Chiropractic Care Can Help Your Child’s Earaches and Ear Infections
The most widespread basis 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 incident of earache, and about a third will have had more than three incidents. What you might not know, however, is that earache is also the most common occurrence for children under the age of five years to be brought to the chiropractor’s office.
How Chiropractic Care Relates to Earache and Ear Infections
When a child suffering from an earache is determined to have a middle ear infection by the pediatrician, the standard treatment involves a course of antibiotics. Current analysis, however, has concluded that this type of treatment is often ill-advised. Antibiotics are only effective against bacterial pathogens, and because the child’s middle ear infection may be produced by a virus, antibiotics are ineffectual. This may be the reason for a child’s chronic ear infections.
One of a number of evaluations that a Honolulu chiropractor can make is whether the earache or ear infection is created by inflamation of the small nerves in the spine, called free nerve endings.
An abnormal tension in the small muscles of the neck is caused when these nerve endings are irritated. This muscle tension can produce pressure on the lymphatic drainage ducts resulting in inadequate drainage from inside the ear, hence preventing the body from being able to naturally rectify the problem. Additionally, balance can also be affected.
Inadequate drainage of lymphatic ducts can be discovered by a chiropractor if there is increased tension in the neck and paraspinal muscles on the side with the earache. The chiropractor also checks for spinal vertebrae that are either moderately out of alignment or are not moving within their normal range. There are a variety of reasons for such aproblem due to the many bangs, jolts, and falls almost all children experience growing up. Restoration of normal lymph drainage is most often accomplished with a short series of treatments that include spinal adjustments and manipulation of the neck muscles. If your child is struggling with an earache or an ear infection, see 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 sickness after the common cold, accounts for nearly 30 million doctor visits every year. Furthermore, at least 6 million courses of antibiotics are causelessly prescribed for the problem. Recently, the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) released new guidelines for treating pediatric ear inflammation, and specifically 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 reiterates 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.”
