Are There Ways to Prevent Earaches From Colds or Ear Infections?
There are ways to prevent earaches from colds or ear infections in children and adults. Often altering the home environment is all that’s needed, but sometimes surgery is necessary too. You should talk about the following precautions with your doctor. • Protect your child from colds, especially the first year of life. Most ear infections start with colds. • Ear infections can occur after the flu, so ask your doctor about an annual flu shot. • Most kids receive the pneumococcal vaccine, which helps prevent infections with Streptococcus pneumoniae, which used to be one of the main causes of ear infections. Ask your doctor if you’re not sure your child has received this vaccine, which is usually given before age 2. • Avoid contact with second-hand tobacco smoke, which increases the frequency and severity of ear infections. • Control allergies. Inflammation caused by allergies is a contributing factor to ear infection. • If you can, breastfeed your baby during the first six to 12 months of
