Remove Something Stuck in a Child's Ear

Kids have been known to put foreign object in their ears. Because they actively play outside there is also a chance to have bugs or other oddities in the ear. Keep reading for tips to remove the foreign body and to know when to seek professional medical advice.

Steps

1. See if you can determine what is in the ear. Use a flashlight to look, ask your child or other children playing to see if they can help identify the item.
2. Know when to get help. As expensive as doctors, urgent care centers, pediatricians and emergency room trips are you can't leave an object in the ear in hopes it will fall out. This can lead to infection.
   • A foreign body in the ear is extremely distracting, can cause nausea, and can make the patient miserable until it is removed.
   • Take your child to the emergency room if you can't get it out or are unsure what to do. This is a normal procedure in the ER and happens often. The ER doctors will be able to get you in and out quickly.
   • If your child is not in pain, you can wait and take him to his own doctor or perhaps get a referral to see an ear, nose & throat specialist. Beware that the irritation may become worse during the night and your plan may need to involve the ER.
3. Reassure the child the removal does not include shots or a painful procedure. Most children are frightened by the Otoscope (light used to look in ears), the hemostats (scissor looking tool that grabs and doesn't cut), or syringe used to flush water in the ear canal.
4. Use caution when trying to remove an item so you don't push it further into the ear and cause permanent damage. If you can't see the item you should avoid trying to remove it with a tool's.

Tweezer Method

1. Make sure you can see the item and have good lighting.
2. Have the child lay flat and remain still.
3. Remove the item with a pair of blunt-tipped tweezers or hemostat if you have a pair available.
4. Use caution not to push the item farther into the ear.
5. Make sure you get the item out and it doesn't break.
6. Anticipate some ear irritation following the removal. It may be sore especially from people pulling on the ear lobe, child's fingers in the ear, the irritation from the item, etc.

Water Irrigation Method

1. Use towels to protect the floor or any furniture.
2. Use a small bowl or basin to collect water.
3. Have the child lay flat and remain still.
4. Position the head to the ear with the foreign body is closer to the floor than the other ear. Gravity will assist flushing the item out and not deeper into the canal.
5. Use a syringe (no needle).
   • Some pharmacies will let you have a syringe or sell them inexpensively.
   • They are commonly used to medicate infants and pets so you may already have one.
   • You can also use an unused and clean syringe from a marinading kit.
   • Bulb syringes can also be used to suck up water and irrigate ear.
6. Draw back on the plunger and fill the syringe with mildly warm water. You don't want to burn the interior ear.
7. Squirt the warm water into the canal.
8. Continue flushing water into the ear.
9. After several minutes and you do not see a foreign body in the bowl you can try to visualize the item for extraction by above methods.
10. Use a mild additive to kill the insect. If you suspect the foreign item is a bug you can add a touch of baby soap, Bactine, peroxide, or diluted conditioner to the water. You may need to kill the bug to get it out. They often try to go deeper until they die. Make sure you rinse the ear with clean water.

Tips

• Make sure not to go too deep or else you might hurt the child's ear.
• Be patient if you decide to use the emergency room. Most likely this is not life-threatening and other patients may get priority.
• When you visit an ER the doctor will often squirt Lidocaine into the ear canal. This will help numb any irritated areas and kill an insect.
• Take an infant to the doctor for removal of an object. The ears are too sensitive and delicate and you don't want to cause additional damage.
• A bug flying or crawling into an ear can be miserable for adults and children. The above steps can be used for almost any age group except for infants.
• Insects will frequently fly into ears at outdoor evening sporting events with the bug attracting lights. Consider wearing ear plugs.

Warnings

• If you cannot see the object, use caution before you try to remove it yourself. You could force it farther back or cause other injury. It will usually be safer to have a physician do it.
• You may need to try multiple steps and still not be able to extract the item. Don't miss your doctor's office hours trying to get it out yourself.
• Keep small items such as beads, broken toy pieces, small rocks, etc. out of reach of small children, especially those who have a tendency to insert items into their ears.

Things You'll Need

• Tweezers or hemostats
• Cotton swabs
• Water soluble school glue (Elmer's, etc. Don't use anything that could stick and not remove easily with water.)
• Hand held vacuum (one with mild suction)
• Syringe or bulb syringe
• Bowl or basin of mildly warm water

Related Articles

• Remove Ear Wax from a Hearing Aid
• Unclog a Clogged Ear
• Get Rid of Ear Wax
• Remove Wet Wax from Infected Ears
• Remove Water from Ears
• Determine if Your Infant Has an Ear Infection
• Remove Paper Stuck to Furniture
• Clean Children's Ears

See also

• Prepare Your Children for a Visit to the Doctor
• Communicate with Your Child's Pediatrician
• Spot Childhood Emotional Neglect in a Loved One
• Cure a Child's Stomach Ache
• Protect Your Kids from Secondhand Smoke
• Get Kids to Sleep
• Prevent Vomiting in Children
• Help a Female Child Provide a Urine Sample
• Overcome Selective Mutism
• Treat a Child Who Can't Keep Food Down

Read more ...

What links here

• Cure an Earache
• Cure Tinnitus
• Remove a Bug from Your Ear