Primary Remedies

Belladonna

Intense bouts of earache that come and go very suddenly, with heat and inflammation, suggest a need for this remedy. Pain can be pounding or throbbing, and may be worse from jarring. The person usually has a fever, a flushed red face, eyes that are sensitive to light, and skin that is hot to touch. The right ear is most often affected. A child needing Belladonna may feel drowsy with the fever, or be restless and have nightmares.

Chamomilla

This remedy relieves pain and earaches associated with teething, with irritability and hypersensitivity to pain.

Hepar sulphuris calcareum

This remedy is indicated when an earache is very painful or infection is advanced (with a bulging eardrum or pus formation). Stabbing, sticking pains “like a splinter being driven in” are a likely indication. The person is very sensitive to everything, especially cold and drafts, and may feel extremely vulnerable and touchy.

Mercurius solubilis

This remedy may be helpful if an ear infection is advanced, with pus formation, shooting pains, and roaring in the ear. A person who needs this remedy is often very sensitive to temperatures (both hot and cold), has swollen lymph nodes, offensive breath, a puffy tongue, and sweat and drooling during sleeping.

Pulsatilla

This remedy is often indicated for ear infections that follow or accompany a cold. (Cold symptoms include a stuffy nose, especially indoors, and large amounts of yellow or greenish mucus.) The ear may be hot and swollen, with a feeling that something is pressing out. Pain can be worse in the evening and at night, as well as worse from heat, with a pulsing sensation. Deep itching may be felt inside, especially if ear infections are chronic. A child needing Pulsatilla usually is sad and tearful, wanting to be held and comforted.

Other Remedies

Aconitum napellus

This remedy relieves earaches occurring after exposure to very cold weather.

Ferrum phosphoricum

This relieves low-grade fever with weakness and tendency to nosebleeds and earaches.

Kali muriaticum

This relieves ear congestion with cracking sounds in the ear, worsened by the change in pressure.

Magnesia phosphorica

An earache that feels much better when warmth and pressure are applied suggests a need for this remedy. The pain may be mostly neuralgic, with little evidence of fluid or infection.