One pink eye... two ear infections... and it's three days before Christmas Eve!

When it rains in our lives, it tends to poor. So when one kid gets sick, or in our case Blaise got a double ear infection as a result of his cold from weeks back, it was destiny that something would go wrong with Philomena too. And true to their natures, Philo is the one who always gets the pink eye (I really wish I could figure out where she picks it up), and Blaise is the one who always gets the ear infections (especially after he has had a cold). The problem isn't restless nights or being stuck indoors for days on end with lots of Drug Mart movie rentals. The problem is that it's almost Christmas and no one wants to be sick on Christmas. But more importantly in my book, we are due to fly on a plane the day after Christmas and NO ONE on that plane wants my kids to have a double ear infection or pink eye.

So without rushing off to the doctor (it was a Friday anyways), here was the regime that I would like to share because two days later we are well on our way to recovery and should be better by Christmas Eve (given we can keep the pink eye contained).

For the ear infections, they are the product of a lot of fluid in his head because of a head cold that took forever to go away. It seemed to come back with a vengeance this week out of no where. Here was his regime:

• no gluten, sugar or dairy to reduce any inflammation
• increase berry and spinach intake for cold fighting nutrients
• drink electrolyte water because he wouldn't eat much food
• increase probiotic intake
• get plenty of sleep
• warm showers to try to release some of the snot
• warm compressions on his ears with warm wash clothes help relieve some of the congestion in the ears
• Hyland's Cold 'n Cough nighttime homeopathic medicine from Target for $6 got us through the night and helped relieve some of the pain from the ear infections
• Wally's all-natural ear oil worked miracles at helping his ears to feel better. Got it for $12 from Dorothy Lane Market. It contains tea tree, echinacea, eucalyptus and garlic oil.

And then there was the pink eye which I think is one of the grossest infections we ever deal with. Philomena's eye was oozing and hurt pretty bad. Here was her regime:

• Similason Irritated Eye Relief homeopathic eye drops from Kroger for $6 has worked wonderfully in the past and did the job again this time. The ooze started Saturday night and it is now Sunday morning and the ooze is gone, just red and irritated. I've applied them once an hour and treated the other eye just to be safe.
• Green tea bag compressions. I feel like green tea pretty much helps to solve any problem. You steep the tea bag in warm water (not too hot or it will burn their skin) and compress the bag on the eye. It helps with the pain and swelling.
• warm cloth compressions on the eye because it crusted shut over night to help get it cleared up without hurting her eye from wiping
• lots of clean sheets, towels, hands, tissues and patience to prevent spreading it
• increase probtioic intake and no gluten or sugar to reduce any inflammation

And in the end, some divine intervention of good timing (weekend vs weekday) and weather that allowed us to open up the windows and get out a little this morning went a long way. 

I have treated both of these conditions with the kids the "traditional" way in the past by going to the doctor and getting ear and eye drops and the methods I described above have always worked just as effectively and sometimes quicker because I can treat it as soon as I notice the symptoms. But as with any ailment, if their fever lasts too long or goes too high or if these methods are not working, then we have to visit the doctor to pursue a more aggressive approach and to ensure there is not a more serious underlying condition.