The most prevailing reason for visits to a pediatrician is earache. By the age of three years, more than 70 percent of children will have had at least one experience of earache, and about a third will have had three or more episodes. Although, what might be unexpected is that earache is also the most common reason for children under the age of five years to be escorted by parents to the chiropractor’s office.
How Chiropractic Care Relates to 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 standard course of treatment. Advanced study, however, has determined that this is often imprudent. The cause of the child’s middle ear infection may not be due to bacteria, and inasmuch as antibiotics are only effective against bacterial pathogens, frequently there will be no positive response. 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 be the reason why children develop chronic ear infections.
One of the many determinations that a Honolulu chiropractor can make is whether the earache or ear infection is created by irritation of the small nerves in the spine, called free nerve endings.
An abnormal tension in the small muscles of the neck is produced when these nerve endings are inflammed. This muscle tension can place pressure on the lymphatic drainage ducts resulting in inadequate drainage from inside the ear, thus keeping the body from being able to naturally rectify the problem. Additionally, balance can also be affected.
Identification by a chiropractor of such a problem is made by the discovery of increased tension in the neck and paraspinal muscles. Normally more tension is felt on the side of earache. In addition, the chiropractor will check to see which spinal vertebrae are either marginally out of alignment or not moving within their normal range. This condition may have been the result of any one of the many bangs, jolts and falls that the majority of children encounter in the early years of their life. Often, a short series of spinal adjustments and manipulation of the neck muscles will aid in restoring normal lymph drainage. If your child is struggling with an earache or an ear infection, call your Honolulu chiropractor as soon as possible.
Advanced Research and Guidelines
According to the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), ear infection, the most frequent childhood disease after the common cold, accounts for nearly 30 million doctor visits every year. What’s more, at least 6 million courses of antibiotics are unnecessarily prescribed for the affliction.Recently, the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) released new guidelines for treating pediatric ear inflammation, and expressly recommended a period of “watchful waiting” since, in many cases, infections clear up on their own, without medication.
The American Chiropractic Association (ACA) applauds the AAP on the guidelines and underlines that chiropractic management 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.”