Posts Tagged ‘ear infections’

One Minute Clinics for Ear Infections?

Here is a question from a concerned mom.  I don’t normally post these questions, for I advise parents to always talk to their pediatrician, but I thought at this time of year, it might be helpful for many parents:

Nurse Mommy,

I think my little boy has an ear infection. He had one in December and it cleared with a round of mild antibiotics (amoxicillin, i think). Am I a terrible Mom to take him to a (one-minute/drug store) clinic instead of our pediatrician for this one? The visit to the pediatrician is about $30 more our of pocket and I would love to save the money as long as it won’t compromise his care. I’d appreciate your input.

Worried in KC

Dear Mommy,

Great question!  For the most part, I find Nurse Practitioners are pretty thorough and usually are running the one-minute clinics, but you want one that has had a pediatric rotation (such as a family medicine practitioner).  All medical providers can look in an ear, but the problem is a child’s ear is harder to diagnose; and if there is not a glaring infection, someone not used to looking at kids ears might not be as accurate as a pediatrician.  This is a tough call.  If your son is pulling and complaining of ear pain, has mucus pouring out of his head, you probably would be okay taking him to the one-minute clinic.  However, if you aren’t confident  in what is wrong with your kiddo and you can afford it, I would recommend a peds provider (Pediatrician or a pediatric Nurse Practitioner).

I always recommend you call your pediatricians nurse line to obtain the advice from your providers no matter what . They are a wealth of information and will tell you what your pediatrician would say to you.  They will be keeping track of your child’s illnesses in one chart.  If your child is getting numerous ear infections in a year, a referral to a ENT (ear, nose and throat) specialist may be needed for assessment of ear tubes.  They would need to have a complete record of illnesses and if you are jumping around from providers, a problem could be missed.

Also, kids can develop a raging ear infection faster than SuperMom can wipe a green “11″ away from under their nose.  Much faster than adults.  It can go down hill pretty fast, so I wouldn’t wait.

Link to the “Ear Doc”.  A vibrating device that the sponsors/doctors claim can prevent inner ear infections.

(Not recommending this, just putting the link out there for interested readers.)

Fast Tube by Casper

©2010, Hatton. All rights reserved.

Tags: ear infections, one-minute clinics, pediatricians
Posted in Common Childhood Illnesses | 5 Comments »

Ear Infection Symptoms Differ With Each Child

As a pediatric nurse and a mommy of two preschoolers, you would think I wouldn’t be surprised by any childhood illnesses. But one of the problems with pediatric diagnosing is that with almost every disease or illness, the symptoms can be different for every child. It is an extremely difficult job to be an accurate diagnostician for children. What may seem clear for one kid, can be the complete opposite for another.

I recently published an article for KC Parent Magazine – January 2010 issue on the common cold.  After listing the signs and symptoms, rulings on pediatric cold and cough medications, preventative measures, and when to call the doctor,  parents expect to hear how to treat their child’s symptoms.  But if your kid only has a cold and not something more severe, such as croup or an arm falling off, you have to ride it out!  Not really what a sleep deprived, stressed out mommy wants to hear.  Where is the miracle cure?  Where is the no-fail drug that will give my child comfort and relief?  Especially when there are over 200 common cold viruses out there and most kids tend to have between eight to ten colds in their first two years of life!

So you think your kid has a cold and then suddenly they spike a high fever, stop eating, and WANT to take a nap… any guesses what this one is?  You got it…the dreaded EAR INFECTION!  Now there may be several other symptoms that go along with this diagnosis, but if you have the runny nose, a fever and start tugging at your ear, your Mommy is going to cough up the doctor co-pay and head on over for an office visit.

My three year old recently had a fever, vomiting, started sleeping during the day (a LOT) and stopped eating for three days.  No tugging at the ears, no complaining of ear pain – she just said her stomach hurt.  Five days later she spiked another fever so off to the pediatrician we go.  The doctor said both ears were “awful.”  Just what you want to hear back from vacation.  How can she have an ear infection so severe that her pediatrician winces and her only complaint is her stomach?  Symptoms vary with each child…

Anyone out there have any stories to share regarding wacky childhood symptoms not matching the diagnosis?

©2010, Hatton. All rights reserved.

Tags: child illness, common cold, ear infections, KC Parent Magazine, Parenting, symptoms
Posted in Common Childhood Illnesses, Toddlers (1-2), Uncategorized | Comments Off