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What is otitis media?
Otitis media means that your child has fluid behind his or her ear drum. There are two kinds of otitis media:
• Acute Otitis Media (AOM), which means that the fluid is infected with bacteria or viruses and is causing pain or fever
• Otitis Media with Effusion (OME), which means that the fluid is not infected and is not causing pain
The treatment your doctor recommends will depend on which type of otitis media your child has as well as his or her other symptoms.
For AOM, treatment is aimed at reducing symptoms such as pain and fever. This means treating pain with ibuprofen (Motrin or Advil) or ear drops such as Auralgan. Antibiotics can sometimes be helpful but are not always needed. In some situations AOM can go away without antibiotic treatment.
What causes otitis media?
Otitis media is caused by a blockage of the tube (called the Eustachian tube) that connects the middle ear to the nose. When this tube is blocked, fluid will collect behind the ear drum. Sometimes bacteria will grow in this fluid, and sometimes that will cause pain. However, about a third of the time, there is no bacteria. These cases are probably caused by viruses. Sometimes there is no infection, this is OME.
Otitis media is more common in the winter and in children who go to day care. Sometimes children get otitis media after catching an upper respiratory infection (a “cold”). Getting water in the ear does not cause otitis media.