One of my children used to suffer from frequent earache and middle ear infections, and the other one from swimmers ear, otherwise known as otitis externa. I remember how difficult it was to see my younger daughter in pain, and I was so glad to have homeopathic remedies for the pain and the infection. If you have ever suffered from ear pain, you probably know how unbearable it can be. Homeopathy is a fantastic natural option for swimmers ear and ear pain.

I have treated many chronic and acute ear infections over the years, and remedies for pain relief are always at the top of my list.
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Outer ear infections are located in the ear canal from outside the eardrum to the ear’s opening. They tend to happen from injury to the ear canal from scratching with the fingernails or a foreign object. This can also happen when water gets stuck in the ear canal and that warm and dark environment is ideal for bacterial growth.

Symptoms may include redness, pain and inflammation. If you have ear pain related to a cold, read my other blog for cold remedies.

On the other side, middle ear infections tend to develop with upper respiratory illnesses such as the cold or flu when the germs travel through the connected canals ear-throat-mouth and infect the Eustachian tubes. The tubes become clogged with fluid producing a sense of fullness in the ear and there may be loss of hearing. 
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Symptoms of a middle ear infection include:

• Pain often felt like a throbbing
• Discharge from the ear that may be blood-streaked or smelly
• loss of hearing from that ear
• sensation of fullness
• fever
• feeling itchy inside the ear

HOMEOPATHY FOR SWIMMERS EAR-AND OUTER EAR INFECTIONS- WITH HOMEOPATHIC REMEDIES
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​Swimmers ear is one of the most well know outer ear infections. It happens when water remains in the outer canal, creating a perfect environment for breeding bacteria. You will find that homeopathy is very often able to be a very good solution for swimmers’ ear to control the pain.
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One of my daughters gets it very often after swimming in the water during the summer, which is very common among children or adults that spend a lot of time in the water.

The typical scenario is that she would go to the swimming pool, and the day after, she will wake up with pain, clicking and popping sounds in the ear.

And you may ask, what remedies did you give to your daughter for swimmers ear?

The truth is that there is more than one way to tackle things, and for her, Belladonna and Pulsatilla used to do the trick, although there are many other possibilities.

These are the most commonly indicated homeopathic remedies for earache, and you may choose any of the possibilities depending on many factors, which remedies you have available, how painful it is and, what time of the day it is if this is happening in the middle of the night and you just woke up you may want to choose a combination for your sake or your child’s sake!

BELLADONNA 200
This is the first remedy to think during the first days of the infection. This is a big anti-inflammatory remedy, and your child may say that he feels ” the heart on his ear” which translates to a throbbing sensation which is characteristic of this remedy.
The ear may feel hot and full inside; if you look inside, it may be bright red.

Belladonna has a kind of suddenness to it, so it may be the case that the symptoms develop really quickly and come and go.

This remedy also fits swimmers’ ears quite nicely, as one of the causes is “head getting wet”, and it is an all-around great first remedy in homeopathy for the first stages of inflammation.

CHAMOMILLA 200

This remedy is also a big pain remedy; the important note is that the person is finding it difficult to “bear the pain”. They may become very irritable and beside themselves and can not be appeased, demanding something for the pain.

So if you or your child are saying, ” just give me anything for the pain”, this remedy will be very helpful. Use it alongside other infection remedies or on its own.

Chamomilla is considered the OPIUM OF HOMEOPATHY! You know why this is an important pain remedy to keep in your kit.
The pain may feel as if pulsating and the ears can feel stopped.

PULSATILLA 30,200
With pulsatilla, there is a lot of congestion in the area, there may even be a thick yellow discharge from the ear. 

Have you ever heard your child say, -it feels like a balloon that is trying to push out from the inside of the ear- my own daughter, who was helped many times by Pulsatilla, used to describe it like this. 

That is the sensation of distension so characteristic of Pulsatilla.

People needing this remedy can also be quite emotional and tearful, and children may want more cuddles than usual.

KALI MUR 30c
This is a helpful remedy to keep at hand and complementary to Pulsatilla.

It follows Pulsatilla well and tends to finish the job if Pulsatilla is helping but not completely clearing it. For instance, Pulsatilla is helping with ear pain and discharge, but after a few days, there is no further improvement.

Kali mur is the remedy for discharges, so use it if there is stuff coming out of the ear and it is not drying out.

HEPAR 200
For this scenario, you will look at it a bit further than the first few days of inflammation. 

Hepar Sulph is a good remedy for any established infection and tends to include a bit of suppuration. The discharge is thick and gluey and can be smelly.

However, Hepar is also indicated if there is no suppuration; the indication is strong ear pain which is always worse by any cold exposure to the ear, so the person may want to have the ears covered all of the time using a scarf or any other clothing.

Pain can be felt like stitching but not the only sensation, so don’t worry if the pain is not described like this. Hepar Sulph is a good natural antibiotic in homeopathic terms and is often indicated in infections. It is often prescribed for infections in the Banerji Protocols and there is a good reason for it!

BEST EVERYDAY COMBINATION IN HOMEOPATHY FOR EARACHE AND SWIMMERS EAR

ACONITE200+BELLADONNA200+ CHAMOMILLA 200 – Also known as “ABC” combination

But what happens when you are on holiday, your child has been swimming in the ocean, and you are woken up in the middle of the night crying with pain? 

You may not have a full kit or even have the time to start reading this blog at 3: 00 am with a screaming child. Don’t worry; that is the beauty of knowing how to tackle problems with different methodologies.

Use this combination of remedies, all together at the same time, and it will tide you until the morning; sometimes, that will be all you need! It may be clear in a day or so.

You are including remedies for inflammation, pain and an aetiology; of getting cold and wet to the head. This is spot on.

BANERJI PROTOCOL TIP

For middle ear infections, use:

Hepar Sulph 200 in alternation with Belladonna 30 every 3 hours

If mastoid bones are affected add Symphytum 200 twice daily

HAVE YOU HEARD ABOUT THE MOVEMENT OF REMEDIES IN HOMEOPATHY?

How much is homeopathy really individualised to the person? We hear this over and over but let me tell you a secret, we homeopaths use shortcuts!

There are many ways that we can understand where the energy from the case is moving. One of the ways is through remedy relationships.

There are cycles of remedies that we tend to see often, and one of them is MERCURIUS-HEPAR S-SILICA. We often found that we tend to follow each other well in pathology.

This is a very famous cycle, and you may have seen it in practice repeatedly in acute infections of any type, from ear infections to abscesses and it can be helpful for you when things are changing as you are prescribing.

Let me explain why this happens!

Mercurius and Hepar are both suppurative remedies, complementary to each other, one deeper than the other.

Silica follows well at the end because:
– it is also a suppurative remedy but helps conditions where the organism does not have enough strength to finish a process. So Silica helps to give that extra push to hasten suppuration.
-Silica is the chronic remedy of Hepar

The chart below shows how it may look in practice when you are working on a case! And then follow the next section to see remedies for the progression of the acute infection and which remedies can follow well.

HOMEOPATHIC REMEDIES FOR THE OTITIS MEDIA OR INNER EAR INFECTION
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Inner ear infections can be a bit more painful and produce more discomfort because they build pressure in the tubes. Sometimes an external swimmers ear infection will move deeper, and in here, you will learn the most useful remedies in homeopathy for this stage.

The most common scenario is a child or adult with a respiratory upper infection, and after a week or so, he starts to complain of ear pain. That is usually because the discharge cannot clear from the tubes, and bacteria start to grow there.

For the first stage, in the first couple of days, use the same remedies as for an outer ear infection above. Read my blog for the first stages of acute viral infections here.

• Belladonna
• Chamomilla
• or the combination ABC.

​But if these remedies are not able to clear the problem and the infection in the middle ear remains the same or you have passed that stage, then you need other remedies:

HEPAR SULPH, PULSATILLA and KALI MUR  will probably be more indicated.

To these, we want to add a 3rd and 4th one that are also commonly indicated for the later stages of ear infections.

MERCURIOUS SOL 200
This is also a suppurative remedy for infections that are established. 
The discharge tends to be thin, green-yellow, quite foul and can contain traces of blood. 

Even though you will be using a deeper remedy like Mercurious, you can still alternate it with Bell or Chamomilla to relieve pain and inflammation.

Merc and Bell are very often needed in alternation to speed up the process.

Mercurious is also complementary to Hepar Sulph. So if you have been using Hepar Sulph and it was helping, but now things seem to stand still or regress, Mercurious may be indicated.

SILICA 200

This is a remedy for offensive ear discharges (although not always) where it does not seem to stop. There may be crusty formations outside of the ear, and often there is itchiness inside of the ear and a perforated drum.

If this is for a small child, they may bore into the ears while sleeping and on waking, you will find a discharge of the pillow of blood and pus.

This remedy is often helpful after Hepar and Mercurious when those remedies have helped partially, but the discharge is still active.