Middle ear infection with pus (suppurative otitis media)

For a lay person:

Suppurative otitis media is an infection of the middle ear that produces pus, causing earache, fever and sometimes a burst eardrum with discharge. It is most common in young children, and in some people it becomes a long-lasting infection with recurring discharge and hearing loss.

For a trained medical person:

Acute bacterial infection of the middle ear, usually following an upper respiratory infection, most often with Streptococcus pneumoniae, Haemophilus influenzae or Moraxella catarrhalis; chronic suppurative otitis media is persistent discharge through a perforated tympanic membrane. Diagnosis is by otoscopy showing a bulging or perforated drum. Management is analgesia with watchful waiting or oral antibiotics in acute disease, and aural toilet with topical antibiotic drops for chronic disease, with surgery for complications or cholesteatoma.

In Chinese medicine:

Liu and Tseng's textbook differentiates this condition into these patterns: Beginning Stage; Middle Stage (Suppurative Stage); Late Stage (Recovery Stage); Chronic Type. Treatment follows the pattern a patient presents with, not the Western diagnosis alone.

When to get help: Get urgent care for swelling or redness behind the ear, severe headache, stiff neck, facial weakness, dizziness or a very unwell child. See a doctor for ear discharge lasting more than a few days or any hearing loss.