Same-day illness
Ear infections
We diagnose and treat ear infections, usually the same day you call. Ear pain has several possible causes — middle ear infection, outer ear infection, fluid, or referred pain from a tooth or jaw — and they need different treatment, so looking in the ear is the whole point of the visit.
Come in if you have
- Ear pain, especially if it is disturbing sleep
- Reduced hearing, or a blocked or full feeling
- Fluid or discharge coming from the ear
- Ear pain with a fever
- Pain when you pull on the earlobe, or after swimming
What happens at your visit
- We look inside the ear with an otoscope. This takes seconds and is usually all that is needed to tell what is going on.
- We check the other ear, your nose and your throat, since these are connected.
- We explain what we can see and which kind of problem it is.
- Treatment matches the cause — drops for an outer ear infection, oral antibiotics only if a middle ear infection genuinely warrants them.
Looking is the diagnosis
Ear pain is one of the few complaints where a ten-second examination usually settles the question completely. The difficulty is that several quite different problems produce very similar pain:
- Middle ear infection — behind the eardrum, often after a cold
- Outer ear infection (“swimmer’s ear”) — the canal itself, often after water exposure, and typically painful when you tug the earlobe
- Fluid without infection — blocked, muffled hearing, not much pain
- Referred pain — from a tooth, the jaw joint, or the throat, with a completely normal ear
These need different treatment, and guessing between them from symptoms alone is unreliable.
Adults are not just large children
Ear infections are far more common in children, and most advice online is written about them. In an adult, a middle ear infection is less common and slightly more likely to have an underlying reason — so a first one in adulthood, or repeated ones on the same side, is worth investigating rather than just treating.
Relief while it settles
Appropriate pain relief matters and is often underused — ear pain is genuinely severe and there is no benefit to enduring it. We will go through what is suitable for you.
Get seen urgently for
Swelling or redness of the bone behind the ear, facial weakness or drooping, sudden hearing loss, severe headache with a stiff neck, or dizziness with vomiting.
Common questions
- Will I need antibiotics?
- It depends what we find. Outer ear infections usually need drops rather than tablets. Many middle ear infections in adults settle on their own with pain relief. We will tell you which is which rather than defaulting to a prescription.
- My ear feels blocked but does not hurt. Is that an infection?
- Often it is fluid behind the eardrum rather than active infection, frequently following a cold. It usually clears on its own but can take weeks. Worth being looked at if it persists or hearing is affected.
- Can I use ear drops I already have at home?
- Not without being seen first. If the eardrum is perforated, some drops should not go in the ear at all. Let us look first.
- When is ear pain urgent?
- Severe pain with high fever, swelling or redness of the bone behind the ear, facial weakness, or sudden significant hearing loss all need to be seen urgently — call us, or go to the ER if we are closed.
This page explains how we care for this condition at our office. It is general information, not medical advice for your specific situation — please talk to us about your own care.
Ready to get this looked at?
Call us or send a request and we will get you in — often the same or next day.