Interview: Middle ear infection

“I found it very important to give her the feeling that she’s not alone with the pain.”

Sofia was about two years old when she had her first middle ear infection. It was the first time she got ill, really. She had her first cold in the winter, and that was immediately followed by an acute middle ear infection.

She had a fever, pain, her nose was blocked and she couldn’t sleep properly. We went to see a pediatrician. He prescribed antibiotics, which worked, and that was it for that winter. Sofia recovered well from the cold and middle ear infection, so we weren’t worried. We were actually surprised that she hadn’t got ill any earlier.

She started kindergarten the following summer. It’s quite normal for children to get sick a lot when they first go to kindergarten. Sofia had several middle ear infections that summer. She didn’t feel well, was in pain and generally had no energy. The symptoms often came on suddenly in the evening. She would get a slight fever and start to whine. And when she lay in bed at night and tried to rest, she would cry a lot because of the pain and pressure in her ears. That usually meant a sleepless night for all of us, and we were pretty tired the next day. It was really hard for us. We tried out different home remedies because we were a little skeptical about giving her tablets and wanted to try out other things first.

I felt like our pediatrician didn’t really take our wishes seriously. He always wanted to give Sofia homeopathic remedies, but I don’t believe in homeopathy and didn’t want her to use them. I’m sure there are people who have had good experiences with them, but for me it was out of the question. So I took her to see an ENT (ear, nose and throat) doctor instead. I was happier with him. He involved Sofia in the physical examinations, spoke to her, and explained what he was doing and why. I even got the feeling that she enjoyed going to see him.

Sometimes Sofia couldn’t hear properly when she had middle ear infections. We’d notice that because she sometimes didn’t react, or only if spoken to loudly. My husband was really worried, but I wasn’t too bothered. I just thought it was a normal symptom of middle ear infections that would go away again on its own. And that’s what happened in the end. She can speak very well and things are going well at school.

During the period when Sofia often had middle ear infections, I started making chicken soup a lot. My grandmother used to swear by it. I find it warms your body from the inside. Sofia always loved soup. She also liked salty and savory foods, as well as things like ice cream and yoghurt. The things she didn’t like during that time were citrus fruit and bread. She preferred foods that she didn’t have to chew and that were easy to swallow.

She needed a lot of affection. For example, she always wanted to sleep in our bed with us. Sometimes she’d say things like “hold me tight, mommy”. I found it very important to give her the feeling that she’s not alone with the pain. Distraction was important too: we avoided activities that involved using her ears too much, and instead looked at books, sang together, colored and did jigsaw puzzles. Or we simply went outside. Once her fever had gone down, we would wrap her up warmly and go out for a bit, even if it was only for a short while. We didn’t want her to feel like she was locked up at home, but rather that she was going to get well again. I thought it was important for her to feel confident.


ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

These real-life stories were gathered during interviews with patients who generously shared their experiences with us. We are very grateful to these interview partners.

All of them have given their permission for these stories to be published here.

The opinions and comments in these stories are the opinions of individuals. They are not necessarily shared by IQWiG and are not intended to serve as recommendations to help people make decisions.

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