Otoscope

Andrew had another ear infection early this year. At that point, I wanted to write this post but didn't get around to it. A friend took her son to the doctor today to check for an ear infection. When she said, "If only I had an otoscope, I could look at his ears myself," I decided I really wanted to get this posted publicly.

Two of my children have problems with outer ear infections due to wax build-up (due to oddly shaped ear canals). After a couple of ER visits, I learned how to deal with the wax problem the way the doctors do. But one of the important tools is the otoscope: you have know when to keep flushing the ear and when it's clean enough to stop, and looking through an otoscope tells you what you need to know.

So I investigated otoscopes. The Dr Mom otoscope is the friend of any bright mother. When the child goes to the doctor with an ear infection, ask to see through the doctor's otoscope. Begin to learn what an ear infection looks like. (The Dr Mom website also gives some illustrations.) The otoscope can tell you when a child's ears are clear as can be. It can tell you when there's an outer ear infection. It can show when the ear drums are getting stuffy with allergies. It can show when there's infection that might spur you to make an appointment with the doctor posthaste. These things are, like, 25 bucks, and that includes shipping. If you can avoid even one co-pay for the doctor, you've paid for the otoscope. Mine is about five years old and still works just great. This is something I wish I'd known about much earlier in my mommy-days. It saves time and it saves money, and sometimes it allows a sick child stay home in comfort instead of sitting in a doctor's office getting exposed to more germs "just in case" he might need the amoxicillin.