Why We Get Earaches & How To Stop Them

It’s Q&A Day at 10almonds!

Have a question or a request? We love to hear from you!

In cases where we’ve already covered something, we might link to what we wrote before, but will always be happy to revisit any of our topics again in the future too—there’s always more to say!

No question/request too big or small 😎

❝I find I’m very prone to earaches in colder weather, is there something can be done to prevent this? Besides earmuffs!❞

Prevent outright? Sadly no.

Reduce the risk? Definitely yes!

Most earaches are caused by ear infections, which can be from a wide assortment of pathogens, including bacterial or viral, or even fungal.

Streptococcus pneumoniae is the most common culprit, and is bacterial, which is why antibiotics are often prescribed. But, as regular 10almonds readers will know, antibiotics should only be used when it’s either absolutely certain they’re necessary, or when the counter risk is so grave that going scorched-earth on the microbiome is worth the harm.

See also: Antibiotics? Think Thrice ← including 4 ways oral antibiotics can kill you

And if you must have antibiotics, then: Minimize The Harm Of Antibiotics

Because we’re unlikely to be able to self-diagnose whether our earache is due to a bacterial, viral, or fungal infection (or something else entirely), that limits self-treatment options, and even ear drops for the purpose will often only work on one of the three. And in some cases, if you guess wrong, it’ll make things worse rather than better (for example, if you use a topical antibiotic that wipes out your local skin microbiome but doesn’t touch the viral or fungal infection, but rather removes the competitors for resources and causes further overgrowth/infection).

Aside from that, the first-line treatment is just to wait it out, and take painkillers if appropriate. However, you shouldn’t wait more than 2–3 days, and if it gets severe, see a doctor (or your pharmacist, often quicker and usually able to help).

What about prevention?

First we’ll mention, earmuffs will usually not help and may even increase the risk, since they will help create a warmer environment for the pathogens to flourish.

To understand the cold weather paradox at hand in such situations, see: The Pathogens That Came In From The Cold

The only time when they might help you avoid earache is when the earache is not due to an ear infection at all, but is due to changes in air pressure, for example due to altitude.

Another possible cause is earwax buildup, but of course earmuffs will not help in that case either. In that case, earwax removal is good, but gently please, and do not poke things in your ears no matter how much you may be tempted.

And especially, please do not put things in your ears and set fire to them, either; that is a terrible idea. For more on that, see: Ear Candling: Is It Safe & Does It Work? ← the answer is “no and no”, but the science may interest you!

What you can do, however, is use earwax-removing oils, and if you want a home-remedy edition, olive oil or almond oil can be used; these oils dissolve the wax quite quickly (in fancier words: they are cerumenolytic agents); washing with water (e.g. in the shower or bath) is then all that’s needed. However, to avoid infection, ensure you are using a high-purity oil, and get one to use just for that; don’t just grab a bottle from the kitchen.

For your convenience, here is an example of medical grade almond oil (with dropper!) on Amazon

For more on that, see: What Is Earwax & Should You Get Rid Of It?

Since it is usually an ear infection, however, it’s worth knowing that common risk factors include:

• Being immunocompromised (having long COVID counts for this)
• Smoking, including being exposed to second-hand smoke
  • You might wonder why a toxin would increase infection risk, rather than killing the pathogens. The answer is firstly that it’s toxic to us because of our physiology, and doesn’t affect those. However, it does compromise our own immune system in an assortment of ways, including, mostly simply, clogging up macrophages with pollution to get rid of, which takes them away from anti-infection duties.
• Being in close proximity with many other people, especially if some or all are ill (hospitals and care institutions are high on this list, as are airplanes)
• Being male (this is because of hormone-modulated immune responses differing by which sex hormone is dominant out of estrogen and testosterone)
• Being in climates that are conducive to pathogens (note that this can also mean microclimates, for example a damp house)

So, avoid those things where possible, and you will reduce your earache risk significantly.

Want to learn more?

Check out:

8 Effective Earache Remedies

Take care!