Symptom Definition

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

• If follows ear injury, see EAR TRAUMA.
• If began while doing lots of swimming, see EAR, SWIMMER'S.

 (To go directly to these topics, click the links following this document.)

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.
• Fever above 104°F (40°C).

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

• 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 come from a temporary tube blockage that opens up and drains.
   
   Call back if: Clear drainage persists for more than 24 hours or recurs.
   
   
3. Suspected Ear Infection:  Give acetaminophen or ibuprofen for pain relief until the office visit. (See EARACHE for details)

Parent Care for Pediatric Symptoms. Copyright © 2000. Barton D. Schmitt, MD, FAAP

See related topics:

• Ear Trauma
• Ear, Swimmer's