Ear pain (sakit ng tenga): causes, safe home care and when to see a doctor

Ear pain (sakit ng tenga) can be sharp, dull or burning. It may come with:

• a blocked or full feeling, or hearing less well
• fever
• itching, ringing or dizziness
• fluid or pus coming out of the ear (luga)

Most ear pain is not serious. Ear infections usually clear up within 3 days, sometimes a week.

In children, most ear pain is a middle ear infection (otitis media). During a cold, fluid and germs build up behind the eardrum. Three in four children have one by age 3.

Other causes are:

• swimmer's ear, an infection of the ear canal
• earwax (tutuli) that blocks the ear
• something stuck in the ear, such as an insect or a bead
• a burst eardrum

In adults, ear pain often starts somewhere else: a tooth, the jaw joint, the sinuses or the throat. Ear pain that comes with pain on swallowing often starts in the throat, as with a sore throat or tonsillitis. Ear pain together with a toothache may come from an infected tooth (see our toothache guide).

• Hold a warm (not hot) cloth on the ear. Some people prefer a cool, wet cloth.
• Take paracetamol or ibuprofen for pain or fever (see Ear pain medicine).
• Adults: rest with your head raised on two pillows.
• Swallow or chew gum to ease pressure (not gum for young children: they can choke).
• Keep the ear dry: no swimming, and keep shampoo out.
• Wipe away fluid on the outside of the ear with clean cotton wool.

Put nothing inside a sore ear: no cotton buds, hairpins, oil, garlic or home-made drops. Decongestants and antihistamines don't help an ear infection.

See a doctor if it isn't better in 2 to 3 days. Not sure how urgent it is? Ask Joy, our AI symptoms guide.

• Paracetamol or ibuprofen can ease the pain and bring down a fever. Follow the label or ask the pharmacist. Not every pain reliever is safe for everyone, so read the leaflet and ask first if you have a long-term illness or take other medicines. Never give aspirin to anyone under 16.
• Pain-relief eardrops may help, but only if the eardrum is not torn. Ask a pharmacist first, and never use them if fluid is coming out.
• Antibiotics are often not needed. Most ear infections clear up without them, and in children they don't ease the pain in the first day. A doctor decides, for example for a baby under 6 months, a child under 2 with both ears infected, pus from the ear, or a child who is very sick. Don't buy amoxicillin or use leftover antibiotics on your own.

Pregnant, breastfeeding or buying for a child? Ask a doctor or pharmacist first.

People say sipon sa tenga for two different things:

• A blocked, full ear after a cold. Fluid can stay behind the eardrum for weeks (glue ear), mostly in children. It usually clears by itself within 3 months, and no medicine dries it faster.
• Fluid or pus coming out of the ear (luga). It can mean an ear canal infection or a burst eardrum. See a health worker within a day.

In the Philippine version of IMCI, the WHO and UNICEF chart health workers use for sick children under 5, pus from the ear for 14 days or more counts as a chronic ear infection. A health worker may show you how to dry the ear with a wick of clean rolled cloth, and prescribe drops. WHO lists chronic ear infections as a cause of hearing loss, and says nearly 60% of hearing loss in children can be prevented.

Swimmer's ear is an infection of the ear canal, common after swimming or after scratching the ear or using cotton buds. The pain gets worse when you pull or press the outer ear. It usually needs prescription eardrops, so see a doctor.

Older people and people with diabetes can get a severe form that spreads to the bone: see a doctor the same day (see our diabetes symptoms guide).

Water in the ear: tilt your head to let it run out, then dry the outer ear well with a towel. Don't reach inside with a cotton bud.

Earwax protects the ear and normally falls out by itself. You don't need to clean inside your ears.

• Cotton buds push wax deeper and can scratch the canal or tear the eardrum. Clean only the outer ear.
• Olive oil or wax-softening drops can soften hard wax. Ask a pharmacist how to use them, and don't use any drops if the ear is very painful or leaking fluid.
• Ear candles and ear vacuums: there is no proof that they remove earwax or treat any ear problem.
• See a nurse or doctor if the ear is still blocked after about 5 days.

Family remedies come from care, but some can make an infection worse.

• Warm cloth on the outside of the ear: safe.
• Oil in the ear (coconut, olive or baby oil): olive and baby oil can soften hard earwax, but no oil treats an infection. Keep oil out of an ear that is painful or leaking.
• Garlic (bawang), oregano leaf juice or other herbal drops: none of the health services behind this guide list them as a treatment, and all advise putting nothing inside a sore ear. Any liquid can harm an ear whose eardrum may be torn.
• Breast milk in the ear: breastfeeding lowers a baby's chance of ear infections, but that protection comes from feeding. Like other liquids, milk should stay out of a sore ear.
• Ear picks at the barbershop or at home can scratch the canal or tear the eardrum.
• "Sipon lang 'yan, lilipas din" (it's just a cold): often true for pain alone, but not for swelling behind the ear, a weak face, or pus with fever.

Don't poke inside with a finger, cotton bud, tweezers or pin.

• Object: tilt the head so the ear faces down and shake gently. Don't hit the head.
• Live insect, such as an ant or ipis: turn the ear up and wait. If it stays, a little mineral, olive or baby oil in an adult's ear may float it out. Use oil only for insects, and never if there is blood or fluid from the ear.

For a child, or if it stays in, go to a health center. Get the ear checked even when an insect comes out, because small parts left behind can irritate it.

A young child with ear pain may rub or pull the ear, cry more or sleep badly, have a fever, refuse food, not react to sounds, or lose their balance.

Ask a doctor or your health center about ear pain in any child, and go the same day for a child under 2, a baby under 6 months with a fever, or fluid from the ear. Ask before giving a child any medicine. See our guide to fever in babies and children.

If infections keep coming back, or your child speaks loudly or turns the TV up, ask for a hearing check: long-lasting fluid can slow speech and learning.

These are rare, but need the emergency room:

• Mastoiditis, an infection of the bone behind the ear: pain, redness or a tender swelling behind the ear that can push it outward, often with fever and discharge. The Philippine IMCI chart tells health workers to send a child with this urgently to hospital.
• Weakness of the face, such as a mouth drooping on one side, when infection reaches the face nerve.
• Meningitis, an infection of the lining of the brain: severe headache, stiff neck, fever, vomiting, confusion or unusual sleepiness.

A burst eardrum usually heals within 2 months; see a doctor if hearing stays poor. For help with a public hospital bill, see our Malasakit Center guide.

A health worker looks in the ear with a small light. This is usually painless, though a swollen ear canal can be tender.

• Barangay health station, RHU or city health center: start here. Find one near you.
• PhilHealth YAKAP: register with one YAKAP clinic and your check-ups there are free, along with the covered lab tests your YAKAP doctor orders. Medicines that doctor prescribes from the GAMOT list are free up to ₱20,000 worth per person each year (PhilHealth, July 2025). Under an October 2025 advisory, a private YAKAP clinic may ask for a co-payment of no more than ₱900 for the whole year. See our PhilHealth YAKAP guide.
• Ear, nose and throat (ENT) doctors see infections that keep coming back, long-term discharge or hearing loss. Private clinics charge, so ask the price first.

Questions? Book a call with a nurse, or browse guides on infections and fever.

• Keep up with your child's vaccines, including the pneumococcal vaccine (PCV). It protects against the germ behind many ear infections (see our vaccine schedule guide).
• Keep children away from cigarette smoke, a major cause of ear infections.
• Breastfeed if you can, and don't bottle-feed a baby lying flat.
• Wash hands to avoid colds (see our common cold guide).
• Keep ears dry and put nothing in them; use earplugs or a cap to swim, and avoid dirty water.
• When flying, swallow, chew gum or yawn during take-off and landing.