Home Remedies For Ear Infections

The ear has three sections –the outer ear, then middle ear and finally the inner ear. But there are mainly two types of ear infections – one that affects the middle ear and the other that affects the outer ear commonly known as the ‘swimmer’s ear. Usual symptoms of ear infection include the following – itching with or without pain, fever, dizziness, discharge from the infected ear, vomiting, inflammation and temporary hearing problem.

For kids (especially boys) ear gets infected usually during cold weather. Apart from trying most of the home remedies as well as medications given by your doctor, you can also increase the immune system of the child. Adding or increasing zinc as well as vitamin C intake in your child’s food can boost his/her immune system to prevent such infections in the future.
You can also try some of the following home remedies for treating ear infections in adult as well as kids – Take a cotton ball and add the juice of onion into it.

Once it is soaked completely, insert it in the ear (not too deep inside). Onion juice helps in fighting infection. Another home remedy is to put few drops of juice extracted from garlic into the infected ear before going to sleep. You can also add few drops of warm olive or castor oil or simply the extract of a mango leaf into the infected ear. When using such homemade drops, always use them with cotton balls and insert it into the infected ear and sleep on the other side so that the drops do not leak out.

A balm made of lemon extract can also be rubbed inside the ear for your ear infection. Lemon extracts are known for their anti-viral properties. Whereas the extracts of holy basil leaves are known for their anti-bacterial as well as anti-viral properties.

If you are prone to frequent ear infections then you can probably avoid going for swim (pool or outside). During the initial stages of ear infection you can also avoid washing your hair for few days.

Finally follow these simple remedies – Take a diet rich in calcium, avoid processed foods, wash your hands regularly, stay away from smokers and those infected from cold, avoid dairy products and indulge in frequent medicated herbal steam inhalation (add eucalyptus oil, peppermint oil etc).