Earaches are caused by an infection of the middle ear, usually as a result of a cold or the flu. The pain can be out of proportion to the seriousness of the problem. Whenever an ear is draining-discharging thick or thin liquid from the canal-it may be that the eardrum has ruptured, and there could be a potentially serious infection. If that's the case, get medical attention immediately. If your ear is draining, do not put anything in it unless medically instructed.

Natural home remedies
Occasionally, you may have an earache and can determine that medical care is not required at that moment. It is only at such times that you should consider the following remedies.

Fill the ear with 3 warm (not too hot) drops of olive oil and plug the ear with a cotton ball. Do this three or four times a day until the earache is gone.
Use the juice of marigold leaves as ear drops. Mix the juice from grated fresh ginger with an equal amount of sesame oil. Drop in 3 drops of the mixture and plug the ear with a cotton ball. Keep it there for a few hours. Use ajwain oil as an ear drop for earache relief.

Please Bite Down
This reflexology remedy requires an object that is sterile and hard to bite down on. The ideal item is one of those cotton cylinders the dentist uses. Or you can wad up a piece of cheesecloth, which works fine. Place the hard, sterile item in back of the last tooth on the side of the aching ear, and bite down on it for five minutes. This stimulates the pressure point that goes directly to the ear.

Repeat this procedure every two hours until the earache is gone. This process relieves the pain of an earache and has been known to improve hearing as well. Another effective way of easing the pain of an earache is to place a soothing chamomile poultice over your ear. If you don't have the loose herb, use a couple of tea bags instead.

Onion Muffs
Cut a large onion in half. Take out the inside of the onion so that the remaining part will fit over your ear. Warm the onion "earmuff' in the oven, then put it over your ear. Be sure it's not too hot. It should help draw out the pain. Puncture one garlic oil soft pearle (available at health food stores) and let the contents ooze into the ear. Gently plug the ear with a cotton ball. The earache may ease considerably within a half-hour. Combine 4 drops of onion juice with 1 teaspoon of warm (not hot) extra-virgin, cold-pressed olive oil.

Dose: Put 3 drops in each ear in the morning (providing, of course, both ears ache) and 3 drops in each ear in the evening. Plug the ears with cotton balls after applying the