Ear Infection continued…
How then can a parent know when it is appropriate to suspect that your child might have an ear infection? “PAIN!” Although it is unpleasant, pain is a very important symptom. It is important if it is present and it is important if it is absent. Pain is the body’s way of letting you know that there is a problem in the area where the pain is felt. To avoid the possibility that your child will be diagnosed as having an ear infection when one is not actually present, I strongly advise that you not be concerned about the possibility of an ear infection unless your child is having ear pain.
The pain of real, honest to goodness ear infections will almost always wake a child from sleep or prevent him from falling asleep. If the child says during the day that an ear hurts, but doesn’t act like it hurts especially if he then sleeps quietly through that night, I would suggest waiting to see if the pain is going to recur or get worse before going to a doctor.
Many parents want to spare the child the possibility that the pain will get worse and so they rush to the doctor at the first sign of any ear discomfort. This is a mistake. If you do this the likelihood is very great that the child will be diagnosed as having an ear infection and ten days of an antibiotic prescribed, when it is possible that just waiting a while could have avoided all of that.
Another reason that some parents do not wait to have the child examined is because they are afraid that some permanent damage will occur to the child’s hearing. This is an understandable fear, but in my experience there is no basis for this fear. There is certainly no reason to fear that waiting one or two days to see if the ear pain recurs or worsens, will cause any permanent damage to a child’s hearing. I have seen many children who have had as many as eight or ten ear infections in one year and who have no problem with their hearing later on.
Now let’s assume that your child does have an honest to goodness ear infection, what needs to be done about it? Actually, a better question to ask first, which many parents and most doctors never ask is, “Does anything anything need to be done?” Just because there is a problem somewhere in the body, doesn’t necessarily mean that someone has to intervene with a treatment of some sort in order for things to return to their usual state of health.
The standard approach to ear infections these days is first of all to treat all of them with antibiotics (usually by mouth) and to start the treatment as soon as the diagnosis is made. The antibiotic used first is Amoxicillin and it is prescribed three times a day for ten days. If the doctor thinks that the infection has not cleared up after that, he will usually prescribe Septra or Bacid next-two times a day for ten days.
My experience raising my own three daughters and caring for many children over the years of family chiropractic practice is that most of these children do very well if the parent is willing to trust that the child’s innate healing ability is all there for him/her and that enhancing their body’s inherent recuperative ability works best with no side effects and the promise of less ear infections in the future.
With infants we mostly look to the mother’s breast milk for the answers. After the spine is assessed for vertebral subluxation (nervous system interference from dysfunctional spinal segments), the mother’s diet is assessed. We like to see her using the Standard Process product Calcium Lactate. This supplement supplies the necessary ionized calcium and a we bit of magnesium, which enhances the immunologic properties of the breast milk. We may also add a cytosol extract of thymus glandular (Thymex), which also enhances the immunogenic quality of the breast milk. We also use a product called Congaplex which is a more comprehensive supplement supplying important vitamins, minerals and thymus glandular. This approach hardly ever fails and always is good for Mom and infants nutritional status.
For toddlers we again look to the spinal column for subluxation and they are likely to have something going on considering the roughness and tumble of learning to walk and compete with siblings and the family dog. If mother is still breast feeding we do the same as for infants but the toddler is usually beginning to eat so we add chewable Congaplex and powdered calcium lactate to everything they are eating, like applesauce, scrambled eggs, familia, etc.. We also add the contents of a Tuna Omega 3 pearle. This oil is rich in omega 3 fatty acids and this is a wonderful opportunity not only to help the little body heal up from the ear infection but also give the toddler the essential nutrient needed for all of the rapid brain growth and development that is occurring at this tender age. We generally ask parents to keep their children on this supplement regimen until the diet is reflecting these important nutrients.
The other awesome treatment that we recommend because of the great outcomes is Foot Reflexology combined with the Young Living Essential Oil Aromatherapy, which stimulates the reflex, nerve and brain centers that are responsible for keeping the immune system turned on, turned up and tuned in. Infants, toddlers and young children love the attention and respond beautifully.
This probably sounds like a lot when the medical doctor promises to, “get er done,” with just a prescription of antibiotics. If that method really worked every time and parents were truly happy with the direction of that approach I wouldn’t be wasting my time writing this article.
The problem is that many parents have tried the antibiotic approach only to have to return for the same old problem time after time. As the bacteria have become more and more resistant to the overuse of antibiotics it is cause for concern. It is especially disconcerting for me understanding that most ear infections are not bacterial driven but instead viral driven where antibiotics are useless. Constantly interfering with your babies’ own immune processes by never allowing the system to met out what is required for longer lasting and more effective immunity is also rife with problems.
We appreciate the parents who have found this method, the age old tried and true method, to still work and we applaud your quest as parents to keep it natural for your children so their bodies, minds and spirits may develop with all the wisdom that is their birthright. D
Dr. John & Daryl Weisberg