Earaches - Editor's Choice

Over the years, Earth Clinic readers have sent us many reports about their treatments for Earaches. The editors at Earth Clinic consider the below posts to be some of the most helpful and informative and have named them 'Editor's Choice'. We hope that you will find this useful.

Oil Pulling

Posted by X-microbiologist (Right Here, Usa) on 11/18/2017
★★★★★

I currently have one of the worst ear infections ever, -and I am usually not prone to them! Being a diehard fan of Earthclinic (and the fact that it was 2 in the morning when my symptoms kicked into high gear) I read through and tried nearly every remedy listed with only marginal success. It was maddening! So I looked at a diagram of the ear and realized that every "Cure" I'd tried involved placing salt/alchohol/vinegar/oil etc. INTO the ear itself, hoping that the medicinal agent would get into the problem area and fix things. But if the problem was lower down -say lower middle ear or even in my eustachian tube, that pathway is unlikely to be effective. And believe me, it wasnt effective, -I was hurting continuously!

That's when I thought about oil pulling. The mouth is yet another pathway into the ear and, when using a truly antibacterial oil like coconut or garlic-infused olive oil, should be relatively quick and effective way to clear up deep ear infections.

So I figured I'd give it a try, -certainly it was better than waiting for morning! I took Coconut oil and put in a little natural sea salt, placing a tablespoon of the concoction in my mouth. Then, I laid down to further facilitate getting the stuff to my tubes (you dont have to do this, but I was also exhausted, so I had double incentive! ) After five seconds, I finally had sustained, sweet relief! The pressure subsided, no more pain, -I'm still a little clogged, but I'm decidedly feeling BETTER! I swished for about 15 minutes overall. I'm also going to alternate the salted coconut oil with garlic-infused olive oil to make sure I don't have any little infectious nasties left. But I just wanted to post my success here because I read several other posts from people who were in the same boat as I was last night, -tired, desperate and out of luck. In fact, if I could just make a blanket recommendation, maybe trying the oil-pulling FIRST before putting anything into our ears? Membranes are delicate things and once they're damaged, it tends to be permanent. Oil pulling is a pretty non-invasive procedure to try FIRST if you've got a raging ear ache and it wont hurt you in any way. And, if it doesn't work, you've ruled out the lower tubes of your ears as infection sites, -so win/win!

Anyway, -God's blessings to all! I hope this is a help to others!


Garlic

Posted by Steph C. (Missouri) on 03/07/2017
★★★★★

Garlic for Earache:

This is what I do for my kids. Garlic clove crushed and warmed in olive oil. Once the oil smells garlicky I let it cool a bit and then place in the ear and have them lay down with a cotton ball in the ear for as long as they can (usually lasts 10 minutes before they get impatient). I usually do both ears for prevention. I will say I have only ever had to do this application once per complaint because it is so effective. My kids are very compliant with this treatment, also, because they know it is fast relief.


Garlic Oil Recipe

Posted by Mama to Many (Tennessee, US) on 09/06/2014
★★★★★

My son had a terrible earache. I gave him some OTC pain medicine because he had to go to work. Then I began a batch of garlic oil. When he came in later, I put a few drops of the garlic oil into each ear. He has been fine ever since. I have used this oil in the past for ear pain. Usually I use it at least once or twice a day. Used with a warm rice sock, pain will usually be resolved quite quickly. I believe if you have a ruptured ear drum, it is not recommended to use anything in the ear. In that case, the oil could be rubbed under and around the ear.

Recipe for Garlic Oil

1/2 cup freshly minced garlic cloves

1/2 cup olive oil

1/4 cup extra virgin coconut oil

Mix together and let sit on the counter for ten days. Shake three times a day. After ten days, strain out the garlic with a coffee filter. Label and date and STORE IN REFRIGERATOR! This way it will last all fall and winter. I will leave it out for days at a time when treating someone with an acute condition. Perhaps adding some vitamin E oil would help it to last even longer.

I usually store it in a glass bottle with an eyedropper. I put the glass bottle into a mug of hot water for 5 minutes before using it, so the oil will be warm in the oil. That feels better than cold oil, especially for children.

I didn't have ten days to wait to treat my son. So, I strained out a little bit of the oil after a few hours. It will get stronger and stronger over the course of ten days.

I also use this oil on the chest and/or back for a cough. It will make the person being treated smell terribly of garlic, but it works. For a small child, I rub it into the bottoms of the feet. It works VERY well for a stubborn cough and I love that I can treat a child without even waking him up at night.

Lalitha Thomas, author of, "Ten Essential Herbs, " from whom I got the original recipe, will use it internally for a cough or as a natural antibiotic. (1 teaspoon per adult dose, equivalent of 1 garlic clove.) She does not use the coconut oil, but I like to use it as it also has anti-viral properties.

Where I live, cold and flu season are around the corner. It is a good time to be sure to have Garlic Oil made up ahead of time!

~Mama to Many~


Oregano Oil

Posted by Sunny (Ca) on 02/04/2014
★★★★★

I did multiple things but I believe what cured me was the oregano oil soft gels. So, I have tried the garlic oil in cotton and it has worked perfectly in the past. Not this time, my pain/ cloggedness kept persisting( I think I had a very strong infection). I had been having it for like 6 days very slight, but not gone! And the plugged/ congested feeling. So I tried olive oil in ear, garlic oil in ear, Apple Cider Vinegar with alcohol drops. Apple Cider Vinegar alone drops , garlic water in nasal irrigation ( slice garlic let sit in drinking water for 1 min )in the neti pot, and lastly half hydrogen peroxide half warm water in ear wash with syringe ouch!!! The last one made me have so much pain, that I was reconsidering visiting my doctor. Even though I know that all they were going to do is give me antibiotics and like steroid drops for ear.

What has worked in CURING my infections before was oil of oregano soft gels. So I figured it would help with my ear pain/ I think it was an ear infection. So I bought it yup its expensive but it does the job! It cost me $40 dollars! For 60 softgels. It is the "Oreganol wild oregano" by North American Herb and Spice ( highly rated on Amazon, check it out) you can get it in like health food stores, or like Whole Foods Market, or online. But since I wanted this gone I went to my health food store. You can also try the regular one, if you cant afford the super strength is stronger( just take more). So when I got it I took 3, then 3 for luch and 2 for dinner.

I know that there is lose oil by them( in a little jar) but I do not like this, I only like the softgels!! That is my advice. I feel since its ingested it get more in you body/ blood stream/ tissues.

I also made myself a tomato tea from this site look for it on this site it has a name like Jeans tomato tea or something like that. But mine has some other ingredients. I add to it sea salt, oregano and garlic, onion. Put as much lemon and chili as you can handle( I use cayenne pepper( this drink will help you to drain the ear fluid, amongst other things it will do) So yea the next day I felt so much better! My ear felt good! , but I will continue to keep taking softgels for some like 3 more days, as I want to kill what ever, it is dead! But I feel very good!

My recommendations would be to attach what ever it is in many ways, garlic water nose rinse, via neti pot, these softgels for inner battle, eat good and add oils in ear.

I think I had an inner ear infection! Yup its a hard place to get to as is very inside, but thru can get to it thru digestive means, and also thru throat/ nose means.

Other advice: if you can afford to go to a chiropractor I would advice to go. The do ear work too.

Why it should work

It should work because oregano oil is antiviral, antibacterial, anti fungal .. I think its also anti inflammatory etc. so what ever it is you have it will kill it.

It will be ingested, and can get to hard to reach areas such as the inner ear part. I think its called the middle ear??

I wanted to share my story as a way to thank my lord for allowing me to finding the solution to heal my body, without harming it further with useless antibiotics. And because I was in a desperate place where I was not getting a full healing( ear pain/ cloggedness sucks).

I would say for fast results attack it all ways, by ear, by ingestion, by massage out side of ear, to get it good and fast. Also eat healthy.

I know its long, but I needed to show that I had a sever inner infection and I needed to do much prior to getting full healing. So... DONT GIVE UP!! WHEN THEY TELL YOU ITS NOT CURABLE, TELL THEM , YES IT IS!! I JUST HAVEN'T FOUND THE WAY YET ;)

What I learned for the future....

Any time I have any type of infection I will reach without a second thought to my Oreganol Oil of Oregano Softgels. Im ready for you FLU :p lol

Comment if you ever use this method and it works for you.

Namaste my loves :)


Olive Oil

Posted by Msg (Somewhere, Europe) on 03/15/2010
★★★★★

Hi, having benefited from many of your ideas here, for which I am very grateful, I thought I'd share one that is tried and true:

Having had numerous siblings and numerous children, I can recommend without reservation the olive oil-on-a-piece-of-cotton remedy for earaches. Works for all ages, in my experience. by 48 hours the latest, earaches are gone. The olive oil only has to saturate a bit of the cotton (the side that goes into the ear) and the cotton should be stuffed (not deeply!!) into the ear and kept there. We put a biggish piece of cotton so it won't be able to get too deep. It can be changed as often as you want but we always just leave it there till the next shower.


Rubbing Alcohol and White Vinegar

Posted by Eva (Prinsenbeek, The Netherlands) on 08/04/2009
★★★★★

A slightly different earache recipe (more diluted) is widely used among divers (you can't dive with bad ears). Too much alcohol in the solution dissolves earwax, this can leave the ear canal prone to infections.

Thus one-third distilled water, one-third white vinegar and one-third isopropyl alcohol could be a more effective mixture.

Even if there is water in the mixture, your ear will dry out and right after application you will feel your ear canal to become warm. Some people even warm the solution between their hands before using it. I would not use a Q-tip, but apply a few droplets the solution with a medicine dropper (taking care not to let the dropper touch the ear or anything else).

Tilt the head to one side add two to three droplets, then gently massage the ear in a circular motion to ensure penetration, and allow the medication to sit for some minutes before lifting the head upright. I am not sure this recipe helps when you have a very bad infection, but it DOES work when you have some irritation and/or water in your ear.

After your ear feels normal again you can stop with the treatment (usually,after one to several days). It is a cheap recipe, so to keep it potent you can make a new batch of it monthly if you need to use it often.


Garlic

Posted by Brigitte (Houston, Texas) on 01/11/2008
★★★★★

Garlic works to alleviate ear aches. You simply must be sure to take the garlic clove and expose the tender inner flesh by scoring the outer flesh of the garlic; then wrap the garlic clove in a light cotton gauze to prohibit the ear from making direct contact with the garlic clove and place this into the ear canal. Be sure that the garlic clove is large enough to prevent its becoming lodged in the ear canal. leave it there and you will find that the pain will disipate. I have used this remedy repeatedly with great success. When my oldest daughter was about two years old she found it so soothing that if the garlic fell from her ear she would pick it up and place it back in her ear all by herself. Garlic works to alleviate ear aches



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