Three different types of otitis, in other words, inflammation of the outer, middle and inner ear - ailments as different and dissimilar as people of the same name. In autumn, otitis media of the outer and middle ear becomes the most common among these "

Otolaryngologist Marina Nechaeva talks about these ailments.

It is necessary to clean the ears skillfully Many patients develop otitis externa, that is, inflammation of the skin covering the auricle and external auditory canal, overdoing it in cleaning the ears. At first glance, everything is clear here: we clean our ears not with a match or a hairpin, but with cotton swabs that are in any pharmacy. So people are trying: who scrolls the head of such a wand in the ear, who scrapes the walls. It's just something you can't do!

The skin of the external auditory canal in the membranous-cartilaginous region contains hair, sebaceous and sulfuric glands.. The secret of those and other glands just form earwax. And it is not necessary to "

With cotton swabs, we apply microtraumas on the skin of the ear canal, into which the infection easily penetrates.. By rubbing sulfur into the epidermal lining, the cotton swab also causes irritation to the cells of the sulfur glands, due to which they release even more sulfur..

You need to wash your ears every day.. While standing in the shower, run your lathered index finger over your ear and ear canal. Then tilt your head so that water flows there. Gently rinse your ear with your finger and tilt your head so that the water flows out of it..

When you need to see an ENT doctor While there is no temperature, and the pain, if it has appeared, is still not strong, you can cope with otitis externa yourself. It is necessary to apply Vishnevsky's ointment on a cotton turunda and insert it into the ear canal. A cotton ball moistened with alcohol (70%) or vodka, as well as glycerin, is inserted behind the turunda (the mixture is made in a ratio of 1: 1). Cover this ball with dry cotton and wrap your head with a woolen scarf.. The compress is ready. It should be changed after a day..

Otitis media usually begins as a complication of acute respiratory infections, influenza, tonsillitis. With these ailments, excess mucus is formed that clogs the Eustachian tube.. It connects the middle ear cavity with the nasopharynx and equalizes air pressure here and there.. But if the tube becomes clogged, then the epithelial cells of the middle ear cavity receive, as it were, a double blow.. Firstly, air pressure drops in this cavity, due to which the cells are damaged and their inflammation begins.. Secondly, bacteria enter through the Eustachian tube, aggravating this process..

Do not let the mucus thicken To prevent colds from being complicated by otitis media, it is necessary to instill vasoconstrictor drops (naphthyzinum, ximelin, polydex, nazol) into the nose. They reduce the formation of mucus, prevent swelling of the nasopharynx, and most importantly, the pharyngeal mouth of the Eustachian tube.. Another way to prevent mucus from clogging up the Eustachian tube is to keep it from thickening.. To do this, you need to remember about the factors that contribute to its thickening.. First of all, it is a lack of fluid in the body.. Therefore, with colds, you need to drink more. High body temperature also contributes to the thickening of mucus.. So, if it lasts more than a day 38 C and above, you should take antipyretics, such as paracetamol, ibuprofen.

But, unlike excessive body temperature caused by inflammation, dry local heat is very useful for otitis media..

To do this, apply bags with warm sand, salt, buckwheat to the auricle for 15-20 minutes..

Another important way to prevent otitis media is to be careful when blowing your nose.. Who does not remember the scene - a loving mother with a handkerchief pressed to a child's nose, and all this is accompanied by calls \! This mother is very wrong... But if these measures did not help, and otitis media developed against the background of a cold, then this is the sign by which the patient finds out about it. When the ear is stuffed up tightly, hearing worsens and this continues for more than 2-3 days, it means that otitis media has already begun, even if the pain has not yet appeared. By the way, ear pain with external and otitis media is easy to distinguish. In the first case, it intensifies if you press on the tragus, in the second it remains unchanged.. Let me remind you that a cartilaginous protrusion or fold at the base of the auricle is called a tragus..

Of the ear drops against otitis media, which are sold in pharmacies, have a strong effect and are still affordable, I can name atipax, otinum, tsipromed, anauran, otofa. You need to instill 3-5 drops 2-4 times a day.

Bay leaves against otitis From traditional medicine, bay leaves are useful. 2 st. tablespoons of crushed leaves are infused for 2 hours in a glass of boiling water and used warm for washing and instillation into the ears.

Aloe and Kalanchoe also help with otitis. It is necessary to take a piece of the leaves of each plant, grind it, wrap it in gauze or a bandage and insert it into the sore ear at night, and remove it in the morning.

And a few more folk recipes. Roll a fresh geranium leaf into a tube and insert into a sore ear for 3-4 hours. Essential oil of dill, which is sold in a pharmacy, instill in the ear 1-2 drops 1 time per day. Turundas moistened with a 30% alcohol solution of propolis can be used in a similar way.. St. John's wort in the form of oil is used for instillation into the ears.. To prepare this oil, 1 tbsp.. a spoonful of chopped herbs is boiled for 10 minutes in 100 ml of sunflower oil, then infused for 1 hour.

Without antibiotics, it is possible to cope with otitis media only at the very beginning of the disease, until the ears hurt, the temperature rises, and suppuration begins.. But as soon as at least one of these signs appears, you should immediately see an otolaryngologist.

Only a doctor, having examined the eardrum, will determine how far otitis media has gone, and also decide which antibiotic and ear drops should be used.

In the case of advanced otitis media, an operation to open the tympanic membrane is used to free the middle ear cavity from pus.. There is no need to be afraid of such an intervention, since the membrane tissue regenerates well and will soon overgrow after the inflammation stops..

Elizaveta Vasilyeva nedug. en.