http://www.care2.com/greenliving/home-remedy-for-ear-infections.html
Home Remedy For Ear Infections
By Marcy Franklin, Natural Solutions
Whether it’s your child–or you–who’s saddled with an ear infection, odds are you’ll try anything to ease the pain. To the rescue: garlic and mullein. Garlic’s antimicrobial properties kill the infection, while the anti-inflammatory properties of mullein leaf tackle the pain, says herbalist Brigitte Mars, author of The Desktop Guide to Herbal Medicine (Basic Health, 2007). Mars recommends keeping a solution of garlic and mullein on hand throughout the cold season.
To make your own, chop up 6 to 8 cloves of garlic, and mix with 2 tablespoons of dried mullein. Cover with 4 tablespoons olive oil, let it steep for 10 days, and strain. Two or three drops in the infected ear several times a day will do the job for both you and your kids, but make sure the eardrum isn’t punctured (symptoms include pain, change in hearing, dizziness, and fluid or blood draining from the ear) before you put the drops in the ear canal or they could badly damage your eardrum.
If you don’t want to make your own, you can purchase mullein and garlic ear drops at the health food store.
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18 comments
add your comment »so far the ONLY thing that seems to have gotten rid of my ear infection IS the tea tree oil.
but i WILL give the lemon juice a try. what the heck! :::::smile:::::
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Be very careful with tea tree oil (or any EO) in the ear and make sure it's very very diluted; I tried this once before and made my ear infection worse (it dried out my ear which allowed the flakes to create a better environment for the infection to grow!). That was the only time I had to go on antibiotics--both topical and oral.
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I would say for bad ear aches/infections squeeze lemon juice in your ear, keep it in for a few seconds, then let it drain out. I put a towel over my ear so it doesn't drain into my hair...that gets pretty sticky! The lemon has to do with changing the Ph levels in your ear. The bacteria is a base, and if you add the lemon, an acid, it neutralizes the Ph levels in your ear so that the bacteria cannot live in there!
xmas gifts
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on another article someone mentioned tea tree oil. so i used that today and my left ear is opening up!
will still look for the garlic one though. even though i am allergic to garlic.
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I can attest to this, i am prone to ear touble - especially when i eat wheat or get water in my ears (and yet i love swimming) - i use a dropper of olive oil, garlic and mullein which i had read about it, its good
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for desiree -- i have also been using sweet oil.
when i was a child, my mother used to eat regular oil on the stove and dip a piece of cotton in it. that always took care of the ear infections.
when i lived in california, they weren't really bad each year, but have REALLY gotten worse since i moved here to the northwest.
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wow! another great article -- especially since as i am writing i also have my annual winter ear infection.
tomorrow i have a doctor's appointment in the city, so i will go to the whole foods store, which carries alot of vitamins, etc. and see if they have these drops. or, i shall also try at super supplements.
all your articles are so informative and your writings are much valued and appreciated.
for richard -- last year my eardrum was oozing liquid, yet when i went to the doctor they could find no indication of it being punctured. go figure!
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For years as a kid (from as young as I remember until I was around 10) I had earaches at least once every week or so all through the cold months. My pediatrician told my mother to use "sweet oil" (plain old olive oil) in my ears, one or two drops of warmed-up oil whenever it started hurting. Kept me (and her) from having too many sleepless nights
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Great info , I'll tell a friend every winter she gets earaches, the natural approch is the healthy way to go !
Thanks
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I meant earaches can be very serious in animals, as in humans, but this can be used for mild infections. Don't know about inflamed joints, but arnica works great there. Can make a tincture out of that too. I got my info from taking a class & reading several books on herbs for both humans & animals, but ALWAYS RESEARCH yourself first!
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