Symptom Definition

• Drainage of substances with varied colors and consistency from the ear canal.
  

Causes

• Normal discharge: earwax or water.  Earwax is light brown, dark brown, or orange brown in color.
  
• Main cause of abnormal discharge: an ear infection with drainage of cloudy fluid or pus through a ruptured eardrum or through a ventilation tube.
  

See More Appropriate Topic

(instead of this one) If

• Follows ear injury, see EAR INJURY.
  
• Began while doing lots of swimming, see EAR, SWIMMER'S.  
  (To go directly to these topics, click the links following this document.)
  

WHEN TO CALL YOUR DOCTOR FOR EAR DISCHARGE OR DRAINING

Call Your Doctor Now (night or day) If

• Your child looks or acts very sick.
  
• Pink or red swelling behind the ear.
  
• Clear or bloody fluid following head injury.
  
• Bleeding from the ear canal (Exception: few drops and follows ear exam).
  
• Fever above 104°F (40°C).
  

Call Your Doctor Within 24 Hours (between 9am and 4pm) If

• You think your child needs to be seen.
  
• Ear pain or unexplained crying.  
  
• Discharge is yellow or green, cloudy white or foul-smelling (pus).
  
• Clear drainage (not from a head injury) persists for more than 24 hours.
  

Call Your Doctor During Weekday Office Hours If

• You have other questions or concerns.
  

Parent Care at Home

If

• Probably normal earwax or water and you don't think your child needs to be seen.
  

HOME

CARE ADVICE FOR EAR DISCHARGES
1.  Earwax:  Ear wax protects the lining of the ear canal and has germ-killing properties.  If the earwax is removed, the ear canals become itchy.

• Call back if: begins to look like pus (yellow or green discharge).
  

2.  Clear Discharge (without head trauma):  It's probably tears or water that entered the ear canal during a bath, shower, swimming or water fight.

• Don't overlook eardrops your child or someone else used without telling you.
  
• In children with ventilation tubes, some clear or slightly cloudy fluid can occur when a temporary tube blockage opens up and drains.
  
• Call back if: Clear drainage persists for more than 24 hours or recurs.
  

3. Blood After Ear Exam: If your doctor had to remove ear wax in order to see the eardrum, about 10% of the time this causes a small scratch to the lining of the ear canal. Usually the scratch oozes 1 or 2 drops of blood and then clots. This should heal up completely in a few days. It shouldn't affect the hearing. Don't put anything in the ear canal because it will probably re-start the bleeding.  
4. Suspected Ear Infection:  Give acetaminophen (e.g. Tylenol) or ibuprofen for pain relief until the office visit. (See EARACHE for details)

See Other Topics:

• Ear Injury
• Ear, Swimmer's
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Lucile Packard Children's Hospital is located in Palo Alto, adjacent to Stanford University Hospital, approximately 20 miles north of San Jose, CA and 40 miles south of San Francisco.




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