Home Remedies For Ear Infections

Ear infections mostly occur among people during winter but the good news is that there are effective home remedies for ear infections. The winter months especially result in viral and bacterial infections. Children are more vulnerable to infections compared to adults. Sometimes the cause is easy to figure out and sometimes especially in children you can find out when they keep tugging at their ear lobe and cry in pain. You don’t always have to do a course of antibiotics. The remedy might be sitting right in your kitchen cabinet.

The ear infection varies with respect to the part of the ear that is actually infected. The most dangerous among ear infections is the one that occur in the inner ear. It needs medical attention. Some common causes of ear infections are building up of wax in the ear, genetic defects, nutritional deficiencies, internal injuries, upper respiratory infections, food allergies, environmental allergies, and fetal alcohol syndrome.

Some of the signs that can help you find out that someone is suffering from ear infection are headache, high fever, tugging at the ear, pain in the ear, difficulty in sleeping, vomiting, fluid draining from the ear, poor response to sounds, diarrhea and others.

While some serious ear infections may require visiting a doctor, others don’t. Here are Top 10 home remedies that can help you alleviate symptoms of ear infections.

Table of Contents

1. Salt

What can be more readily available at home than this little ingredient! Here is how you can utilize salt to get relief from ear infection symptoms.

Heat a cup of salt in microwave for 5 to 6 minutes. You can also heat it in a double boiler or pan.
Take a sock and put the hot salt in it. Using a rubber band tie the open end of the socks.
Then lie down and place that sock below the infected ear for 5-10 minutes. What the sock does is it facilitates the expelling the fluid from the ear because of the heat.
Do this several times in a day. It will provide relief from pain and swelling.

2. Garlic

Garlic possesses natural pain relieving and antimicrobial qualities. This is what makes it one of the best home remedies to get rid of ear infection.

You can put drops of garlic juice or garlic oil in your ear to get instant relief. Do this thrice a day. Garlic oil can be prepared by cooking 2 large cloves in 1 to 2 tablespoon of sesame oil. Cook till it changes its color to black.
Take 2 to 3 garlic cloves and boil them in water for 5 minutes. Crush the cloves and add some salt to it. Take a clean cloth and wrap the mixture. Put this on the infected ear to get relief.
You can also eat 2 to 3 garlic cloves to make the healing process faster.

3. Basil

Are you suffering from a minor ear ache? Then Basil can do the trick. Basil can be used to cure ear infections and minor ear aches. It helps to minimize ear infection and relieves pain.

Take some holy basil leaves and crush them in order to extract some juice. You can use this juice around the ear that’s infected. Don’t let the juice get into the ear canal.

You can combine holy basil oil with equal amount of some carrier oil like coconut oil as an alternative. Lightly dip a cotton ball in this mixture and use it to gently wipe inside of the ear and the area around the ear. Do this 2 times a day every day.

4. Apple Cider Vinegar

Are you suffering from ear infection that is caused by fungus? If you have ear infection that is caused by a fungus, then apple cider vinegar will be the best choice. You can also use white vinegar in case you can’t find apple cider vinegar.

Combine apple cider vinegar and alcohol or water in equal amounts.
Dip a cotton ball in this solution.
Use this cotton ball like an ear plug.
Let it stay that way for at least 5 minutes.
Take out the cotton ball. Lie down on the opposite side in order to expel the liquid from the ear that might enter the ear canal.
You can also make use of a hair dryer to dry your ear in the end.

If the infection is in the Eustachian tubes, gargling with apple cider vinegar is an effective remedy

5. Tea Tree Oil

Tea tree oil contains antibacterial qualities which can give immediate relief from ear ache. This is what you can do to curb an ear infection:

Combine 2 tablespoons of olive oil, 3 drops of tea tree oil, 1 teaspoon apple cider vinegar and 1 teaspoon colloidal silver.
Now heat this mixture a little to make it warm.
Keeping the towel on the head, lay on one side.
Take a dropper and pour in the mixture in your ear.
Let it stay for 5 minutes.
Lay on your opposite side in order to expel the mixture completely from your ear.
Repeat this thrice a day for 2 to 3 days.

Mix 10 drops of lavender oil, 10 drops of tea tree oil and ¼ cup of olive oil.
At the first sign of infection apply this around the ears. It helps to minimize infection and gives relief from inflammation.

6. Onions

Onion is one of the main ingredients used in cooking as well as in medicine. It proves to be quiet effective for ear infections.

Chop a small onion and keep in the microwave for 1 to 2 minutes.
Let it cool so that you can extract the juice.
Using a dropper, put 2 or 3drops of this juice in the ear that’s infected.
Let it stay for few minutes.
Turn your head in the opposite direction to expel the juice from the ear.

Cut an onion into half and place one half over the infected ear.

Heat a little part of onion until warm. Put it in your ear like an ear plug.

7. Olive Oil

Is your ear full of wax that has resulted in an ear infection? Ear infections are largely caused by the deposits of wax in the ear which provides fruitful ground for fungus and bacteria to grow. This results in blocking of Eustachian tubes. Olive oil is the best solution to solve this problem.

Heat some olive oil a little until warm.
Put few drops of this oil in the affected ear.
Oil makes the wax soft. Now you can remove this infected wax with the help of cotton bud. Remember, putting the cotton bud too far can damage the ear drum.

8. Mango Leaf Juice

Are you on the lookout for a quick relief from ear infection? The good news is that the extract of mango leaf not only offers an effective cure to ear infection but also a quick one.

Take 2 to 3 soft mango leaves. Either grind or crush them to get the juice out of it.
Heat the juice until it gets warm.
By the help of a dropper, put 2 to 3 drops of this juice in the affected ear.
Let it sit for few minutes.
Repeat it twice or thrice a day to attain complete relief from ear infection.
You will feel relief from pain after some time.

9. Breast Milk

It has been noticed that breast feeding infants tend to have fewer infections than other children or adults. The reason is that breast milk contains natural antibodies that can make the healing of ear infection faster and helps reduce pain and swelling. Breast milk is known to be the best remedy to treat any kind of ear infection. Breast milk is also used for treating minor cuts, burns, wounds and eye infections. With this remedy you can get rid of ear infection within a day or 2. This is considered to be an effective remedy for both adults and children.

Put 2 to 3 drops of breast milk in the infected ear with the assistance of a dropper.
Do this after every few hours. You are bound to get rid of ear infection.

10. Warm Water Bottle/Heating pad

Do you want to get quick relief from ear infection? The first thing you should do is press warm water bottle or a heating pad against the infected ear. This keeps a check on micro-organism infestation and quickly relieves pain.

Press either a heating pad or a warm water bottle against the infected ear.

Take a clean cloth and dip it in lukewarm water. Keep this wash cloth on the infected ear.

Note: Remember not to do the heating procedure for a long duration continuously. You can first do it for 5 minutes and remove it for some time and do it again when required.

Wrap up!

These home remedies are immensely helpful for treating minor ear infection. In case you don’t notice any improvement, you should definitely go see a doctor.

Resources

http://www.webmd.com/cold-and-flu/ear-infection/ear-infections-home-treatment
http://www.webmd.com/cold-and-flu/ear-infection/understanding-otitis-media-treatment?page=3
http://www.nytimes.com/health/guides/disease/ear-infection-acute/home-remedies.html