puneet478

Hi,

My daughter is 2.5 yrs old and got an ear infection and she has been on anti-biotics (Amoxycilin) for 4 days now.

We are supposed to be on an 8 hrs flight tomorrow. We consulted the GP but the practitioner could not give any advice. Just wondering if she will be able to fly.

We have already delayed our flight by 3 days and not in position to delay any further. Any advice/experience will be really helpful.

Thanks & Regards,
Puneet

Doc Savage

It is frustrating that your doctor refused to give advice, since only he had the opportunity to look at the child's ears to see how much pressure there appeared to be.

After four days of antibiotics, the infection is likely to be well on its way to being treated, but there may still be fluid buildup behind the eardrum, and this may result in a fair amount of ear pain on takeoff and landing.

Really, only a doctor who has examine the child will be able to tell you with any authority what the current risks are.

Safe Travels.

puneet478

Dear Doc Savage, Many thanks for the quick reply.

The practitioner was like that my daughter could be ok but she said that in worst case scenarios the ear drum might rupture which scared us. Unfortunately she could not provide specific advice nor she did say that we should not fly and hence inconclusive.

My daughter has never complained about any issues in air so far (she has traveled on long flights a couple of times).

Regards,
Puneet

Often1

OP - While you may call that "inconclusive" I do not. The doc may be a poor communicator, but the doc warned you of a specific risk. It would indeed frighten me and there is no way that my child would fly without an affirmative "fit to fly" opinion.

Either consult another doc., preferably a specialist or presume that your daughter is at risk of an adverse outcome. No idea of your destination, but if her ear drum ruptures, what is your treatment plan at the destination.

Unless you get a "fit to fly" I would presume that the daughter is not. But, that is based only on what OP reports the doc said to her after her OP which did not mention the risk discussion.

Doc Savage

That's kind of the answer I thought the doctor may have given, as they can never be completely sure. Often1 is right that the only real way to get a better answer is to see an Ear, Nose, and Throat doctor for an opinion. That doc might be able to pop in some ear tubes if he felt it necessary.

A bit of a dilemma for you, though.

Big4Flyer

Agreed that this is a difficult spot without a specific recommendation from a doctor. I will say that I would err on the side of caution in this case. We learned of our daughters ear infection after driving back from the mountains and that 3,000 foot drop had her screaming in agony. Hopefully your daughter is doing better now with the antibiotic, but the pressure change from a commercial aircraft will be about 8,000 feet, and there will be little you could do to comfort them.

If it were me I would get a doctors note and write the trip off and try to get reimbursed from trip insurance. Hope your daughter recovers soon and good luck with whatever you decide.

swise

4 days of abx should be sufficient to be able to travel, at least in my experience with two kids who have had ear infections and using a home otoscope to monitor them. Usually within 48 hours, things are much better.

Speaking of otoscopes, they're available on Amazon for under $35 and are easy to learn to use.

Eclipsepearl

Experience speaking! An ear infection was found by the ped (no symptoms) two days' prior and he was FINE on the flight.

Ear problems are actually rare on commercial flights. 13 years as a Flight Attendant and traveling with my own three kids, I rarely saw it.

No need to suck on take-off and landing. Modern jets are pressurized and it doesn't happen at those times. The most critical moment is when the aircraft starts its descent. This will be 40 minutes to an hour before landing so if you want to get her something to drink or simply make sure she's awake, do it then.

Ironically, one of the BEST ways of clearing the ears is by crying so their natural reaction IF there is pain is the best.

uyman

There is something called a tympanometer that puffs some air against an ear drum to tell you how compliant the ear drum is. PCP and ENT docs often have this. If it is stiff as a board, honestly, I'd still go, take some tylenol before the flight, sudafed/nasal decongestant and go for it anyway.

Often1

"My kids did just fine and had what might possibly be the same condition as yours. I'm not a doc and I haven't examined your kid, but you ought to go ahead and fly anyway."

This is just plain silly. There is a reason why competent medical advice is a good thing and why "you'll likely be fine" should not be particularly comforting.

TravelingNomads

I was also going to recommend some kind of Sudafed type of decongestant. If the antibiotics were effective, then she should already be fever free and appearing normal even though you're still supposed to continue the antibiotics. The fluid (even if bacteria free) could take a bit longer to go away. Like someone else mentioned, they have a way of roughly evaluating how much fluid is there so that you can gauge your daughter's comfort level. I would definitely give her an infant's dose of motrin before the flight. If she still has a fever or is rubbing at her ears, I would have her reevaluated first as she may need a stronger antibiotic.

uyman

If you really want to read the primary literature, here are some links

http://www.aafp.org/afp/2000/0215/p959.html
http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/pdf/...92288702601102
http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/pdf/...92288802700514

I have access to journals from where I am sitting so it's hard for me to know if the links are fully publically accessible. I think the AAFP one should be.

CBear

Yup.

Having finally resolved my child's ear issues after 3 years, the only clear indication you can have about ear drum movement is with a quick tympanometry test. It's painless and literally takes a minute. If there is good movement, the ear drum is fine and you are clear for flying. A flat typanogram means the ear drum has ruptured (very common and not concerning at all with ear infections) and again, perfectly fine for flying. A type C tympanogram indicates significant fluid build up, which is a problem. My child has had countless tympanograms over the last few years to determine the status of both eardrums. It's not big deal at all and the result is instantaneous.
Every pediatrician's office is able to conduct this test, no need for an ENT. Please do not just rely on what can be "seen" as fluid build up and ear drum problems get missed by regular pediatricians an awful lot of times .

Fluid build up can be a problem for weeks after an infection and I certainly wouldn't assume it is gone after only 4 days of treatment. The infection may be gone, but will fluid can remain.

A good dose of decongestant for at least a day or two before flying won't hurt either.

I'm hoping the OP will come back to tell us how it went!