Getting Healthy

The most commonplace reason for visits to a pediatrician is earache. More than 70 percent of children will have had at least one earache by the age of three, and approximately one-third will have had three or more earache episodes. But, what might be surprising is that earache is also the most general basis for children under the age of five years to be escorted by parents to the chiropractor’s office.

How Chiropractic Care Can Help Earache and Ear Infections

A pediatrician who suspects that a child with an earache has a middle ear infection will normally prescribe antibiotics as a standard course of treatment. New analysis, however, has concluded that this is often imprudent. The basis for the child’s middle ear infection may not be due to bacteria, and because antibiotics are only effective against bacterial pathogens, quite often there will be no positive response. This is because numerous cases of middle ear infection can be generated by a virus, and viruses do not respond to antibiotics. This may be the reason why children develop chronic ear infections.

One of the purposes of a Honolulu chiropractor is to ascertain whether or not the body’s inability to combat the earache or ear infection is produced by inflamation of the small nerves in the spine (called free nerve endings).

An aberrant tension in the small muscles of the neck is created when these nerve endings are irritated. Pressure generated on the lymphatic drainage ducts as a consequence of muscle tension can prevent adequate drainage from inside the ear. This condition stops the body from naturally correcting the problem. In addition, balance can also be affected.

Diagnosis by a chiropractor of such a problem is made by the detection of increased tension in the neck and paraspinal muscles. Normally more tension is felt on the side of earache. The chiropractor also looks for spinal vertebrae that are either marginally out of alignment or are not moving within their normal range. There are a variety of reasons for such aproblem as the consequence of the many bangs, jolts, and falls almost all children experience growing up. Restoration of normal lymph drainage is normally accomplished with a short series of treatments that include spinal adjustments and manipulation of the neck muscles. If your child is suffering from 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 second only to the common cold, accounts for nearly 30 million doctor visits every year. What’s more, at least 6 million courses of antibiotics are causelessly prescribed for the problem.Just 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 treatment 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.”

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