Clarification of the diagnosis is an important factor on the path of the patient's recovery. Diagnostics of any disease begins with clarification of complaints. Having specified them, the doctor proceeds to an objective examination. Diagnosis of diseases in newborn children is complicated by the fact that they cannot present their complaints and, therefore, determine the place of the disease. Parents and doctors should rely on indirect and objective signs of the disease.
In cases where there are objective signs of the disease, the diagnosis is simpler. The presence of a cough, runny nose, dyspeptic disorders or changes in the skin make it possible to immediately suspect this or that pathology. It is much more difficult when the affected organ is not available for visual observation.
Signs of otitis media
The main complaint with otitis media is ear pain.
Its intensity can vary, from severity and noise in the ear to throbbing, shooting pain that interferes with sleep and normal activities. The next sign is ear congestion and hearing loss, sometimes even its complete absence. However, the disease is more often characterized by an asymmetrical lesion, therefore, patients do not always notice the presence of this symptom. The functionality of the second ear compensates for the deficiencies of the affected ear.
One of the symptoms of otitis media, which is easy to identify with a simple mercury thermometer, is an increase in body temperature to 38-39 degrees.
However, the presence of hyperthermia is not a pathognomonic symptom in otitis media.
An increase in body temperature is noted in any inflammatory or infectious process, endocrine disorders, oncopathology, etc. In addition, a sluggish course of otitis media can be characterized by normal temperature indicators.
Another important and very informative symptom is suppuration. This symptom manifests itself as sticky, yellowish discharge from the external auditory canal. Their presence characterizes the development of purulent inflammation of the middle ear. However, it is inappropriate to consider this symptom permanent even with such a development of otitis media, since the outflow of pus can be carried out not only through the injured eardrum, but also through the auditory tube. Discharge from the ear canal is not noted.
Thus, objective signs of otitis media, such as fever or suppuration, are not permanent. The earlier treatment is started, the more effective it is, and the lower the risk of developing severe complications. In order for the patient to receive timely, qualified advice from a specialist, in the case of ear inflammation, a large role is given to the patient's subjective complaints.
Determining the site of the disease greatly simplifies the diagnosis of the disease.
Difficulties in diagnosis in newborns
At the same time, adult patients and older children can clearly indicate the place of the disease, characterize the pain. How to understand that a baby has an ear ache? This is a really difficult problem, since children of this age are unable to state their grievances. At the same time, the therapeutic tactics directly depend on the nature of the ear inflammation, catarrhal or purulent, as well as the condition of the eardrum, whether it is complete, or whether it is perforated. With otitis media, timely consultation with an ENT doctor is very important. It is the otolaryngologist who is able to clarify the diagnosis and prescribe the correct treatment. Parents in this situation should suspect otitis media as soon as possible. To do this, they need to know how to check if the baby's ears hurt.
Manifestation of anxiety
First of all, you need to pay attention to the patient's condition. Weakness and malaise are common symptoms of many infectious and inflammatory diseases. Such patients are lethargic, drowsy. If there is pain in the ear, the child is restless. He rushes about in bed, turns his head, periodically screaming.
Similar symptoms can develop in the presence of abdominal pain in children. However, in this case, the appearance of anxiety is more often associated with food intake. In addition, there may be rumbling, bloating, diarrhea, or constipation. Older children may try to point to the place of the disease, trying to touch the ear with their hand, scratch it.
Objective signs
There is an objective sign of how to determine that a baby has ear pain. To confirm the diagnosis, finger pressure on the ear tragus is used. Carrying out such a manipulation leads to an increase in air pressure in the external auditory canal. It, in turn, puts additional pressure on the eardrum and the tympanic cavity, the mucous membrane of which is already involved in the inflammatory process. In the presence of otitis media, this action leads to increased pain and is the answer to how to find out that the baby's ears are hurting.
To determine if a baby's ear hurts, close observation of the baby is necessary. Like any disease, otitis media is characterized by malaise, lack of appetite, and poor sleep. However, in infants, decreased appetite is also due to increased pain during sucking movements. Feeding a baby in the presence of inflammatory processes in the ear looks like the baby is taken for food, then with a cry from
she refuses. Attentive parents on this very basis may suspect the development of otitis media in a child.
When a baby's ears hurt, the symptoms of the disease are similar to those of otitis media in adults:
- the development of pain syndrome;
- hearing loss;
- temperature rise to 38-39 degrees.
Inflammation of the ear in infants is a secondary disease, a complication of ARVI and other pathology of the ENT organs.
Many diseases of the nasopharynx are accompanied by a violation of the patency of the auditory tube. As a result, congestion is formed in the middle ear cavity. Consequently, a runny nose, nasal congestion are also concomitant signs of otitis media.
The value of otoscopy
It is possible to reliably find out if a baby's ear hurts only after consulting an otolaryngologist and carrying out instrumental diagnostics, otoscopy. It is by the condition and external signs of the tympanic membrane that the otolaryngologist draws conclusions about the presence of one form or another of otitis media. The unchanged shape of the tympanic membrane, with a smooth shiny surface, without traces of ulceration, thickening indicates the absence of inflammation of the middle ear in this patient.
Diagnosis of otitis externa
To identify otitis externa, instrumental diagnostics are not required.
The ENT doctor can determine the presence of an infiltrate, a purulent focus visually by examining the external auditory canal or auricle. In this case, the symptoms of otitis media are hyperemia, swelling of the affected ear. However, otitis externa is an extremely rare pathology for newborns.
Understanding that a newborn child has ear pain is an important task for parents and a pediatrician. Timely consultation with an otolaryngologist will help reduce the risk of complications, improve the child's condition in a short time.
