My son used to have ear infections very frequently before he had his adenoids and tonsils removed. He used to suffer from earaches a lot and we used to help him get better with pain relievers. At that time, we got help from an osteopath but no matter how much he tried, ear infection came back. The last ear infection he got was last summer because of diving into the pool too many times. The fluid must have gotten into his middle ear so quickly that he turned from a happy, active child to poor, miserable kiddo writhing in pain within half an hour.
In all honesty, I thought he was exaggerating at the time. Until I got an ear infection myself a few months later following a sinus infection. The pain in my ear was so excruciating that I, a 38-year-old woman, started to cry in bed. All I could think of was how I really wanted to apologize from my son for thinking he was acting, as soon as I got rid of the pain.
Feeling the fluid moving in my ear was one of the most uncomfortable physical sensations. In addition to the pain of pressure, the muffled hearing was terrible. {Yes, I was whining worse than a kid} I remembered listening to the pediatrician and the osteopath’s explanation of differences between the anatomy of children’s and adults’ middle and inner ear. The baby and young child’s Eustachian tube would be more horizontal which would cause ear infection because of lack of easy drainage. Then as kids grow the Eustachian tube would become more slanted and ear infections would become less frequent because of better drainage.
I asked my husband to look up a massage video for ear infection to drain the fluid from the middle ear and relieve the earache. I was too much in pain to even open my eyes. I was trying every possible home remedy I could think of:
- I put a heated towel on my infected ear.
- I propped my head with pillows to keep my ear up.
- I tried to sleep with my infected ear up (on my non-infected ear) because I am a side sleeper. This position helps the Eustachian tubes drain.
- I drank as much water as I could so that swallowing would help drain the fluid from my middle ear in a similar way that you would swallow to pop your ears after pressure change.
Lymphatic Massage Tools
My husband came back and told me he was going to do a massage to help me with the pain. After a few strokes, I already started to feel better. After massaging for 5 minutes, the pain was dissipating. After 10 minutes, the pain was gone and I was able to fall asleep.
The next day, after I apologized to my son, I got an appointment with an ENT to have my ears checked and get proper medication for my sinus and ear infection. My middle ear was still filled with fluid. The doctor told me it could take 2-3 weeks for the middle ear to completely drain. I continued to do the massage a few times every day to help speed up the lymphatic system to get rid of the infection and drain the fluid.
Below is the massage video, that I bookmarked for life.
This is another massage video showing as it is applied to a child. The strokes are similar.
These massage videos will help relieve earache caused by an ear infection.
One final caution! You might see ear drops as natural remedies for ear infections. I urge you not to put in any drops, either store-bought or homemade, in your ear canal while you still have fluid in your middle ear without consulting a professional. It puts a counter pressure on your eardrum which is already being pushed by the fluid in your middle ear. I did it and not only it didn’t help with the ear infection, but it also made my hearing worse for quite a long time.
(This is for information purposes only. Please consult your own doctor or pharmacist regarding your own health and medication.)
I’ve had a bad earache all day and just stumbled across this in my frantic search for a remedy. I tried this while eating some warm soup, and it worked! It’s still a little sore, but definitely loads better. I’ll repeat it until I go to sleep. Thank you!
I’m so glad to hear it worked and you are feeling better. It definitely helps to relieve the most painful pressure even if it doesn’t completely heals it.
I hope this works as have an outer ear infection and had it for four days and the pain is that bad I ain’t slept in days even the antibiotics ain’t working
Yes the proper massage protocol for earaches works! As a licensed massage therapist I have used many different massafe techniques to help my clients. Good for you for finding this video to help you ! 😁
Thankyou for sharing your information on ear infections and massage. I liked your videos also. People need to be informed 😊
Thank you!
I’m camping and felt my ear filling up and the pain starting. All day my ear aches and I tried taking extra strength Tylonal. Didn’t help. Sitting around a campfire and I felt a pop and my ear started draining, with slight blood appearance. I came in and looked for a remedy and stumbled on your site. THANK YOU for the message technique… worked great… I’m able to sleep… thank you!!
You got me scared with the blood appearance but it makes me so happy to read your comments that this post helped you.
Okay so i am younger and my ear pain is so horrible that i have been crying and i try massages but that just hurts to touch it and my ear keeps popping and unpopping and i tryed a hot towel idk what to do
i have a cold and my ear keep popping will this help with that?
I’ve been battling a cold… well the final reminents of it. I was sitting on the sofa and all the sudden my ear got muffled with a ringing. No pain, thank goodness… but I am a baby with anything making my ears feel different. I panicked and started looking on Pinterest while laying on a heating pad. I ran a bath and watched your cmvifeo and did the massages. I think it has already helped. I’m going to keep up these techniques.
this is the best info about ear aches…and infections and what to do…thank you so much, I have been in so much pain and waiting to hear about getting an appointment. I will tell everyone that asks about ear aches, and let them know about this wonderful site…thank you so much!
Thank you, Cheryl. I hope you are feeling much better now.
This is amazing! I just found this and did the video while sitting at my desk. I can already feel the gunk draining into the back of my throat. I may have to do a few more times over the next few days but yes!
So glad to hear that it helped. 🙂
3 weeks back i had an infection in both ears bu then i went to the doctor nd gave me some antibiotics but only one ear has cleared nd the other one i believe it has fluids because it only gets painful when i lie down and there’s an anoying sound in the ear when i sneeze or yawn☹️☹️☹️i really dont know what to do
Nd i have been getting ear infection in this ear but it wasnt this bad…. Can anxiety and stress make your ear infection heal slowly?
My 11 yr old had her first ever earache. She was in a lot of pain. I used the massage techniques as shown in the first video and she was able to fall asleep within 5 minutes. She did take pain relief meds so I expect it was a combo of both. Regardless the massage likely took her focus off the pain and allowed her to relax. Thank you for the tips!
I’m so happy to hear that it helped. This is one of these posts that I return to my own blog and use multiple times a year. Just this past week, I sent the link to my husband who was complaining about the pressure in his ears. He said, he did the massage along with a steam bath and he felt much better.