Swollen ear...something always happens on the weekend!

[lmariana]

It's Friday night, so of course I have a question for my doctor, since they won't be available till Monday. :)

Gabe's right ear started turning red and puffing up a bit this afternoon, before his nap time. After nap, it's gotten worse, and now it's definitely swollen and very red.

He's not acting "sick" and really has no other symptoms that would raise my concern. He did smack his head on a table today while bouncing on his little chair, but I doubt that's related, since the actual bump is on the very back of his head.

Anyhow, I'm attaching some pictures of the ear, in case you think you can help me diagnose this! Thanks!

Mariana
Mom to Gabe, 8/03
www.heinzandmariana.com/news.html

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[vwh99]

Any chance that he may have gotten an insect bite? That happened to my daughter once...a possibility since he's not acting 'sick'.

Val

[Marisa6826]

Looks like either contact dermatitis or a bug bite.

Have you put some Cortaid or Benadryl cream on it?

I would also give him some Motrin to take the inflammation down.

-m

[mudder17]

It looks kind of like a bug bite. Can you ice it to take the swelling down?

I hope Gabe feels better soon!

Eileen

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[billysmommy]

Try the ice and benadryl but if it looks worse tomorrow, I'd try to get him seen. Does your peds office do Saturday hours?

This happened to us over July 4th while we were at my parents. Billy got a bug bite on the top of his ear (I know this because I brushed the bug away). It turned a little red but didn't bother him. That was Sunday night. The next morning it was still a little red and now a little swollen but still not bothering him. He went down for his nap and DH and I left him with my parents while we went to an antique fair. We came home a few hours later to a little boy with a HUGE RED ear. It was so swollen that it was bent almost in half. It was very red and hot and it was starting to get red and swollen on his head around his ear. My dad's an MD and when we came home, he told us it looked like the beginnings of cellulitis and that he had called in an antibiotic for us to pick up in about an hour. Billy started the antibiotic later that day. The redness, heat and swelling started to go away slowly and it took a few days before it was mostly back to normal. That ear does stick out a little further now but that was also the ear that was bitten by his friend. Poor little ear :)

[Saartje]

Looks like a spider bite to me. Not sure what you can do about that.

[R2sweetboys]

Oh, poor Gabe! That looks so familiar. At the beginning of the summer, Ryan's ear became red all of a sudden. When he went to bed and woke up the next day his whole ear was VERY swollen and red.(a Sunday,of course!) Fortunately,our peds office sees kids on Sundays so we brought him in. I was a bit freaked out b/c it was SO big!(and I don't call the ped. for much)

The ped. suspected a black fly bite as they had been really nasty this season.(impossible to know for sure though) With Gabe it's likely a reaction to a bite of some kind. Like a PP, they also were concerned about cellulitis and put him on a topical and oral antibiotic. I think we also used benadryl but I'm not sure. Bummer, it's happening on the weekend for you. Does your ped.'s office do any type of weekend emergency clinic? I'd definitely call though if it doesn't improve. Good luck, keep us posted!
~Leslie

SAHM to...
Ryan 8/14/00
Matthew 2/14/03

[R2sweetboys]

I hope it's getting better. Keep us posted!
~Leslie

SAHM to...
Ryan 8/14/00
Matthew 2/14/03