.net), January 19, 2002.

The doctor only said it was an outer ear infection, nothing else. During the first course of antibiotics, she also prescribed the cortisporin drops, but the infection is still there. I keep all my girls' records, and this is Cait's third infection and the second one to require more than one course of antibiotics. I am just concerned that there might be something else there that isn't getting completely cleaned up, and from what I've read that does seem to be the case. So, Lesley, I'm taking your advice-- when we go in for the recheck, I'll talk with her doctor about this in more depth, and possibly seek an ENT. Thank you.

-- Dawn (olsoncln@ecenet.com), January 19, 2002.

You're welcome..please let me know the outcome...retirement is nice, but I sure MISS those little diagnostic challenges!

-- lesley (martchas@bellsouth.net), January 20, 2002.