Vampires – yes, ear infections – no…

Tip:

If in fact you happen to be up with a sobbing child at 2am the night before Easter, and IF in fact you don’t really relish the idea of sitting in an emergency room for several hours and IF in fact you "google" the phrase: ear infection home remedy…you may want to exercise caution and a sprinkling of common sense – just for good measure!

Although cloves of garlic may indeed be useful for warding off vampires and the like, it does not appear to be even somewhat helpful in the cure for ear infections! Yes folks – in my exhausted stupor last night, I followed the advice of home remedy message boards. No, I didn’t PEE in my child’s ear as SEVERAL people suggested, nor did I strain the juice of boiled onion and garlic and drip that imedicinal goodness nto his ear canal. No, I opted for the following:

"Take a clove of garlic and slice it into a shape resembling an earplug. Wrap a piece of gauze around it and insert the skinny end into the ear. Leave fin or several hours as garlic is a natural antibiotic and will reduce the pain almost immediately."

Well, being as I was in "sleep-deprived-willing-to-try-anything" mode – and I had already administered the maximum amount of Advil and Tylenol: I whittled a stylish garlic earplug, put my garlic-head crying child in my bed with me and hoped for improvement. The only improvement I noticed was the opening of my sinus passages.

Based on the amount of garlic permeating my bedroom all night, I’m fairly certain I should have no fear of any vampires ever gracing my presence!!

Unfortunately, the garlic seemed to do nothing for the Colonel’s ear.

I finally managed to scrounge up the last of some tylenol w/codeine syrup *gee, wouldn’t that syrup be nice on an Eggo?!* circa spring 2007. That FINALLY did the trick…but only for 2 1/2 hours. I got a hold of my doctor around 7:30am: "Good morning and Happy Easter!"

One hour later, I was equipped with: amoxicillian, a new bottle of tylenol w/codeine, and some MAGICAL numbing eardrops. Within SECONDS, the eardrops completely knocked out the pain – thus the sobbing.

Yeah folks – I’m sticking with modern medicine! Oh sure, I’ll pop the occasional echinacea but I’m putting my stock in Walgreens…