“Why does my child have frequent ear infections?”

Ear infections happen with many different germs, each episode can cause some damage to the bones and nerves, resulting in decreased hearing. Definitely should see a doctor.

Probable chronic Eustachian tube disease. Needs to be seen by ENT for evaluation and audiogram. Recurring ear infections can affect child's behavior, attention span, school performance, sleep patterns

If your daughter continues to have symptoms of ear infections that frequently, then first a physician needs to see them and document that it's her ears that are truly infected and not her throat. Strep throat has been very common this past year and often presents with earache symptoms in young children instead of complaints of sore throat. I know, nobody believes me until I diagnose the strep throat with a rapid strep test and show the parents that the ears are fine. Forty years of practicing pediatrics has taught me a thing or two that I didn't know as a younger physician. A strep throat infection causes the ears to hurt because inside the head, the throat is so very close to the inner ear that the throat infection does cause earache even though ears are not actually infected. There is ear inflammation due to being so close to the throat but not infection. Also throat infections will cause deep glands just below the ears to swell a bit causing earache. Also, bad colds can clog up the inner ears and cause ear pain though not truly infected. True ear infections almost always come after a few days of a very bad cold and usually cause so much pain at night that the child cries and if the ears are infected and not treated with antibiotics, they may take a long time (3-4 weeks or more) to resolve on their own. If strep throat is the culprit, then that needs to be diagnosed and treated to prevent rheumatic fever and heart diseases. If your daughter is having mild earaches that resolve on their own, then the ears may not actually be infected. It would also be unusual for a 4 year old to have four actual ear infections in one year. If she is seen by her physician and true ear infections are documented so often as four times a year, then it might become necessary to see an ear, nose and throat specialist to put very small tubes through the ear drums to prevent or lesson the infections and prevent permanent hearing loss which will put her at risk for school problems due to loss of hearing from repeated untreated ear infections.

Ear infections are very common in all children, but some get more than others. The infections are more common because of the shape of the eustachian tube that aerates the ear, the relative immune weakness compared to adults, and exposure to viruses and bacteria in day care or preschool. All of this together makes infections more likely.

The child should be seen with every ear infection because it can have rare complications, but if mild they will not receive antibiotics if older than 2 years of age. They should be seen several weeks after to make sure there is no residual fluid. They are very common and should not be of major concern.

AJG

Several reasons: Moving from one geographical area to another. Enlarged adenoids. Allergies causing rhinitis causes fluid in the ear canal that gets infected.

The most common reason for ear infections at 4 years is sinus infection. IF she has this she may need to be treated so the ear infections will go away