You Can Do Something About Chronic Childhood Ear Infections
At two in the morning, your inconsolable 10-month old is crying so hard you're pacing the downstairs hallway so your other kids can get some sleep.
Your only plan is to call your doctor's office the moment they open.
In seven hours! If you guess this is another middle ear infection, you're probably right.
Earaches are the most common reason for visits to the pediatrician's office.
Unfortunately, both the Academy of Family Physicians and the American Academy of Pediatrics recommend a "watchful waiting" or "wait and see" approach to acute ear infections.
Their reasoning is based on research published in the well-regarded Journal of the American Medical Association that demonstrated that children given an antibiotic had no difference in results from children who were not, in fever, pain (otalgia) or number of future visits.
Antibiotics offer an advantage over the body's own immune systems in only a handful of cases.
However, a number of studies of manipulative therapies, including chiropractic, have shown good results without the side effects of antibiotics.
An important 1997 study (1) of 332 children ages 27 days to 5 years, indicated a strong correlation between chiropractic adjustment and the resolution of otitis media (that is, middle ear ache).
For one example, there were 104 kids in the group classified as having 'chronic' otitis media.
Each child in this group received five chiropractic adjustments each, and over the next six months their recurrence rate was only 16%.
Think about it--after five adjustments, 84% of those kids had a full half year without lost sleep and screaming in the middle of the night.
84% of the parents did not have the anguish of watching their child suffer.
A previous study, published in a chiropractic journal in 2003 (2), addressed the critical question: how would chiropractic care for acute and chronic ear infections fare when compared directly with standard pediatric care? The study found that those who received manipulative therapy had fewer episodes of Acute Otitis Media (AOM), fewer surgical procedures and had higher rates of normal tympanograms.
Other studies have validated and confirmed this amazing news for parents since then.
The web site of the International Chiropractic Pediatric Association (ICPA) has a page listing all the published research studies done on children's ear infections and the role of chiropractic care in treatment and prevention.
If you are a parent with children who suffer from chronic ear infections, call us now and make an appointment for a consultation.
We can help get your children out of pain and on a path to success in life, school and sports.
Don't spend another sleepless night pacing the halls with a screaming toddler in your arms.
You should not wait, and don't need to wait, until another ear infection starts.
Preventive care is a better option.
Also, we'd like to answer all your questions, give you the facts and relieve your anxiety at a time when your child is not in pain.
Of course, if your child needs immediate care, we want to see both of you as soon as possible.
But make sure you get them to some kind of doctor to help them get well.
(1) Fallon, JM.
Journal of Clinical Chiropractic Pediatrics Vol 2, No.
2 1997 p.
167-183.
(2) Mills MV, Henley CE, Barnes LLB, Carreiro JE, Degenhardt BF.
The use of osteopathic manipulative treatment as adjuvant therapy in children with recurrent acute otitis media.
Archives of Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine 2003; 157(9): 861-866.
Your only plan is to call your doctor's office the moment they open.
In seven hours! If you guess this is another middle ear infection, you're probably right.
Earaches are the most common reason for visits to the pediatrician's office.
Unfortunately, both the Academy of Family Physicians and the American Academy of Pediatrics recommend a "watchful waiting" or "wait and see" approach to acute ear infections.
Their reasoning is based on research published in the well-regarded Journal of the American Medical Association that demonstrated that children given an antibiotic had no difference in results from children who were not, in fever, pain (otalgia) or number of future visits.
Antibiotics offer an advantage over the body's own immune systems in only a handful of cases.
However, a number of studies of manipulative therapies, including chiropractic, have shown good results without the side effects of antibiotics.
An important 1997 study (1) of 332 children ages 27 days to 5 years, indicated a strong correlation between chiropractic adjustment and the resolution of otitis media (that is, middle ear ache).
For one example, there were 104 kids in the group classified as having 'chronic' otitis media.
Each child in this group received five chiropractic adjustments each, and over the next six months their recurrence rate was only 16%.
Think about it--after five adjustments, 84% of those kids had a full half year without lost sleep and screaming in the middle of the night.
84% of the parents did not have the anguish of watching their child suffer.
A previous study, published in a chiropractic journal in 2003 (2), addressed the critical question: how would chiropractic care for acute and chronic ear infections fare when compared directly with standard pediatric care? The study found that those who received manipulative therapy had fewer episodes of Acute Otitis Media (AOM), fewer surgical procedures and had higher rates of normal tympanograms.
Other studies have validated and confirmed this amazing news for parents since then.
The web site of the International Chiropractic Pediatric Association (ICPA) has a page listing all the published research studies done on children's ear infections and the role of chiropractic care in treatment and prevention.
If you are a parent with children who suffer from chronic ear infections, call us now and make an appointment for a consultation.
We can help get your children out of pain and on a path to success in life, school and sports.
Don't spend another sleepless night pacing the halls with a screaming toddler in your arms.
You should not wait, and don't need to wait, until another ear infection starts.
Preventive care is a better option.
Also, we'd like to answer all your questions, give you the facts and relieve your anxiety at a time when your child is not in pain.
Of course, if your child needs immediate care, we want to see both of you as soon as possible.
But make sure you get them to some kind of doctor to help them get well.
(1) Fallon, JM.
Journal of Clinical Chiropractic Pediatrics Vol 2, No.
2 1997 p.
167-183.
(2) Mills MV, Henley CE, Barnes LLB, Carreiro JE, Degenhardt BF.
The use of osteopathic manipulative treatment as adjuvant therapy in children with recurrent acute otitis media.
Archives of Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine 2003; 157(9): 861-866.
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