Why Does My Child Have Earache but No Ear Infection? A Parent’s Guide Earache is one of the most common reasons parents seek medical advice for children. It can be distressing, especially when your child is crying, not sleeping, refusing food or repeatedly pulling at one ear. Many parents naturally assume that earache means an ear infection. Sometimes it does. But not always. A child can have significant ear pain even when the eardrum looks normal, and there is no obvious middle-ear infection. This is because the ear shares nerve pathways with nearby areas including the throat, tonsils, teeth, jaw joint and neck. Pain from these areas can be “referred” to the ear. Mr Gaurav Kumar, Consultant ENT Surgeon, assesses children with ear, hearing and paediatric ENT concerns from London, East London, Brentwood, Romford, Ilford, Redbridge, Chelmsford and wider Essex. This guide explains why earache can happen without an obvious ear infection, what parents should watch for, and when ENT as...
What to do if your child has a neck lump? Neck lumps can be due to enlarged lymph nodes, birth cysts or lumps or (only 10%) malignancy. When you notice a neck lump in a child, consider the presentation's age. Is the child getting associated B symptoms, i.e. night sweats, fever, unexplained weight loss, fatigue, loss of appetite, trouble breathing, itching or painful swelling in their belly? Note down any recent exposure to a person with flu-like symptoms, a young cat or any change in size or neck lumps becoming multiple. What happens when you visit an ENT surgeon with your child? The ENT surgeon will take a detailed history and perform a clinical examination of the tummy, ear, nose and throat. The ENT surgeon will request special blood tests, a chest X-Ray and an Ultrasound scan of the neck. Depending on the results, it may be required to do a sample surgical biopsy of the lymph node in a few cases. Which lymph node neck lumps in children are ENT surgeons more concerned ab...