Ear infections are the most common illness affecting babies and young children. Published statistical studies show that up to a third of American children will have six or more episodes of ear infections before entering school, with some children experiencing six to twelve ear infection episodes in one year.[1]  Approximately half of all children will have at least one middle ear infection before their first birthday, and two-thirds of them will have at least one ear infection by age 3.[2] 

With 10 million cases each year, ear infections, which can be excruciatingly painful, are the number one reason for visits to pediatricians, accounting for 35% of all pediatric visits.

 

The standard medical treatment is with antibiotics, usually amoxicillin.  While antibiotics may be effective in acute bacterial infection, they do nothing to stop repeat ear infections.

According to the Journal of the American Medical Association, amoxicillin is not an effective treatment for ear infections.  In fact, when treated with antibiotics, recurrence of ear infections was two to six times greater in the amoxicillin treated children than those treated with a placebo.[1] 

 

Repeated doses of antibiotics can lead to drug-resistant bacteria.  In 1995, Dr. Richard Bresser of the CDC said that the number of unnecessary antibiotics prescribed annually for viral infections was 20 million.  Dr. Bresser, in 2003, now refers to tens of millions of unnecessary antibiotics.[3]

 Frequent ear infections are also the second most common reason for surgery in children under the age of 2.  Myringotomy and tympanostomy or “ear tubes” may be prescribed.  During the surgical procedure a small opening is made in the eardrum to place a tube inside.  In many cases the membrane pushes the tube out after a couple of months and the hole in the eardrum closes.  Although the treatment is effective, it needs to be repeated in 20-30% of the cases and this treatment requires general anesthesia, never a minor thing in a small child.[2] 

Before another round of “maybe it’ll work or maybe it won’t” antibiotics or the more drastic step of surgery, more parents are considering chiropractic to help children with chronic ear infections.  At Paint Creek Chiropractic Center, in downtown Rochester Michigan, we often see kids with ear infections, and most cases respond very favorably to chiropractic care.  In Part 2 of this article I will discuss why chiropractic works so well.

-end- part I –Ear Infections

 References

  1. Peet, Jennifer Brandon D.C.: Chiropractic Pediatric & Prenatal Reference Manual.  2nd edition  1992 by Baby Adjusters, Inc. Publications
  2. Chiropractic Approach to Ear Infections.  American Chiropractic Association website; www.americanchiro.org
  3. Kent, Christopher, D.C, J.D.:“Recreational Drugs Far Less Likely to Kill You Than Prescribed Drugs.”  www.mercola.com  Jan 15, 2008.