Sleeping is therapeutic only when nothing is disturbing you. Once you know how to sleep with an ear infection, you are sure to have a good sleep. However, with this article, you will learn a lot.
Introduction
For the best of anyone's overall health, it is essential to get the best of sleep. Getting the best of sleep enhances the next day's overall performance for every individual. However, many things can make sleeping very difficult, and one of them is an ear infection. Therefore, as an individual, you need to know how to find comfort even with the condition. Knowing how to sleep with ear infection becomes essential and will be significantly discussed in this article.
An ear infection can be a problem for your overall health as well as your sleep. Therefore, knowing the right way to sleep with the condition becomes essential. Everyone needs to get excellent sleep to have a fruitful and productive day ahead.
What Is an Ear Infection?
A middle ear infection is the inflammation or condition of the middle ear. The inflammation can begin with disorders that cause sore throats and nasal problems. It occurs with the Eustachian tubes' swelling, which eventually causes fluid to build up in the middle ear. The middle ear is just behind the eardrum, and a good indication that your ear is infected is when you start feeling pain in your ear. It can happen to two ears simultaneously, unfortunately, and can be acute or chronic.
Acute ear infections don't last long and will go away in a short time, but chronic ear infection is much more dangerous and may cause permanent damage to your middle ear. If you notice any ear infection's symptoms, your best bet is contacting a professional in the field instead of ignoring it, to confirm just what type of ear infection you have.
Causes of an Ear Infection?
Ear infections are more common in children than in adults, but no one is exempted; you can come down with ear infection at any time. The causes of ear infections in adults include: allergies, cold, exposure to tobacco smoke, changes in air pressure, sinus infection, and suppressed immune response.
As earlier mentioned, the swelling of the Eustachian tubes causes ear infections. The Eustachian tubes go from each ear to the back of the throat. Therefore, it should be no surprise that a common cold will affect the Eustachian tubes with this connection in place. Also, it can cause ear infections.
Changes in air pressure will also prevent air from flowing freely through the Eustachian tubes. If the fluid that builds up in the middle ear due to the tubes' swelling becomes infected with bacteria, this will make the ear infection chronic, and it may not go away in a few days like acute ear infection tends to.
If you are sick with another disease, in addition to ear infections, or there is pus coming out of your ear, seek the help of a medical professional immediately.
How to Treat an Ear Infection?
There are several ways to treat an ear infection ranging from home remedies to using actual drugs. The best move is to seek medical help. Your doctor will probably ask for the type of symptoms you are experiencing to treat it better.
Some signs to look out for include nausea, vomiting, ear pain, fever, and hearing loss. More so, a virus often causes ear infections, which means that an antibiotic can heal it. Nowadays, most doctors use pain relievers instead, and if there is a lot of pus in your ear, you may have to go through a draining procedure.
Tips and Tricks of Sleeping with an Ear Infection
It is a complete hassle trying to sleep with an ear infection. Believe it or not, many people sleep on their ears, and finding the right way to sleep with an ear infection will help you get some much-needed rest. Hence, this will ultimately make you heal faster.
You may feel the pain of an ear infection more acutely at night because you are mostly in the horizontal position; this is unlike standing upright during the daytime. Air flows into the Eustachian tubes while standing much better than it does when you lie down.
The first few days of ear infections are the worst. If you can get through it, you will be able to endure the entire duration of the illness. Finding the best way to get a good rest may be the most challenging hurdle when dealing with an ear infection. These tips will help you manage the pain and sleep without continually waking up and feeling drained the next day. Keep in mind that these tips will not heal the infection but will help you manage it.
- An easy way to escape the pain for some people before sleeping is trying to take the counter pain killers to help you deal with the pain. You can take drugs like ibuprofen or paracetamol before sleeping, this will go a long way in helping you get a good rest, but if you do not like taking medications, you can opt for other options.
- We established earlier that sitting up will probably help ease your pain better than lying down; you can try sleeping on a reclining chair where you are not completely lying down entirely.
- Elevating your head by stacking up pillows for your head before sleeping would be of great help. You can also stuff pillows or blankets underneath your head. This will make the elevation more natural and reduce the chances of neck pain. You're already trying to solve your ear pain, and there is no need to add more body aches to the list.
- Try sipping some water before going to bed. This swallowing exercise help to reduce pressure on the Eustachian tubes to help it drain fluids.
Remember that mild ear infections can last for three days or one to two weeks, taking measures to reduce pain for a good rest is very important because no one can stay without sleep for a week without feeling very drained. Some people prefer the wait and watch pain treatment relief, in which case you may go through some pain. This is where the sleeping techniques come in, and as terrible as an ear infection is, rest is the solution that will help you get through it.
- If you keep waking up several times at night, try changing positions from sleeping on your back to sleeping on the side of the uninfected ear; if your ear is infected on both sides, it's probably better to stick to sleeping on your back.
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Conclusion
Ear infections happen to children mostly, which is very difficult to endure, and ear infection can also occur in adults.
- Try using ice packs or warm compress to relieve the pain; you should lie on the side of the uninfected ear if only one ear is infected, place an ice pack on the infected ear, you can do this with warm compress too, this will make you feel a lot better.
Moreover, managing ear infection isn't easy, especially at night. Knowing the causes of ear infection and how to go about treating the disorder helps. It also helps you identify and treat it faster, and it can be a superficial infection that can go away immediately.
Additionally, seek professional help if it keeps reoccurring. This article has outlined ways to manage ear infections temporarily, especially when it comes to sleeping correctly. The home remedies and tips will go a long way in helping you sleep correctly to remain healthy.
Therefore, knowing how to sleep with an ear infection should come easily without stress again. You must pay attention to details and all of the guidelines given in this article.
- Olive oil is said to relieve ear pain; although there is no scientific proof of this, your grandma will probably suggest this to you; no harm will be caused by a few drops of olive oil in the ear canal so that you can give it a try.
- Ginger and garlic are also said to have anti-inflammatory properties and help reduce the ear ache; you should apply ginger juice on the outer ear, while garlic oil can go into the ear canal to relieve the pain. Apple cider vinegar, hydrogen peroxide, and tea tree oil are also significant ear drops.
- Although these statements have no scientific proof to back it, everyone has different body types, which may work for some people.
- It may be very stressful and frustrating to deal with an ear infection, use stress management techniques to relieve mental stress, and have friends around you to keep you distracted. This will help you cope and sometimes forget about the infection.
- Gargling with salt water can help you clear your throat to allow free air passage, and staying away from smoking or not being around people who smoke will also increase the healing process.
