Onions cure ear infections?

I have heard this from a couple of people, and I have never tried it for myself, so I'd like to know if this is true:
When you have an ear infection, take a fresh onion, cut it in half, microwave it until it steams, then wrap it in a towel, tilt your head so the infected ear is up, then put the steaming onion over the ear. It's supposed to draw out the infection.

[Floater]

Don't try it! The ear will shatter when you remove the onion.

[Dropbear]

The onion process draws out the infection... hmmn

I'm sorry I'm stuck. The onion *calls* to the germs? The heat of the onion repels the germs and the flee the ear? The microwave vibration used in the heating of the onion creates resonances that cause the germs to die? The heat of the onion cause the air in the ear to rise (the head is tilted after all) and the germs are sucked out by the atmospheric disturbance?

I think we need more information as to how this is supoosed to work.

Drop-perhaps they couldn't afford those healing candles-bear

[Tarquin Farquart]

And if you combine it with olive oil you can cure earaches. Or do some cooking.

[geminilee]

Originally Posted by Dropbear

I think we need more information as to how this is supoosed to work.

I think it would work, but it has nothing to do with it being an onion.
The College of Family Physicians of Canada suggests a warm compress for children's earaches (and by extension it would probably work the same on adults) to relieve pain.

A warm, not hot, compress held over the ear can also help relieve pain.

Onions probably work rather well for this, because they are largely water and hold heat pretty well.

Huh. I always heard it was garlic that was supposed to be good for ear infections. The odoriferous compunds in garlic are supposed to have anti-bacterial properties; I wouldn't be surprised if onions did the same thing.

- Pseudo "if it smells bad, it's good for you" Croat

[lyra_silvertongue]

My SO has a problem with ear infections and he had a particularly bad one the other week. He kept refusing to go to the doctor (he "didn't have time") so we tried some home remedies. One we read about said to microwave an onion and squeeze the juice out and put a few drops of the juice in each ear. We also filled a sock with rice and microwaved it and he held that against his ears for a while. I also cooked some garlic and onion in olive oil and put that in his ears. I don't know if any of it helped.

Thankfully he made a doctor's appointment a few days later and got some antibiotics.