These soothing and anti-inflammatory garlic oil ear drops are an effective home remedy that provides fast relief for ear infections. Made by herbal infusion of calendula, usnea, and garlic in olive oil, these homemade ear drops help relieve infections naturally.
Pain in the ear is always inevitable and comes usually in the most inconvenient time- In the middle of the night or when on holiday.
When I was a student my roommate came at the night time asking me to help her. She suffered pain in the ear and searched for a natural remedy for ear infection. I found a solution to how to stop an earache fast and learned that garlic can help. When she put garlic into her ear and wanted to remove it after some time it was impossible. She came to ask me to help her but it was impossible. The garlic bulb was slippery and too far to pull back. After several attempts, the garlic started to burn inside her ear so we decided to go to the emergency room instead. Garlic is anti-inflammatory and can help with an inflamed ear but the application mode matters.
Garlic oil with calendula for ear infection
From my own experience, when you have homemade garlic oil for your ear infection at your disposal and apply it immediately with the first signs of pain, you may avoid visiting the doctor. If you wait, the pain intensifies, and it is usually too late to apply a natural remedy. Doctors very often subscribe to antibiotics in that case.
That is why one needs to be prepared and make home remedies for a painful ear in advance so they are ready when a pain hits.
This Homemade garlic oil ear drops are not only great help during cold and flu season but can help with the discomfort of excess ear wax or with itchiness. They will quickly become an integral part of your medicinal cabinet.
Ingredients to make effective ear drops
These simple ear drops for earache are easy to make in your kitchen as they are made by the infusion of herbs in carrier oil. The key is to select the right herbs that can support the ears when pain occurs.
Calendula officinalis (pot marigold)
This soothing herb eases irritation, and swelling (inflammation). There are some studies suggesting that Calendula possesses mild anestetic (pain relieving) properties but further studies are needed. Calendula oil made by the maceration of calendula petals in olive oil might provide relief for infected ears.
Garlic
As I already mentioned at the beginning of this post, garlic is often suggested among earache remedies. Its antiviral, antibacterial and anti-inflamatory properties help to relieve pain and boost the immune system to fight infection. In this study 103 kids with ear pain found ear drops with garlic just as effective as OTC ear drops.
Usnea
This antiviral, antibacterial, and antifungal herb grows on trees such as pine. It is also very successful in treating wounds and helpful against infections. It makes for a great addition to our homemade ear oil.
olive oil for earache
Just pure warm olive oil has been used for ear infections for ages however there is no scientific proof behind it. Just putting a few drops in a painful ear can help to soothe the pain and it is also safe according to AAP.
How to make homemade garlic oil ear drops
First step
Peel the garlic clove and chop it
Second step
Add it to the sterilized jar together with dried calendula petals
Third step
Add usnea into the jar and pour olive oil over to cover all the ingredients inside. Make sure that all are covered with the oil
Fourth step
Cover the jar with the lid and place in a cold and dark place
Fifth step
Shake occasionally over the next 4-6 weeks. If some oil evaporates, add additional oil so all herbs are covered.
Sixth step
Strain out the herbs with a muslin cloth or strainer. Make sure there are no herb particles in the strained oil, if in doubt strain it again with more layers of muslin cloth as you don’t want any tiny piece to end up in your child’s ear.
Seventh step
Place the strained oil in a dark dropper bottle, keep it refrigerated and use it within a year.
Caution:
These homemade ear drops with calendula should only be used in case of general ear infection or ear wax build-up. Never use them if you suspect a perforated eardrum or if you see any discharge from the ear.
When you remove it from the fridge, warm it up gently in the warm water bath. Test it before application into your ear on your hand that the temperature is pleasant. Let your child or adult lay on their side with the sore ear facing up. Put 2-3 drops of the warm ear drops into the ear. Place a piece of towel or cotton around the ear opening to ensure that the oil won’t seep out. Let your child remain in the same position for about 15 minutes.
In the case of emergency, you can infuse the herbs in oil with heat using double boiler. Place the jar with herbs in the double boiler and bring it to a slow simmer. Heat the mixture to a temperature of 50 degrees and keep it at the heat nice and low for 5 hours of simmer time to allow the herbs to release their medicinal properties. If you are really in a hurry, I would not go below 30 minutes simmer time.
Remove the oil from the heat, strain the mixture with a muslin cloth, let it cool to warm. Again check the temperature of oil on your hand before applying into the ear. In case of emergency, you might want to strain just a few drops of oil for immediate use and leave the remaining mixture for additional hours.
Feel free to substitute calendula with mullein (verbascum thapsus) that is anti-inflammatory, antispasmodic, and demulcent. Alternatively, St. John’s Wort (Hypericum Perforatum) possesses anti-inflammatory properties is also very often part of herbal preparation for earache.
The ear infections in dogs are usually a sign of deeper issues. But before you get to the root cause these homemade ear drops will get the dog comfortable but may not take the problem away.
The safe way is to keep it refrigerated as garlic often carries risk of contamination. It can last up to one year in the fridge. Always warm it up to body temperature in the warm water before using it.
diy garlic oil ear drops recipe
This soothing and anti-inflammatory garlic oil ear drops are an effective home remedy that provides fast relief for ear infection. Made by herbal infusion of calendula, usnea, and garlic in olive oil, this earache oil helps relieve infection naturally.
Materials
- dried calendula petals
- garlic cloves
- usnea (optional)
- olive oil
Tools
Instructions
- Peel the garlic clove and chop it
- Add it to the sterilized jar together with dried calendula petals
- Add usnea into the jar and pour olive oil over to cover all the ingredients inside. Make sure that all are covered with the oil
- Cover the jar with a lid and place it in the cold and dark place
- Shake occasionally over the next 4-6 weeks. If some oil evaporates, add additional oil so all herbs are covered.
- Strain out the herbs with a muslin cloth or strainer. Make sure there are no herb particles in the strained oil, if in doubt strain it again with more layers of muslin cloth as you don’t want any tiny piece to end up in your child’s ear.
- Place the strained oil in a dark dropper bottle, keep it refrigerated and use it within a year.
Notes
Alternatively, you can use calendula oil instead of olive oil & calendula petals. The link is in tools.
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