Acute Otitis Media Diagnosis and Treatment at Home

How to get rid of acute otitis media? How to treat acute otitis media? Let’s find out about acute otitis media diagnosis and treatment!

Acute Otitis Media Meaning

Acute otitis media definition – What is acute otitis media? Acute otitis media is a bacterial infection of the air-filled spaces in the temporal bone lined with mucus. Not only does pus form in the middle ear cleft, but it also forms in the mastoid air cells that have been inflated and at the top of the petrous bone.

Acute otitis media causes

What causes acute otitis media? Most cases of acute otitis media are caused by a viral upper respiratory tract infection that blocks the eustachian tube. This causes fluid and mucus to build up, which then gets contaminated by bacteria.

Streptococcus pneumoniae, Haemophilus influenzae, and Streptococcus pyogenes are the most common pathogens.

Acute Otitis Media Diagnosis

• An infection often causes otalgia in the upper respiratory tract.
• The tympanic membrane gets red and moves slowly.

Acute otitis media symptoms

Signs and symptoms of acute otitis media – Anyone of any age can get acute otitis media. Symptoms and signs include ear pain, pressure in the ear, hearing loss, and often a fever. Usually, the tympanic membrane is red and doesn’t move as much as it should.

Bullae will sometimes show up on the tympanic membrane. The tympanic membrane may sometimes bulge out when the middle ear empyema is very bad. When this happens, the tympanic membrane is about to break. When a rupture happens, the pain stops suddenly, and then otorrhea starts.

When the right treatment is given, the tympanic membrane usually heals independently. However, chronic otitis media can happen when perforation lasts long.

Mastoid pain is often caused by pus in the mastoid air cells, which happens when you have acute otitis media. This is not a sign of suppurative (surgical) mastoiditis by itself.

When there is a lot of swelling around the mastoid bone or cranial neuropathies or central findings are also present, this signifies a serious illness that needs to be treated immediately.

Acute Otitis Media Treatment and Management at Home

Treatment of acute otitis media – What is the best treatment for acute otitis media? Acute otitis media is treated with antibiotics and sometimes decongestants for the nose.

The best antibiotic to use is amoxicillin, which is taken by mouth every 8 hours for 5–7 days. Amoxicillin-clavulanate 875/125 mg or 2 g/125 mg ER every 12 hours for 5–10 days is another option. Another option is cefuroxime 500 mg or cefpodoxime 200 mg taken by mouth every 12 hours for 5–7 days.

Any experienced doctor can do tympanocentesis to grow cultures of bacteria (both aerobic and anaerobic) and fungi. A 20-gauge spinal needle with a 90-degree bend at the hub is put through the lower part of the tympanic membrane and attached to a 3-mL syringe.

An assistant can draw out fluid without moving the needle by putting a flexible tube between the needle and the syringe.

Tympanocentesis is used to treat otitis media in people who don’t have strong immune systems or when an infection doesn’t go away after multiple rounds of antibiotics.

Surgical drainage of the middle ear, called a myringotomy, is only done on people with severe otitis or when otitis has led to complications like mastoiditis or meningitis.

Long-term antibiotic prophylaxis can be used to treat recurrent acute otitis media. For one to three months, single oral doses of 500 mg sulfamethoxazole or 250 mg or 500 mg amoxicillin are given. If this treatment doesn’t stop an infection, ventilating tubes must be put in.

I hope you understand acute otitis media diagnosis and treatment guidelines.