Ear infections; they are so annoying – they can be painful, or they may simply leave you feeling as if your head has been stuck inside a fish bowl. They can strike at any moment, perhaps you have lately gotten over a cold, but your ear just won’t get unstuffed, maybe you simply woke up in pain and have found you are unable to hear properly.
Perhaps you grudgingly put up with the way you feel for a few days until you cannot take it anymore, so you schedule an appointment to go see the doctor. The doctor hands you a prescription for a round of antibiotics and sends you on your way.
This could happen every time you suffer from ear infection symptoms.
Over time, the strength of your antibiotic prescription may be required to get stronger and stronger, because your body has become immune to each previous prescription. Perhaps eventually, antibiotics will no longer help you with your ear infection symptoms.
This could happen to you, or your family.
According to the American Academy of Otolaryngology, in the U.S. alone, ear infections account for 25 million doctor visits annually. The most common prescription given for middle ear infections is antibiotics. Antibiotics fight bacterial infections, but not viral infections. The most common ear infection, Otitis Media can be caused by a bacterial or viral infection.
It has been reported that with repeated exposure to antibiotics, antibiotics become less and less effective. In fact the guidelines for treating ear infections have been changed recently to instruct doctors to use fewer antibiotics.
Did you know that there could be another solution to the ear infection problem, one that does not require any drugs?
Chiropractic and Ear infections
Chiropractic adjustments have been found to be effective in improving ear infection symptoms.
According to Dr. Brenda Trudell of New Beginnings Chiropractic, “Chiropractic adjustments remove interference within the nervous system by correcting misalignments in the spinal column, jaw and possibly cranial bones, without the use of drugs or surgery. Correcting misalignments also reduces muscle tension, decreases inflammation, increases mobility, and establishes proper blood flow and lymph drainage, all of which can affect the function of the middle ear and Eustachian tube.”
Dr. Joan Fallon, after publishing<a href="http://www.chiro.org/pediatrics/ABSTRACTS/Children_with_Otitis.shtml" > research showing that, after chiropractic adjustments, almost 80% of the children treated were free of ear infections six months after initial visits and that, “Chiropractic mobilizes drainage of the ear in children, and if they can continue to drain without a buildup of fluid and subsequent infection, they build up their own antibodies and recover more quickly”
Case Studies
One case study from the July 1995 International Chiropractic Pediatric Association Newsletter, and published by G. Thomas Kovacs, D.C , shows how a 4 and 1/2 year old girl who suffered from chronic ear infections, strep throat, hearing loss, adenoiditis and asthma, received chiropractic care two times a week for six weeks. After 3 or 4 adjustments the mother noticed improvement in mood and energy, and after six weeks the pediatrician and ENT noticed no sign of ear infection or inflammation.
Another case study from the ACA Journal of Chiropractic shows the relief of symptoms of 38-year-old female, suffering from hearing loss and chronic otitis media, after chiropractic care with cranial adjustments.
Your Chiropractor will work with you and your family to keep you healthy.