How We Treat an Ear Infection Naturally

Click to Share!

How we treat an ear infection naturally. Natural methods that work.

Ear infection-2

You know the signs.

Tugging at the ears.

The wailing and gnashing of teeth when you lay them down to change their diaper.

5 minute nap that was supposed to last at least two hours.

The crying as they try to suck on their bottle, nurse, or suck on their paci.

The fever (which may or may not be present).

All those wonderful classic signs of an ear infection. Although some children show absolutely no signs. My oldest son just gets stinky ears. No fever. No tugging at his ears. Nothing. But that smell? Awful.

I am not one to rush to the doctor. I’m more afraid of us catching something else while we’re at the office. Antibiotics disrupt the natural balance of flora (good and bad bacteria) in their bodies. Although they are on probiotics, I just don’t what to mess with that if I don’t have to. Have my children been on antibiotics? Yes. But very few times. We usually follow the wait and see approach.

My youngest son started tugging on his ears a couple of days ago. He’s also teething, so I thought maybe that was the problem. But he woke up around 10 last night, screaming. I went to pick him up and immediately knew he had a fever. After he calmed down he was still pulling on his ears.

As a Mommy, you just want to fix the problem. Immediately.

So what did I do?

What We Did to Treat an Ear Infection

Essential oils. 

He was still pretty fussy so I pulled out my oils. Although six months ago, I thought essential oils were for crazy people, I have seen them work and am amazed every time. FIRST, grab your carrier oil. Dilute. Dilute. Dilute.

I always use coconut oil. Put a little bit in your palm and let it warm up. Then I put two drops of Melrose (you can also use Lavender or Lemon especially for children) in the palm of one hand and use my other hand to apply it to the outside of his ear.

I then put a drop of lemon essential oil in my palm and used my other hand to apply the lemon behind his ear and down his neck. I did everything to the other ear also. Then I applied Thieves to the soles of his feet to help fight the infection. ALWAYS, always, always use a carrier oil when applying essential oils to dilute them. Especially to little ones.

He stopped whimpering and fell asleep. Have I told you how much I love these oils? He woke up again sometime during the night and I applied everything again. This morning he was awake and as happy as a lark. His fever was gone. But he was still pulling on his ears.

Garlic Oil

Willow/Garlic Oil.

This time I used the Willow/Garlic Oil. You can make your own garlic oil. It’s pretty easy, actually.

Garlic Oil.

Crush a couple of cloves of garlic and place them in a pan on the stove. Add about 1/2 cup of olive oil and heat until hot. Strain and let cool before putting it in the ear. I usually test it on my wrist before using it.

I warmed up the bottle in a cup of warm water and put 2-3 drops in his ears. I did this two more times during the day.

Before bed tonight we applied the oils again. WITH the coconut oil as a carrier.

Colloidal Silver

Other options.

We have also used colloidal silver and breastmilk to treat ear infections in the past. You can take Colloidal Silver either internally or put a few drops in the ears. If it seems like a really painful ear infection, I’ll alternate the garlic oil and colloidal silver. But usually, I catch it early enough I can use one or the other. And yes, breastmilk. I actually forgot about it this time, but I have used breastmilk with my other children to heal ear infections, stuffy noses (instead of saline solution), you can use it for pink eye and even scratches. It truly is liquid gold!

If for some reason he starts pulling at his ears and seems to be in pain again, we will make an appointment to see the chiropractor. Usually, a slight adjustment is all that’s needed to help the ear drain and heal from the infection.

Listen to your Mommy Instinct. 

We tend to try natural methods first and talk about those with our doctor. If we see no improvement, we let her know and we proceed with antibiotics {with a probiotic (affiliate link)}.

What are your natural remedies to heal ear infections?

**disclaimer** I am not a doctor. Please consult your doctor before starting any natural methods for healing. What works for some does not work for all.

Click to Share!

Similar Posts

52 Comments

      1. I used a dropper and put a few drops in each ear. Usually within the day, they would stop crying when sucking or waking up crying from nap. If you are seeing 0 signs of improvement within a day or two and they also have a fever, I’d consider having the doctor take a look. They may or may not prescribe antibiotics. When they do, we always get dye-free. Always.

  1. Would you put colloidal silver drops in a 2 1/2 year old’s ears? I was always told no drops in the ears until age 5, but we do colloidal silver drops and I’d love to use it on my toddler if it has worked for you!
    Thank you.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *