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Could Chiropractic Care Help Ear Infections In Children?
Does your infant or child get frequent ear infections? Do they spend more time on antibiotics and painkillers such as Motrin or Tylenol than off medicine? If you are facing possible ear tube surgery for your child, then help is here! Did you know that chiropractic care could help? In this article we will discuss what an ear infection is, how chiropractic care can help, and what parents can do at home to reduce the severity of ear infections.
What Is An Ear Infection?
Ear infections are the most common childhood disease and one of the main reasons children need to see a doctor. Ear infections (Otitis Media) can be extremely painful, especially in children. Viral infections cause inflammation allowing fluid to build up behind the ear drum, causing an ear infection. This build up behind the ear follows an upper respiratory infection such as a cold or sore throat.
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Why Antibiotics Are Bad For Ear Infections
Most ear infections are both viral and bacterial. This means that an antibiotic is useless. Giving your child antibiotics over and over can decrease their future immunity, and increases higher susceptibility to future illness and disease. Overuse of antibiotics leads to the concern of antibiotic-resistant infections. Chronic ear infections are in indication that the nervous system could benefit from chiropractic care.
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Why Do Children Get Earaches More Than Adults
The Eustachian tubes are shorter and more horizontal in children than adults. This is why blockages occur more easily in children. Children that have chronic ear infections have fluid that is accumulating behind their ears and this leads to pain, pressure, inflammation, and discomfort.
How Can Chiropractic Care Help?
A chiropractor doesn’t kill the bacteria or the infection like antibiotics. So what can they do then? Chiropractors look to get to the root cause of a health problem rather than just treat the symptoms. Misalignments of the spine (called Subluxations) can occur during childbirth, from bumps and falls, or from normal activity. Misalignments left untreated can irritate the nerves and may disrupt the body’s ability to function properly. By aligning the neck and spine, the purpose is to help restore the normal functioning of the nervous system so the body can help itself. When your child gets adjusted it improves the communication of the nervous system between the body and brain. They will have a higher chance of fighting off disease faster if their body can communicate to heal itself.
How Can Earache Treatments Be Helped By A Sequence Of Visits?
Adjustments of the upper neck and spine may help to unblock any liquids or infections in the ear. A doctor of chiropractic carefully adjusts the spine to reduce the nerve interference going to the ear. This can allow the liquids to drain properly over a period of time.
Chiropractic adjustments improve neck range of motion, flexibility, and reduce nerve interference allowing water flow and drainage of the ears in children. If they can keep drainage open to prevent the accumulation of liquids and disease, children develop their own antibodies that restore their health more quickly.
Chiropractors are certified and qualified to identify and cure sufferers of ear infections in all age categories. However, they use a milder type of strategy to help clear the blockage for children. A slight pressure is most commonly used with children.
What Can Parents Do At Home To Reduce Ear Infections?
1. To help reduce inflammation throughout your child's body, limit as much sugar as possible in their diet. What does this mean exactly? Get rid of foods that have corn syrup, hydrogenated fat products, sugary foods, candy, and pop.
2. Add vitamins such as: multivitamins, Omega 3 vitamins, vitamin D3, calcium + D, and vitamin C.
3. Encourage them to eat more green vegetables.
4. Avoid secondhand smoke exposure.
5. Use a vapor humidifier in their bedroom instead of the cool mist humidifier.
6. Tilt the head higher than the body when sleeping by placing an extra blanket under the mattress.
7. Do not give your child a bottle or a sippy cup in bed.
8. Teach your children to wash their hands frequently, and give them daily baths.
Your Turn...
Have you found other tips to share with parents about coping with ear infections? If so, please share those tips below with our readers.
For more information and an evaluation contact Dr. Megan Eckdahl, the female chiropractor in Cottage Grove, MN at Oasis Chiropractic Clinic call 651-458-5565.