Red Swollen Ear Lobe – What Happened to His Ear!
As a mom, I’ve had my fair share of freak out moments from my kids.
We haven’t had broken broken bones, knock on wood, or any trips to the ER, but; we have had the moments of bloody noses, kids falling down and screaming.. oh and one time one of my kids thought it would be fun to climb a fence, then fall off of it.
But, one of the weirdest freak out moments was when my child came up to me with an earlobe that was super swollen.
My son came up to me and said “Mommy, I think I have a hive on my ear”. I took one glance and said OH MY WORD! His ear had swollen up like two times the normal size and he looked like Dumbo.
We kind of freak out about hives around here as he has a peanut and tree nut allergy. This wasn’t a hive though, his ear was warm and just swollen.
I knew that we haven’t had any exposure to peanuts or tree nuts. I checked his ear for bites and nothing.
Luckily, my mother is a nurse. I always call her for these moments, it’s a little cheaper than the doctor, didn’t feel like an emergency and that’s what moms are for.. am i right?
I tried to explain what his ear looked like… ear lobe, cartilage, “No mom, it’s on top of the ear but not going into the ear” LOL I couldn’t get my point across. The swollen part of his ear was right on the top of his ear.
Thankfully, thanks to technology, I took some photos and sent them to my mom. We decided to give him some Benadryl and watch it. Our suspicion is that the ear was swollen from a bug bite.
My little man is quite okay today. Almost 6 years later, we haven’t experienced another episode. His ear cleared up with the Benadryl and life went on.
Our conclusion was that he had a small allergic reaction to a bug bite, such as a mosquito. He’s never had any other reactions quite like this. So, who knows.
Our children are full of mysteries.. thankfully this one was easily resolved.
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This is exactly what my 5 year old is going through today. Woke up and he came to me saying his ear feels floppy and sure enough he was growing a red hot dumbo ear lol. I suspected a bug bite but the doc didnt know what it was and so has him booked in to get an ultrasound. We have antibiotics and antihistamines, I might give benadryl a try tomorrow. Before bed it has spread more behind his ear. Will keep an eye on it but hoping it will go down!
My son has this i just gave him some penadol its red and swallon hope it gets ok by tomorrow
My son also has the same case in his right ear for two days now. Will have him checked tomorrow as the clinic is already full today. I am getting anxious with all the medical conditions I read when I try to google it.
Thanks for this website, somehow my fears are allayed. Hoping andnpraying that it is just really bug bite.
Thank you so much. This happened today to my 23 months old and I got scared and was searching the Google. Thank God. Your site confirmed my thought. My LO earlobe looked exactly like this. I got scared as soon as I saw it but he didn’t felt pain when I touched his ear. Thought something might have bite him. I used Caledryl now. Hopefully it should be OK by tomorrow. S
So crazy isn’t it? Never realized how common it seems to be
Thanks for this pic.My 16 months toddler had it today.i will wait until tomorrow. But thanks for this post.tcxx
Hi Victoria! I gave him some benadryl and the swelling went down in about a day. We suspected a bug bite, was the weirdest thing! Haven’t experienced since that time.
How did it heal? My son has one ear double the size of the other. He’s 10..happened yesterday (the swelling) but son said it was itchy a day or 2cprior…maybe he scratched a bite?
Anyway.. Today it is no longer red but still as swollen. How long did it take to make the swelling go down.
My son woke up like this too I was freaking out!
It’s swollen and there’s a red spot on the back of it. I want to take him to get check but my husband thinks he’ll be okay.
Hello Monica,
I have a little brother he is six years old too, and began with the ear swelling at four years old. It has happened three times between that age range. He has been seen by a rheumatologist twice now and prescribed him some intense medication. Steroids typically brings the swelling down (administered at a hospital of course), benadryl did not do the trick. It is hard for my family to just brush it off as “oh it might be a bug bite.” Especially when there is a possibility that this swelling can occur in his throat or chest area which can lead to difficulty breathing. It seems that the rheumatologist has an idea of what is going on to give him such narrowed down medication, and during our first visit she noted how rare this occurs. Now I am looking to the internet for possible answers as no one seems to have a accurate diagnosis for my brother.
This story sounds all too familiar! My 13 month old sons ear looks exactly like this today when he woke up. I called my mom and had trouble explaining it so I sent a photo. She immediately thought bug bite but I took him in just in case. I was worried because it was very warm to the touch and I wanted to be certain it wasn’t infected. But sure enough, the doctors diagnosis was bug bite!!
Oops, I meant that I figured that it wasn’t from the sun..
Hi Amanda. My son’s ear has looked exactly the same as the pics that are posted. It looks almost twice the size. He complains it feels hot too. It has happened at least 6 times over the years. The last two times, he has had a blister that weeps on top of the outside of the ear. I have just used benadryl cream on it. There were only like 3 weeks in between the last two times his ear swelled. No idea what it is… just figured bug bites. It hasn’t always happened during summer so I knew figured it was from the sun…
Hi – my son is 19 months old and now has woken up 2 mornings in a row with a hot, red, swollen ear. The first time, it was on the top half of his ear and this morning it is all of his right ear except the lobe. He’s fine otherwise – no pain, fever – he’s acting completely normal. From you posts this could be a bite (which I can’t seem to find one), allergic reaction, excessive heat or anxiety? Whichever combonation this might be, it is minor and goes away fairly quickly and does not damage his ear or hearing?
My son has suffered from this for sometime now, first it was only the right ear now it could occur on both. Originally I thought he had been bitten by something or he was sunburnt but it has occurred many times since the first episode two years ago. I would book him into the doctors only for the swelling and redness to go down by the time i got him there (usually the next day as our clinic is very busy). Frustrated and not getting any real answers I also took photos (my partner actually thought your sons photos were the ones i took of our son). With this info I went back to the doctor who referred me to an allergist and was told to create a food diary. Lots of money later we still have not tracked down what he is allergic too, as it does not occur regularly and when i think i have figured it out and cease that food source he gets it agin. The allergist said a combination of nerves/anxiety (6y/o also have anxious moments), heat and allergic reaction could be the cause.
One thing she did point out and you probable already know is that if it is an allergic reaction, be alert and aware for any signs and symptoms of swelling of the airways.
Oh my goodness the poor guy! My oldest has woken me up with a swollen 3 times in the past 2 years. Still no idea what causes it, but a dose of benadryl always brings it down. And thank heavens for doctors in the familiy, we always save a trip to the dr by calling my brother in law.
He also could have slightly bumped it on a counter or door edge. The ear lobes are obviously quite sensitive.
Aw poor little guy! It is so hard when they get sick or something doesn’t look just quite right. You are a very good mom. You have adorable children. :)
This has happened to me twice this summer… on the same ear! It’s most definitely a mosquito bite. And the top of the ear is, in my opinion, the worst place to get a bug bite. It was nearly impossible to scratch! Hope your son’s ear is feeling better and back down to human size.
I get the little blisters all over my ears and face! Its about the same if I touch them. Never worse. I usually end up having to get a steriod shot and last time I ended up having to go back cause the first shot did nothing! I would just keep giving him the medicine but if you see it spreading to anywhere else I would take him to the doctor! I usually wait till I am pretty covered because I hate going to get shots and I know its coming. I pretty much have to be forced to go to the doctor by my husband if I have one of these issues.. Luckily the incident with the luvs was the first in a few years.. I stay clear away from pampers wipes! I even put on my sons stuff he is allergic to them just so I don’t come in any contact with them.. My nieces and nephews all have huggies for me when I have to change them!
So crazy Kelli! I’ve been checking him out all over and on his ears looking for a bug bite but couldn’t find one. He even has a little blister on his ear that just popped today. Does it ever get worse? Or just the same each time you touch those things?
Mine do that if I touch pampers wipes… I figured that out after washing my face with them.. My ears swelled up like that first then my face. I also just recently had the same incident with Luvs wipes.. usually anytime I touch something that I am allergic too my ears are the first to swell up and they look just like his did. Even if my ears didnt touch the product ( like with the luvs wipes) always the first to swell.. and NEVER my hands which touch it!