The AOM means acute otitis media and that condition needs antibiotics. The infection is active. OME means otitis media with effusion. It implies to health care providers that there is fluid in the middle ear but it is not infected. No antibiotics are needed.
Swimmers ear is an example or a pimple in the ear canal.
More common is otitis media - what we have been discussing as a middle ear problem. Inner ear infections are quite rare. They cause nausea, vomiting, dizziness. I thought that taking them was the best way to clear up an infection. Well, you bring up an issue that is creating controversy and uneasiness among clinicians.