★★★★★
At the very first sign of ear pain, put your hand over your ear for a few minutes, warming your ear. If your hair is long enough, pull some hair over your ear and cover with warm hand. Keep it there until pain goes away. If you have access to a hat or head band, cover ears to keep warm. If very bad you can cup both hands and make a "tunnel" from your mouth to your ear, blowing warm air. The key is not to wait at all, but do it at the first sign of pain. You can do this wherever you happen to be, and can save you lots of trouble. I've told my kids to do this, and no one in the family has had ear pain for many, many years. If time has gone by and you've had the ear pain for hours, then you may need a heated salt bag or some of the other treatments, although it wouldn't hurt to try the above. But, remember for the next time that a stitch in time saves nine.
