Do Ear Infections and Asthma Go Hand in Hand?

Asthma is cramping of the small tubes of the lungs --it's impossible for that to be related in any way to ear infections...

On the other hand, dairy allergies cause both asthma flare-ups and ear infections in many children.

nope. My oldest has asthma and is 8 and he only has had one ear infection a few summers ago when he got swimmers ear. I have heard that reflux and ear infections can go hand in hand. If your doctor is saying they are sinus infections why are you saying its his ears? My youngest gets constant sinus infections and clariton and zyrtec DO NOT help. He had to go on flonase which made a world of difference. He did not get watery eyes or a runny nose but that kid would have a nose that was so blocked up that he would blow and nothing would come out and he would be rubbing the sides of his head near his ears and would cough awful at night from post nasal drip. He has also had sinus infections where his only symptom was complaining his mouth hurt something that is usually not seen in young children. I don't understand why not sleeping at night = ear infections. Have you had a sinus infection? I wouldn't wish that pain and discomfort on my worst enemy. If he has asthma maybe suggest singulair to your doctor it helps w/ allergies and asthma. My oldest has severe seasonal allergies and takes singulair and clariton and this year we had to add flonase to the mix (just for the spring) because his allergies were so bad and causing horrible breathing issues and sinus infections. I have found that in both my kids for the stuffy head allergy symptoms a prescription nasal spray works best.

Edit: workinmom please tell my 3 year old and his pediatrician and his ent that 2 year olds are too young to have sinus infections! He has had chronic sinus infections for the past year and half and has had the xrays to prove it! He also had environmental allergies develop before the age of one although people on here like to claim a child that young can't have seasonal allergies either!

As far as I know, there isn't a relationship between ear infections and asthma. Unless maybe it's cold-induced asthma, which my son has. I don't know if you could do the anti-histamines, but my hunch is that it might work.

When my son gets a cold, we immediately start him on pulmacort and also benadryl before nap and bed. We do this because it helps to "dry him out" to prevent the mucus from getting into his lungs and causing an asthma attack. The same phenomenon might be happening with your daughter but also getting into her ears. (My son has ear tubes).

Check with your doc. My guess is that they'd be OK with you trying benadryl and seeing if it helps. You also might want to consider ear tubes, they were lifesavers with both my son and daughter. Good luck.

Hi,

I could always hear liquid sloshing in my ears or nearby even though the physician's assistant couldn't see anything in there. I discovered I had lots of food allergies. I removed those foods that bothered me from my diet. Resulted in no more sounds of liquid. I do still have post-nasal drip since I also have allergies to pollens. It's ragweed season now. Ugh!

Good luck,
MD

I have never heard of a connection between asthma and ear infections. I also haven't heard of watery eyes or runny nose from ear infections either. Two year olds don't have true sinuses yet, so therefore no sinus infections. They tend to get ear infections because the tubes to the throat are more horizontal rather than vertical since their necks are so short still. Ear infections are related to teething, does he have his 2 yo molars yet? Also, not clearing out their throat from liquids when laying down. Does he have a bottle or sippy right before sleeping? These do tend to decrease as they get older.

IT sounds more like a food allergy/intolerance. MY DD had a chronic cough for a long time and recurrent ear infections until I removed all dairy from her diet and then it was just gone! Worked like a miracle. She was close to being diagnosed with asthma and allergies. THe allergist put her on claritin and we were really upset with putting her on meds long term and I'm so glad that we discovered the real problem, we didn't just treat the symptoms.

Our 3 year old doesn't have asthma but has constant ear infections. When there is a sinus infection the "goo" has to get out somewhere and the nose and throat to the lungs and upper respiratory stuff is one way out, the eyes is another, and then finally the ears.

J is not diagnosed with asthma but when he gets a bad upper respiratory infection due to drainage and stuff he ends up wheezing and needs Xophenex to help open up the airways so he can cough stuff up. Because we have done this he has never developed Pneumonia like some kids do.

We had tubes put in in late June or early July and he hasn't complained of his ears hurting once.

My thought processes about allergy meds is this:

Allergy meds "dry up" the goo, everywhere. That makes it especially hard to get it out, you can't blow it out, you can't get it out of the throat, it is very dry and painful in the sinus area and kids tend to start having behavior problems because they are hurting and feel really bad.

My personal opinion about doctors is that when there is a defined issue...such as ear infections-go to an ORL doc. If you were having a baby you'd go to an OB/GYN, if heart stuff then a cardiologist. Why not take the kids to a doc especially for their issue. Pediatricians are kids doctors but they usually do well baby checkups and simple things. Even the docs themselves will send you to a specialist if they realize they really aren't able to treat an issue as well. Go to the doc that is a specialist for eyes, ears, nose, and throat, an ORL doc.

Our son has allergies (chronic, though mild congestion) and according to our pediatrician, those can directly contribute to ear infections. He was been on Singulair (sp?) for a while and is now on Zyrtec.

However, allergies & asthma are often related. Our son sees a pediatric allergist. As a baby (about 1 month old), he developed mild eczema, and had chronic, mild congestion from allergies. We also have a family history of allergies. So, because he has eczema, has allergies and our family has a history of allergies (and also asthma), according to our ped. allergist, our LO has a 97.5% chance of developing asthma....

I would say that if you child is having problems with ear infections, and your doctor hasn't brought up asthma/allergies, it's time to ask the doctor and for a referral for allergy testing.

I've known quite a few asthmatic children that didn't get ear infections. My daughter had terrible infections and no asthma. But in recent years she's been told she has another type of asthma that presents in a very atypical way. So who knows? She's 20 now by the way. She was 18 when she was told she had asthma.

Both are helped by chiropractic care! Please give it a try before using a bunch of medications or other alternatives. I've seen many kids helped this way, including one of my own. I've only known one child out of maybe 15 that it didn't help due to the shape of his ear canal. My kids have been adjusted since the were born, it's very safe and helps with many things!

If he has allergy induced asthma, they will go hand in hand but cause the allergies tend to increase the ear infections. Clariton could help but check w/ your doctor.