Ask Us Anything

Monday’s blog post, “When Nothing Is Something,” provoked these thoughtful questions from a reader: Can you address antibiotics for ear infections (caused by viral illnesses)? I brought in an infant with a virus with concerns about her breathing. She...

How To Prevent Ear Infections

After more than 25 years practicing pediatrics, I can attest to the accuracy of Carina Storrs’ impression of a new study: Parents of young children are often all too familiar with ear infections. The pain, the fever, the tear-filled nights almost seem like a...

Taste Buds: Multivitamins

  Do children need to take multivitamins?  Professor and family doctor Yoni Freedhoff thinks not: So to answer the first question regarding kids and whether or not they need or benefit from taking a daily multivitamin I turned to the medical literature. Simply...

The Time For Ear Tubes

Insertion of tympanostomy or ear tubes is the most common outpatient surgical procedure performed on children in the United States.  Done under brief general anesthesia, tiny plastic tubes (1/20 of an inch wide) are placed in the ear drum, allowing air pressure to be...

How Much Does It Hurt?

It’s been nine years since the American Academy of Pediatrics published clinical guidelines for the diagnosis and treatment of ear infections (otitis media).  After a four year review, the guidelines have been revised and published in Pediatrics. The goal is to...