Ear pain, which is pain in or around the ear, in children is mostly the result of inflammatory diseases. Common inflammatory pains are: external ear canal boils, acute otitis externa, herpetic tympanitis and acute purulent otitis media.
The severe pain in the ear that occurs with otitis externa and external ear canal boils is mainly due to the fact that there is little subcutaneous soft tissue in the external ear canal, the skin and cartilage membrane are tightly packed, and the inflammatory swelling stimulates nerve endings and causes severe pain. Boils on the external ear canal and acute otitis externa are mainly caused by skin damage and bacterial infection due to ear digging; or bacterial infection due to dirty water entering the external ear canal during swimming, hair washing or bathing. Herpetic tympanitis, an acute inflammation of the tympanic membrane, and the skin of the adjacent external ear canal caused by a viral infection, presses on the tympanic membrane and causes severe pain in the ear. Acute purulent otitis media, in the early stage of inflammatory middle ear disease, the mucosa of the tympanic chamber becomes congested and thickened, the cilia fall off, the secretory cells increase, the vascular contents exude from the capillaries and gather in the tympanic chamber, gradually becoming purulent and gradually increasing, and the pressure of the tympanic membrane increases, compressing the tympanic membrane, which is rich in nerve endings, also causing severe ear pain to occur.
If a child has a history of colds, nasal congestion and runny nose and suddenly develops severe ear pain, it should be considered acute purulent otitis media when the eardrum is about to be perforated, and the child should seek medical attention from an otolaryngologist as soon as possible.