We had a crazy night last week. We were about to go to bed, around 10 on the 29th, and Kenna woke up screaming "My ear, my ear hurts" etc. I gave her some tylenol and she was exhausted but unable to get comfortable despite trying lots of positions, and sitting up, and a movie...I was preparing myself for a long and miserable night, holding her upright on the reclining couch. Then the thought came to mind from something I read earlier in December from the Pearls in their No Greater Joy magazine. Something about garlic curing ear infections. One of their daughters is a herbalist and knows a lot about natural things that will heal...so I got the mag from the shelf and read it again. Then I googled my discovery just to be sure it was a "heard of" cure, I don't want to ruin my kids ear or something. Sure enough, it seems to be a well-known homemade cure, so I decided to give it a try.
1 T olive oil, warmed
1 clove crushed garlic
Heat the oil (I did mine on the stove until pretty hot), and crush one clove of garlic into the oil. Let sit for 10 minutes and remove the garlic pieces. (wait until it's warm, not hot, before putting in ear). Put a few drops in ear with a medicine dropper, and keep in ear for 30 seconds to 2 minute, then you can let drain out.
She was in extreme discomfort up until I put the drops in, and then within minutes she said she felt better. I did another round of the drops after about 20 minutes, and she fell asleep and slept the whole night through! In the morning she was in pain again, so more drops, and she was fine until about noon. I took her to the Dr's, and she had an ear infection. I don't know if or how long it would take to cure an ear infection by this method (don't think I would take it that far:-), but I was sure impressed with it's ability to calm the symptoms and pain. I'm sure I'll be using this again over the years!
My friend's 2-yr old has always had troubles with ear infections but they've been using garlic oil drops (purchased at a pharmacy, I think) for probably a year now and it almost always does the trick without further medicines! It's nice to know there's a way to make it homemade if needed!
ReplyDeleteRay's mother used to heat Mussel juice and drop it in their ears. Probably the heat, perhaps the salt, maybe the heated oil in your case... who knows. But a night's sleep is worth a lot!
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