An excruciating kind of ear infection is acute otitis media (AOM). It happens when the middle ear—the region behind the eardrum—becomes inflamed and infected.
Children with AOM frequently exhibit the behaviors listed below:
- (in babies) periods of extreme fussiness and wailing
- gripping the ear and writhing in discomfort (in toddlers)
- (in older children) expressing ear discomfort complaints
Symptoms of Acute Otitis Media
Infants and children may have one or more of the following symptoms:
- crying
- irritability
- eat pain
- sleeplessness
- pulling on the ears
- a headache
- Fever
- neck pain
- a feeling of fullness in the ear
- fluid drainage from the ear
- diarrhea [1]
- vomiting
- a lack of balance
- hearing loss