Ear Infections

Ear infec­tions are one of the most com­mon ill­ness­es in chil­dren, though adults get them too. They hap­pen when a virus or bac­te­ria caus­es flu­id in the ear, lead­ing to pain and some­times trou­ble hear­ing or fever. Many clear up on their own with pain relief, while some need antibi­otics. Pain that is severe or not improv­ing should be checked. 

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What is an ear infection?

An ear infec­tion is when a virus or bac­te­ria infects part of the ear, most often caus­ing flu­id buildup, swelling, and pain. There are mul­ti­ple types of ear infec­tions. Know­ing the type helps explain the symp­toms and the treatment: 

• Mid­dle Ear Infec­tion (oti­tis media): An infec­tion behind the eardrum, often after a cold 
  • Com­mon mid­dle ear infec­tion symp­toms: Ear pain, fever, trou­ble hear­ing, fussi­ness in young children 
• Ear with flu­id (oti­tis media with effu­sion): Flu­id behind the eardrum with­out an active infection 
  • Com­mon ear with flu­id symp­toms: A feel­ing of full­ness or muf­fled hear­ing, often no pain or fever 
• Out­er ear (swim­mer’s ear): An infec­tion of the ear canal, often from trapped water 
  • Com­mon swim­mer’s ear symp­toms: Pain when you tug or touch the ear, itch­ing, drainage 

Ear infec­tions are very com­mon, espe­cial­ly in young chil­dren: three out of four kids have at least one by age 3. That is because children’s ear tubes are small­er and more hor­i­zon­tal, so flu­id gets trapped more eas­i­ly. Adults get ear infec­tions less often, and because an adult ear infec­tion can occa­sion­al­ly point to anoth­er issue, it is worth hav­ing one checked. 

What are the symp­toms of an ear infection?

Ear infec­tion symp­toms can come on quick­ly, often dur­ing or after a cold. Com­mon signs include:

• Ear pain or an ache, some­times worse when lying down
• A feel­ing of full­ness or pres­sure in the ear
• Reduced or muf­fled hearing
• Flu­id or pus drain­ing from the ear
• Fever
• Trou­ble sleeping

In babies and young chil­dren who can­not describe the pain, watch for tug­ging or pulling at an ear, extra fussi­ness or cry­ing, trou­ble sleep­ing, or fever. With swimmer’s ear, the pain often gets worse when you pull on the ear or chew.

When should I see a doctor?

Many ear infec­tions improve on their own, but some need treat­ment, and a few need urgent care. Here is how to tell.

Reach out if you or your child has ear pain that is sig­nif­i­cant or lasts more than a day or two, flu­id or pus drain­ing from the ear, a fever, or hear­ing that seems reduced. Young chil­dren, any­one with severe pain, and adults with a lin­ger­ing or one-sided ear prob­lem should get checked, since adult ear infec­tions some­times need a clos­er look. A provider can look in the ear and tell what is going on. 

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Babies under 2 months

Any fever in a baby younger than 2 months needs med­ical atten­tion right away. Call a pedi­a­tri­cian or go to the ER rather than wait­ing to see whether it is an ear infection.

Get emer­gency care

Some signs point to a deep­er infec­tion and need fast care. Seek emer­gency care for any of these:

What caus­es ear infections?

Most ear infec­tions start when the tube that drains the mid­dle ear (the eustachi­an tube) gets blocked, often dur­ing or after a cold, the flu, aller­gies, or a sinus infec­tion. Flu­id backs up behind the eardrum, where virus­es or bac­te­ria can grow. Out­er ear infec­tions, or swimmer’s ear, are dif­fer­ent: they usu­al­ly come from water trapped in the ear canal, which lets bac­te­ria grow. Things that raise the risk include:

• Recent colds or oth­er res­pi­ra­to­ry infections
• Aller­gies or sinus problems
• Being a young child, due to ear anatomy
• Expo­sure to smoke, includ­ing sec­ond­hand smoke
• Fre­quent swim­ming or mois­ture in the ears, for swimmer’s ear

Ear infec­tions them­selves are not con­ta­gious, though the colds that often trig­ger them can be. 

How are ear infec­tions treated?

Treat­ment depends on the type and how severe it is, and the first pri­or­i­ty is usu­al­ly reliev­ing pain. Many mid­dle ear infec­tions, espe­cial­ly milder ones, clear up on their own with­in a few days.

Com­mon approaches

• Pain relief with aceta­minophen or ibupro­fen is often the main treatment.
• Your provider may sug­gest watch­ful wait­ing for 2 to 3 days before decid­ing on antibi­otics, since many ear infec­tions improve with­out them
• Antibi­otics are used for more severe infec­tions, very young chil­dren, or infec­tions that are not improving
• Swimmer’s ear (out­er ear) is usu­al­ly treat­ed with antibi­ot­ic ear drops

Most ear infec­tions get bet­ter quick­ly with the right care. If antibi­otics are pre­scribed, fin­ish­ing them mat­ters, and a fol­low-up may be need­ed to make sure the flu­id clears, espe­cial­ly if hear­ing was affected.

Can you pre­vent ear infections?

You can­not pre­vent every ear infec­tion, but a few habits low­er the risk. Wash­ing hands and stay­ing up to date on vac­cines, includ­ing the flu and pneu­mo­coc­cal vac­cines. Avoid­ing sec­ond­hand smoke pro­tects children’s ears. For swimmer’s ear, dry­ing the ears after swim­ming or bathing and keep­ing objects like cot­ton swabs out of the ear canal helps. For babies, breast­feed­ing and keep­ing bot­tles upright dur­ing feed­ing can low­er the risk.

Who treats ear infections?

Most ear infec­tions are han­dled by a pedi­a­tri­cian or pri­ma­ry care provider. Pedi­atric, inter­nal med­i­cine, and fam­i­ly med­i­cine providers, with the nurse prac­ti­tion­ers and physi­cian assis­tants on their teams, can exam­ine the ear, tell which type of infec­tion it is, man­age pain, and pre­scribe antibi­otics when they are needed. 

An ENT (ear, nose, and throat) spe­cial­ist gets involved for infec­tions that keep com­ing back or do not clear, lin­ger­ing flu­id or hear­ing con­cerns, and cer­tain adult cas­es. Com­mon roles include:

• Pedi­atrics, for infants, chil­dren, and teens
• Inter­nal med­i­cine and fam­i­ly med­i­cine, for adults and whole-fam­i­ly care
• Oto­laryn­gol­o­gy known as ENT or Ear, Nose, and Throat, for recur­rent or chron­ic infec­tions, ear tube pro­ce­dures in chil­dren, and per­sis­tent flu­id or hear­ing problems

For chil­dren with fre­quent ear infec­tions, an ENT may rec­om­mend ear tubes, a com­mon, minor pro­ce­dure. Your provider coor­di­nates care and refers to ENT when spe­cial­ized treat­ment would help.

Fre­quent­ly asked questions

How do I know if my child has an ear infection?

Young chil­dren often can­not say their ear hurts, so watch for tug­ging or pulling at the ear, unusu­al fussi­ness or cry­ing, trou­ble sleep­ing, fever, or flu­id drain­ing from the ear, espe­cial­ly dur­ing or right after a cold. Trou­ble hear­ing or bal­ance can also be clues. If you sus­pect an ear infec­tion, a provider can look in the ear to con­firm it.

Can adults get ear infections?

Yes. Ear infec­tions are less com­mon in adults than chil­dren, but they hap­pen, often after a cold, aller­gies, or a sinus infec­tion, and swim­mer’s ear is com­mon in adults too. Because an ear infec­tion in an adult can occa­sion­al­ly sig­nal anoth­er issue, espe­cial­ly if it is one-sided or keeps com­ing back, it is worth get­ting checked rather than wait­ing it out.

Do ear infec­tions need antibiotics?

Not always. Many mid­dle ear infec­tions are viral or mild and clear up on their own, so a provider may sug­gest pain relief and watch­ful wait­ing for a cou­ple of days first. Antibi­otics are used for more severe infec­tions, very young chil­dren, or infec­tions that are not improv­ing. Swim­mer’s ear is usu­al­ly treat­ed with antibi­ot­ic ear drops.

How long does an ear infec­tion last?

Pain often eas­es with­in a day or two, and many ear infec­tions clear up with­in about three days, with or with­out antibi­otics. Flu­id behind the eardrum can linger for a few weeks after­ward, some­times caus­ing muf­fled hear­ing that grad­u­al­ly improves. See a provider if symp­toms last more than a few days, get worse, or keep com­ing back.

Where can I get treat­ed for an ear infec­tion in Chicagoland?

Duly Health and Care offers pedi­atric and adult pri­ma­ry care, fam­i­ly med­i­cine, video vis­its, and imme­di­ate care across the Chica­go sub­urbs, so you can get an ear checked quick­ly, at any age. For recur­rent infec­tions or ongo­ing ear and hear­ing con­cerns, Duly ENT spe­cial­ists can help.

Ear Infec­tion Care at Duly Health and Care

Ear infec­tions are com­mon and usu­al­ly very treat­able, and get­ting the ear looked at takes the guess­work out of what is going on. Duly pedi­a­tri­cians and pri­ma­ry care providers can exam­ine the ear, ease the pain, and decide whether antibi­otics are need­ed, often through a quick video or imme­di­ate care vis­it. When infec­tions keep return­ing, or flu­id and hear­ing prob­lems linger, your Duly pri­ma­ry care provider will coor­di­nate your care with Duly ENT spe­cial­ists, includ­ing for ear tubes in children.

With pedi­atric and adult pri­ma­ry care, fam­i­ly med­i­cine, and ENT exper­tise across the Chica­go sub­urbs, plus video and imme­di­ate care, relief is easy to reach for the whole family. 

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Med­ical­ly reviewed by Duly Health and Care Pedi­a­tri­cian, Alli­son Crouch­er, DO — Last reviewed June 2026