So, I had an earache the other weekend.  Earaches are the worst.  Well, maybe not the very worst, but really, really bad.  My husband suggested that I go to the quick care doctor before it got worse (it was a Sunday and my regular doctor’s office was closed.)  I hate the quick care doctor’s office.  I always feel that even if they fix the problem I go in with, I will probably pick up some other germ on my way out and have to deal with that too.  Soooo, I decided to look into alternative care.  My family went to church and I went online and started to research.  There are some pretty odd home remedies out there:  sticking cloves of garlic in the outer ear canal, holding a freshly cut onion to your ear, and the very worst possible with an “ew” factor of 10 – sticking a urine soaked cotton ball in your ear canal.

I decided to try one of the less offensive options.  I wanted to leave the garlic alone because I had to take my kiddos to co-op the next day and didn’t want to smell like the local pizzeria.  I went with the onion, and baked it to reduce any offensive odor.  One idea was to bake the onion and use a couple of drops of the baked onion juice in the ear canal.  Then you lie down to let it absorb in for about 15 minutes.  I threw an onion in the oven and went to rest with a heated rice pack on my ear while my onion baked away.  About 45 minutes later, I managed to squeeze out a few drops of liquid and put them in a teaspoon.  I went to lie down and administer the onion juice – I added a touch of warm olive oil because that was also recommended.  Tried it once.  Sort of soothing.  No other real effect.  Still had ear pain.  Tried it again with straight onion juice when my family was home from church.  My three year old looked at me like I was from another planet when she found out what I was putting in my ear.  Then she laughed and told me my ear was smelly.  So much for the baking process neutralizing the onion smell.  No effect.

I was about ready to throw in the towel, but decided that evening to give one more thing a try.  I asked my husband to try putting a few drops of hydrogen peroxide in my ear while I lay on the couch.  It felt very nice.  Weird, bubbling sounds, but good.  It felt better for an hour or two, but the pain came back.  We tried a reapplication of the peroxide a few hours later.  Again, it felt better, but the pain came back just before we went to bed.  I took two advil and went to sleep.  The next morning, I woke up expecting misery, but the pain was gone.  There was no more pain.  I felt a couple of twinges in my ear throughout the next day, but the earache pain had disappeared.  So.  There is my introduction to useful home remedies.  I think the peroxide method worked.  I suppose it could always be a coincidence.  Before I bank on it, it will have to happen again.  But I, generally skeptical of such treatments, was pretty impressed with what appears to be a good result from the treatment.  I wonder if the onion juice just took time to work properly or if it was the peroxide?  Hmmmmm.  Food for thought.

*No picture this time.  I kinda figured no one really wanted to see a picture of my ear.  🙂