How Chiropractic Care Can Help Earache and Ear Infections

A pediatrician who thinks that a child with an earache has a middle ear infection will normally prescribe antibiotics as a customary course of treatment. Current study, however, has concluded that this type of treatment is often misguided. The reason for the child’s middle ear infection may not be due to bacteria, and inasmuch as antibiotics are only effective against bacterial pathogens, many times there will be no positive reaction. The reason for this is that numerous cases of middle ear infection can be produced by a virus, and viruses do not respond to antibiotics. This may explain why children develop chronic ear infections.

One of the purposes of a chiropractor is to establish if the reason for the body’s incapability of combatting the earache or ear infection is produced by inflamation of the small nerves in the spine (called free nerve endings).

When these nerve endings are irritated, an undue tension is generated in the small muscles of the neck. This muscle tension can put pressure on the lymphatic drainage ducts resulting in inadequate drainage from inside the ear, hence stopping the body from being able to naturally fix the problem. In addition, balance can also be affected.

Assessment by a chiropractor of such a problem is made by the detection of increased tension in the neck and paraspinal muscles. Usually more tension is felt on the side of earache. In addition, the chiropractor will check to see which spinal vertebrae are either moderately out of alignment or not moving within their normal range. This affliction may have been due to any one of the many bangs, jolts and falls that the majority of children undergo in the early years of their life. Restoration of normal lymph drainage is usually accomplished with a short regimen of treatments that include spinal adjustments and manipulation of the neck muscles. If your child is experiencing the pain of an earache or an ear infection, call your chiropractor as soon as possible.

Advanced Research and Guidelines

According to the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), ear infection, the most prevalent childhood illness after the common cold, accounts for nearly 30 million doctor visits every year. In addition, at least 6 million courses of antibiotics are causelessly prescribed for the affliction.Recently, the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) released new guidelines for treating pediatric ear inflammation, and definitively recommended a period of “watchful waiting” since, in many cases, infections clear up on their own, without medication.

The American Chiropractic Association (ACA) endorses the AAP on the guidelines and emphasizes that chiropractic care is a “good first option” for treating ear infection conservatively. “Doctors of chiropractic have been treating children for decades with great success – helping them to avoid painful ear infections, antibiotic overuse and resistance, and ear tube surgery,” said ACA President Donald Krippendorf, DC. “Particularly when dealing with young children, drugs and surgery should be an absolute last resort.”

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