Im on antibiotics for swelling/ in my ear, just starting day 4. congestion in nose and sore jaw too. how long until antibiotics work?

If your symptoms are related to a bacterial infection, you should be starting to feel better though not completely improved. This may take upto a week to 10 days. Most likely the symptoms are from a viral infection. This does not respond to antibiotics & resolve without treatment in a few days. I recommend continuing antibiotics . if you develop fever, worsened ear or throat pain, see your doctor

Most of the upper respiratory infections are caused by viruses for which antibiotics are rarely useful. Hence no antibiotics are recommended. Instead we recommend using decongestants and mild pain relief medicines like paracetamol. Your symptoms will improve over 5-7 days(with or without antibiotics).

Many if not most antibiotics are excreted through the urine. That’s great if you’re treating if you’re treating a urinary tract infection. But only a low level of antibiotics get into the middle ear or the sinuses. Those infections tend to heal with or without antibiotics at almost exactly the same rate.