Earache and Pregnancy - Symptoms, Remedies and Medication

I am just coming to the end of a cold. My ears have been getting blocked up all week but then going back to normal with no pain.

However, last night at 10.30pm I started to feel a blocked sensation in my ear. This quickly became painful. I went to bed about 11.30pm and dosed in and out of sleep. An hour later, the pain woke me up properly. I think that lying down made my earache worse. My earache symptoms included:

Slight loss of hearing in affected ear. Hearing sounds muffled.

Pain and throbbing in my ear. I could hear and feel my pulse quite loudly

Some pain along my jaw

Ear feels pressurised

I couldn't lie in bed for any longer so I went downstairs and researched some home remedies.

There are lots of home remedies out there for earache. Do a quick Internet search and you'll find lots.

For the pain, a lot of people recommend using heat to help numb the pain. Some ways of doing this include:

Holding a warm towel or flannel against your ear. Heat the towel on the heater or perhaps in the tumbledryer. Make sure its warm and not hot - otherwise you may burn your face. This article gives detail on how to use a hot compress to relieve ear ache.

Use a hairdryer on a low heat. Hold it about 8 to 10 inches away from your ear. (i've not tried this so can't vouch as to whether it works). Also check out this article on How to Use a Hair Dryer to Cure Earache.

Wrap a warm hot water bottle with a towel and hold it next to your ear. (This is what I did and the heat really did help).

Warm up an oven-safe plate, wrap it in a towel, and rest your aching ear right on it

Please note, when using heat exercise caution. Make sure that you use warm towels etc, otherwise you may burn your face and have even more pain to worry about.

Here are some more tips for helping earache without medication:

Sit Upright - sitting upright helps decreases swelling and pressure. It also helps aid your eustachian tubes in draining themselves out. I think that one of the reasons earache can get worse at nightime is because you lie down in bed which can make earache more painful.

Warm olive oil - another home help for earache is warm olive oil. Warm a few drops and put it into your ear using an ear dropper. Not tried this as I was a bit worried about putting something into my ear when it was so sore. But lots of people seem to use it with positive effect. However, you should not use olive oil if your eardrum has burst.

My midwife has already advised me that its okay for me to take paracetamol during pregnancy but I don't like taking anything so I suffered all last night with hardly any sleep and just heat against my ear.
However this morning I had had enough and my husband went and purchased some paracetamol and it has offered me some relief. My ear still feels pressured and blocked and my hearing is not great at the moment but the pain has eased somewhat.
Paracetamol is okay for most pregnant women to take. However, it is important to check with your health provider (midwife, doctor) before taking it as every pregnant women is different and there may be reasons why you can't take it.

As soon as my doctors surgery opened I was on the phone. Again, I'm not one to see the doctor if I can help it but the pain was so bad. I got an appointment for 11.10am. Thank God for the National Health Service in the UK! In my experience I never have any problem getting a doctors appointment with my doctor when needed and I am so thankful everytime.

The doctor looked in my ear and told me it looked red and was an ear infection. The doctor confirmed taking paracetemol is fine, although its always best to take it only when absolutely essential. I have been given antibiotics which I have started to take. Hopefully they will have some affect in 48 to 72 hours.

Since having earache during pregnancy, I have wondered whether there may be some kind of link between being pregnant and getting earache. All I have is ancedotal and personal experience, no hard evidence but I suspect there may be some kind of link. However, I have read that due to the amount of fluid your body retains when your are pregnant this could lead to earache and blocked ears.

From personal experience, I have not had earache before being pregnant or since being pregnant that I can remember. There are a lot of discussions on pregnancy forums about women having earache during pregnancy so it is quite common but I couldn't say it's more common among non pregnant women. My sister in law had blocked ears for the last two weeks of her pregnancy which drove her crazy. But as soon as she gave birth, her ears unblocked.

Below are some forum discussions on earache and pregnancy.