# Yellow gunk leaking from baby's ear - WWYD?



## Quagmire (Sep 27, 2005)

This morning my 6 week old's left ear was coated in this gunky yellow stuff. I wiped it out gently with a washcloth - it's sort of antifreeze yellow/ green.







Later I noticed more of it.

So what is this? Ear infection? Does it need antibiotics?

She doesn't seem to be in pain so I'm feeling like as long as the gunk is draining it's ok... ?? But my older DD had constant ear infections as a baby so I'm wondering if we might be in for a recurring problem. DD1 ended up needing ear tubes though because her ears didn't drain... instead it would back up and she'd get yellow gunk in her eyes. I'm ok with letting it heal on its own but I understand that ear infections can lead to hearing loss in some cases... so I want to figure out when I need a doc vs when I don't.

Any comments/ advice are much appreciated!


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## maxmama (May 5, 2006)

When my ears would drain after an infection, it was because the drum had ruptured and it didn't hurt anymore.

I'd probably take her in just to confirm that the drum has ruptured, but that's me. There isn't really anything different that gets done -- you have to keep water out of the ear until it heals -- but usually they don't get antibiotics or anything. I'd just like some confirmation that yes, it ruptured, and yes, it looks like it's healing.


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## RachelSerena (Aug 4, 2006)

My daughter had this too when she was 3-4 weeks old. I took her to the doctor and she had a candida infection from anitibiotics I had in labor, and was detoxing out of her ears. She was put on probiotics and lymph medicine.


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## jrose_lee (Oct 2, 2005)

Eeek- avoid antibiotics as much as possible! My babe and I have candidiasis now b/c of all the antibiotics I took in my lifetime! Now we have THAT to heal. I would start by squirting breastmilk in the ear many times a day if you are breastfeeding. That stuff is magic














I don't have any other advice...except that I hate antibiotics. They may have their place, but not in my baby's system. Not if I can help it. I already screwed that one up once







:


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## lmkirche (Jun 7, 2006)

EAR INFECTION!!!!

Any time there is drainage from the ear, it is an infection.

Try a chiropractor, instead of antibiotics.

I don't really think bm would help an ear infection. Even though it is quite magical.


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## flyingspaghettimama (Dec 18, 2001)

I've had multiple eardrum ruptures myself, and I don't think it would be something you could ignore, even if you were a baby. They are very, very, very painful until it ruptures. And if you put BM in a ruptured eardrum, it would hurt sooo bad. If you put any liquid in a ruptured eardrum, it just kills (I tried garlic mullein oil last time, myself, OUCH).

I would take her to a doc of some sort to check it out, but I'd guess it's from another source, not an eardrum rupture, if she hasn't seemed to be in any pain in the past few days.


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## LeosMama (Sep 6, 2005)

I would take her to the pediatrician. She may not need antibiotics. I would also squirt bm in there and let it sit for about ten minutes, then rinse with water and let it drain by keep that ear down for about 20 minutes.

How would a chiropractor help with an infection?


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## lmkirche (Jun 7, 2006)

A chiropractor can help align the spine which sometimes causes ear infections. Many people have found that the chiropractor can treat and prevent ear infections. However, you need to find a infant chiropractor in your area. It is, of course, different for babies.

From the Journal of the American Medical Association: Of the 332 children with otitis media that participated and received chiropractic care, 93% of them experienced dramatic improvement, with most having the condition resolved in 4 to 5 visits. Six months after receiving chiropractic care, 80% of the children had not suffered a recurrence of an ear infection.

Hylands herbs also can help with ear infections.

I would doubt that it is a rupture of the ear drum. Otherwise, you would see rusty colored fluid from the membrane.

Do get it checked out soon though. Good luck.


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## BelgianSheepDog (Mar 31, 2006)

6 weeks is pretty young and yellow-green is definitely a sign of infection, I'd definitely see some kind of professional about this.


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## Quagmire (Sep 27, 2005)

So I took her in to see the ped this evening. She couldn't see the ear drum because there was too much fluid, but agreed that fluid only leaks if there's a rupture in the ear drum. She said basically the infection burst the ear drum







Poor baby.

They prescribed ABX - the pink stuff. Argh. DD puked all over herself on the way home so not only did I have to shove nasty bubble gum flavored liquid down her throat, I also had to peel her out of her wet car seat and wash the vomit off. All this waaaaaaaaaay past her bed time so she was not a happy peanut







:


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