Hydrogen peroxide for otitis media is a popular remedy that many people use at home to relieve unpleasant symptoms. But before using it for medicinal purposes, you need to learn more about the disease itself and the properties of the drug.
Peroxide properties
Peroxide (also called peroxide) is a powerful antiseptic that was actively used in medicine in the early 18th century. From the point of view of chemistry, it is an oxidizing form of oxygen, and its formula looks like this: H 2 O 2 . Peroxide has a lot of useful properties:
- easily reacts with other components when atomic oxygen or free radicals are released;
- oxygen is aggressively active, its highest ability to enter into the oxidation reaction can seriously harm any healthy cell;
- it easily destroys the cell membrane and accelerates aging.
But, despite these threatening properties, peroxide is of great benefit:
- used to disinfect wounds;
- helps whiten teeth;
- with its use, doctors conduct antiseptic washing;
- It is used in the form of drops for otitis media and other problems with ENT organs.
Active oxygen also makes peroxide the best antiseptic. But it must be remembered that too high a concentration of the drug and its prolonged effect on the body can provoke the destruction of healthy tissues and slow the regeneration of damaged skin. In severe cases, due to the fact that the renewed cells at the site of damage are destroyed, keloid scars are actively formed.
Peroxide for otitis media: can I use it or not?
Is it possible to drip hydrogen peroxide in my ears? This is of interest to many people, especially those who often complain of pain in their hearing organs. Otolaryngologists advise using the drug as a last resort and with extreme caution. It is allowed to be used to treat the external shell of the ear and the ear canal.
To do this, you need to take a 3% aqueous solution, which needs to be slightly warmed up in your hands to a temperature of 37 degrees. The solution is allowed to be instilled into the ears, but it should be remembered that there are contraindications. Peroxide is used to clean the ear canals of sulfur accumulations and remove plugs. It effectively helps with:
- hearing loss;
- scratches and small wounds;
- otomycosis;
- chronic forms of pathologies of the hearing organs;
- injuries.
But before using the tool, it is better to consult with your doctor.
Otitis: what kind of pathology?
Otitis is a common name for inflammation in the ears of a person. The ear is a complex organ, a fragile system that is constantly attacked by microorganisms and injured.
There are several types of pathology: otitis diffuse and limited. Limited differs in a small inflammation, for example, a boil, but with diffuse a large focus of inflammation is accompanied by severe pain, swelling, fever, stuffy ear and nose. Also, otitis may be external or internal, and may affect the middle ear.
There can be many reasons for the development of inflammation:
- infections
- fungal infection;
- low immunity;
- inflammatory process in the nasopharynx;
- hypothermia;
- barotrauma;
- mechanical damage to the ear.
Therefore, there is an opinion among patients that hydrogen peroxide with otitis media helps to quickly get rid of unpleasant symptoms. But a doctor’s consultation is needed.
The effectiveness of peroxide in otitis media
Before answering the question, is it possible to drip hydrogen peroxide into the ears, you need to understand the scope of its application. Peroxide is a disinfectant, hemostatic and wound healing agent. Transparent liquid copes well with any microorganisms, which is why it is actively used in the treatment of skin diseases, treatment of wounds, and for disinfection of medical instruments.
Hydrogen peroxide for otitis was first used by Professor Neumyvakin. It was he who was able to prove that the drug is a powerful oxidant, which, when split, has excellent activity against infections. The tool is absolutely safe and has many advantages:
- cleanses the skin and mucous membrane from any microorganisms and contaminants;
- reduces the appearance of rashes on the skin and boils;
- helps ulcers to ripen, and their contents go out;
- dissolves sulfuric plugs in the ears.
How to use the drug for otitis media?
Hydrogen peroxide is instilled in the ear with otitis media because it has a low, but disinfecting property. Such drops help to disinfect wounds and cracks, protecting the ear from the development of a purulent process. An important condition is that the solution is warm. You can simply hold the bottle in your hand or add warm water. And you need to bury the drug like this:
- The patient should be lying on his side.
- Drop the solution into the ear.
- Massage the auricle, after 10 minutes, tilt your head in the opposite direction. Allow the remainder of the solution to come out.
How much to drop hydrogen peroxide in the ear? 2-3 drops, no more. If otitis media proceeds with perforation, then peroxide cannot be used, otherwise pain may appear or mastoiditis may develop.
Treatment of otitis with turunda with a solution
Hydrogen peroxide is used not only in the form of drops for otitis media, but also as a compress. To apply this method, you will need gauze or bandage, but in no case cotton wool, cotton pads. Vata leaves fibers that can not always be seen with the armed eye, and with otitis media and accumulation of pus, they can lead to serious complications.
For the procedure, gauze and 3% hydrogen peroxide will be required, previously slightly warmed up to 37 degrees. If at home there is only pure peroxide, then it is diluted with warm water 1: 3.
Before starting the procedure, you need to wash the auricle using a soap solution or cream soap. Twist the turunda from gauze, soak it in hydrogen peroxide and squeeze, removing excess fluid. Insert turundu into the ear canal. If purulent otitis media, then after absorbing pus, you need to replace the turunda with a new one. Do not hold the compress for more than 10 minutes, otherwise healthy cells may suffer.
Hydrogen Peroxide Flushing
Otitis is a severe inflammation in which purulent discharge from the ear is often observed. They have a viscous consistency and all can not completely come out on their own, so the residues can be removed by washing with a solution. How to rinse the ear with hydrogen peroxide in case of otitis media correctly so as not to cause harm?
To do this, you need a 2 ml syringe, water and a drug. Dilute the solution with water 1: 1. Sit on a chair and keep your head straight, draw liquid into a syringe and pour it under pressure into the ear, substituting a wide container under it. Hydrogen peroxide with otitis media will not only help relieve inflammation and swelling, but also wash pus, the remnants of which can lead to complications if they are not removed on time.
Ear instillation in children
Many parents ask an important question for them: is it possible and how to treat ear otitis media at home in children? The answer of the doctors is unequivocal. Hydrogen peroxide for the treatment of otitis media in children up to a year is strictly forbidden to use. At an older age, the concentration of the substance must be reduced several times. And this is due to the fact that the skin of a child is much softer than that of an adult, coarsening has not yet occurred, and on the surface there are many young cells that can die under the influence of an antiseptic. And this, in turn, can increase the area affected by the disease, creating damage that resembles a burn.
Hydrogen peroxide in children with otitis media is used in rare cases, but if the doctor decided to use it in treatment, then you need to bury in your ear no more than 1 drop. The duration of the procedure is reduced to 5 minutes, after which the ear canal is cleaned with gauze turunda. You can also make a compress, but its duration should not exceed 5 minutes.
But no matter what useful properties peroxide possesses, you need to remember that this is a drug that has its contraindications for use.
Contraindications
In case of otitis media, instilling hydrogen peroxide into an adult’s ear or using it to rinse the canal is not possible in several cases:
- if the eardrum is damaged;
- if the auditory canals are affected by pus from the facial sinuses, for example, when the patient has sinusitis;
- if the middle ear is inflamed;
- in cases where the disease is chronic and often manifests itself in relapses after treatment.
In some cases, it is allowed to use peroxide in patients with minor violations of the anatomy of the eardrum, but only if the otolaryngologist informs about this and will personally monitor the treatment process. The solution is used in case of severe pus formation and overlapping of the ear canal. Simply put, the benefits of using the product are obvious, and peroxide is simply necessary in these cases to use.
The ban on the use of the solution in case of damage to the eardrum is due to the fact that the liquid can penetrate beyond the membrane, which means that the mucous membrane and nerve endings can get a serious burn. Such exposure can deprive the patient of hearing and damage the eardrum, which can be accompanied by severe pain and require serious and long-term treatment. Otitis by hydrogen peroxide can also not be treated for children under three years of age. Kids are allowed to put compresses with a 1% solution for three minutes. During the procedure, the child should be closely monitored, not allowing him to turn his head strongly and not allowing him to grab the turundo with his hands, lay on his side.
Tracking a child in this situation can be very difficult, which is why doctors do not allow children under three to use peroxide.
Pregnancy and lactation are not a contraindication to the use of peroxide in the form of a compress, rinsing or instillation in the ear. On the contrary, doctors even recommend that future and nursing mothers use the drug for hygienic manipulations as a prophylaxis of the inflammatory process and for disinfection.
Terms of use for otitis media
There are several rules that help to properly use peroxide in the treatment of otitis media:
- It is forbidden to prescribe yourself therapy with this drug. Be sure to consult a doctor and establish the provoking factor of the disease, after which it will be possible to start the use of peroxide. It is important to adhere to the dosage, a saturated solution can harm the patient.
- If burning, itching, or unpleasant discomfort is observed during ear treatment, it is necessary to stop the procedure, since peroxide can irritate skin affected by inflammation and slow recovery.
- No need to clean your ears completely, removing all sulfur. It must remain in a certain amount in the auricle, and all because it performs the protective function of the ear canal against infection and harmful microorganisms.
- Never use concentrated peroxide! Many patients believe that only they can accelerate the healing process, but, as practice has shown, everything is completely different, the patient's condition may worsen.
- Hydrogen peroxide should be diluted only with plain water, for example from a bottle. Water from the tap must first be cleaned, and after that it still needs to be boiled. If you take low-quality fluid, then it can lead to infection.
- When the patient has a constant formation of plugs, you need to consult a doctor and find out what is the reason. You cannot diagnose yourself and prescribe treatment yourself.
- If the procedure with peroxide did not bring any results, then you need to tell the doctor about this so that he picks up another remedy.
Many doctors believe that hydrogen peroxide during the treatment of otitis media is simply irreplaceable. It helps to quickly eliminate the inflammatory process and relieve swelling, rid the ear canal of pus and any kind of pollution. But you should definitely consult a doctor and do not exceed the permissible dosage so as not to aggravate your already difficult situation. Using the drug in a higher concentration will not accelerate recovery, but only do harm.
Hydrogen peroxide in the ear with otitis media: reviews
For many centuries, peroxide has been used in medicine. Numerous patient reviews indicate that the drug is an excellent antiseptic. Moms who have small babies keep it in their first-aid kits to treat wounds to fidgets and clean their ears when traffic jams gather in them. Otolaryngologists also often recommend that their patients always have the drug at hand, in addition, there are no difficulties with its purchase, it is sold in any pharmacy, and its cost is available to everyone.
The proper use of peroxide will bring the patient with otitis media quick relief and a speedy recovery.