Ear infections (Otitis media) occur when fluid builds up inside of the middle ear behind the child’s sensitive eardrum.  When this pressure becomes irritating the child often becomes irritable, feverish, and tugs at the affected ear.  There are multiple causes for this abnormally increased pressure, but whatever the cause, relief comes by relieving this pressure.

Recurrent ear infections are a major health problem in the U.S.   In fact, Recurrent Ear Infections are:

• The number one reason for visits to the pediatrician with 10 million new cases each year.

• The most common illness affecting babies and young children.

• The second most common reason for surgery in children under 2 (behind only circumcision).

As any parent will tell you, these ear infections are not only common, but often reoccur after treatment, and are extremely painful to the child.  If not treated, these ear infections can cause hearing damage and associated speech and developmental problems. 

Common treatment for recurring ear infections has included medication (antibiotics) and surgery (Tympanostomy or “ear tubes”), but with the emergence of drug-resistant strains of bacteria the medical community has become increasingly reluctant to treat earaches with antibiotics.  Now, new evidence indicates that the most effective form of treatment may be Chiropractic adjustments.

Recent research suggests that chiropractic adjustments are extremely effective at treating these types of ear infections by utilizing the normal draining pathway (the Eustachian tube) of the middle and inner ear as well as boosting the child’s own natural resistance to the infection.  By reestablishing proper draining and boosting the immune system, these earaches not only resolve quickly, but also reoccur far less frequently, and often not at all. 

These adjustments are statistically the safest, most effective form of treatment for recurring ear infections, and has received much praise from the medical community for their effectiveness.

This new approach has become so popular that it has recently been reported in magazines like Parenting and Baby Talk as well as being reported on NBC’s Today Show.

Source:  (Iowa Chiropractic Association)