ENT and teeth · 4 min read · 2026-05-04

Ear pain in the wet season

An ear that hurts during a cold is often pressure behind the drum. An ear that hurts after swimming, with a tender canal, is often an outer infection. Neither one is treated with a pin, oil, and hope.

This page is general education for families in Gurugram. It is not a diagnosis, a medicine list, or a reason to skip a clinician. Doses are deliberately not given.

In plain language

The tube that drains the middle ear swells during a cold. Pressure and pain follow, especially in children. The outer canal, if it stays wet, grows a painful infection. A burst drum can release a sudden discharge and a sudden relief of pain. That still needs a look. Hearing loss, dizziness, or weakness of the face with ear pain is not a routine cold.

Signs worth noticing

These are the clues families usually notice first. One of them, on its own, is not a diagnosis.

Pain with a blocked nose and a cold.
Pain when you pull the ear, after moisture.
A discharge that is new.
Fever, swelling behind the ear, dizziness, or a facial droop.

What usually sits underneath

Fluid, vacuum, and germs behind the drum cause the middle-ear illness. Moisture and trauma from buds cause the outer one. Buds push wax in and scratch skin. They are the opposite of cleaning.

Care that is reasonable at home

Treat the cold with fluids and salt-water nose care. Do not give a child a leftover antibiotic ear drop.
Keep the ear dry if the canal is infected. A cotton smear of petroleum jelly at the entrance during a bath, only if advised, can help water stay out.
Pain medicine appropriate to age, at the right dose, is reasonable while you arrange a visit.
Do not pour oil into a discharging ear.

These steps are for someone who is otherwise stable. If the picture is changing quickly, skip the home trial and come in.

When waiting is a bad idea

Swelling behind the ear, a very sick child, or dizziness with vomiting.
Facial weakness.
Hearing that drops suddenly.

How Rao Lokram Charitable Trust fits in

OPD can look at the drum, which is the whole diagnosis. Come before you put a powder in. OPD runs Monday to Sunday, 9:00 AM – 5:00 PM at Near Rockford School, Anaj Mandi Chowk, Kadipur Road, Shakti Park, Sector 10A, Gurugram, Haryana. Call 98185 48492 or 70423 28047. There is no appointment form on this website.

Questions people ask

Will the drum burst?

Sometimes the pressure releases itself. Pain relief is not a reason to ignore the discharge that follows.

Are antibiotic drops always needed?

No. A middle-ear infection and an outer-canal infection are treated differently. The look decides.

Can I fly with a cold?

It may hurt. Ask if you have had ear surgery or a current severe infection. Swallowing and yawning during descent helps the ordinary blockage.

If this sounds like you, bring the article on your phone if you want, but let the clinician examine you. Old reports and a list of current medicines make the visit shorter.