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Chiropractic has significant evidence and success for treating children with Otitis Media.

Any parent will likely agree that observing a child suffering from an illness and especially pain is almost more painful for the parent themselves. And likewise, as parents we prefer to see our children HEAL from injury, RECOVER from Illness and avoid pain and disease entirely.

So why not look to the most effective means of restoring health?  That would be from promoting health from the inside out, in the ways nature intended, safely, with better outcomes and the least risk.

Let’s take a look at what conventional medicine does and doesn’t do for children’s health – specifically for middle ear infections or ‘Acute Otitis Media’ (AOM). Then referring to solid clinical evidence I will explain the simple treatments that have provided safe, consistent and effective results for thousands of children and babies for decades.

Finally watch some video presentations and see for yourself. There are numerous news media broadcasts that are growing in popularity all across the nation where even the program’s ‘medical experts’ have acknowledged the success and growing trend of chiropractic treatment for AOM.

Conventional approach for children with AOM in the US.

In a well written report by William F. Miser, MD, in the Journal of the American Board of Family Practice, he clearly supports the evidence that the medical profession over diagnoses AOM but that "changing physician behaviors is quite difficult." When questioning his colleagues as to why not at least shorten the course of antibiotics, the reply is, "Well, that's what they do in pediatrics."

As parents and even concerned citizens, you must acknowledge that this is sadly inexcusable.

Following are summary points of his research.

• Acute otitis media (AOM) accounts for more than 20 million office visits a year in the United States, AOM is one of the most common reasons a child sees a family physician.
• By their first birthday, nearly two thirds of children will have at least one episode of AOM, and more than 90% will have one episode by age 2 years.
• A diagnosis of AOM is the most common reason children receive a prescription for antibiotics.
• Nearly $5 billion is spent each year in the United States in managing AOM; this expenditure does not take into account the disruption of child-care arrangements and work schedules.
• Despite the frequency and enormous associated costs of AOM, recent evidence from the medical literature shows that family physicians over diagnose AOM in the United States.
• A busy clinician examining a squirming, uncooperative toddler with an ear canal occluded with cerumen [ear wax] often will err on the side of making a diagnosis of AOM to please anxious parents. Diagnostic uncertainty by primary care physicians is as high as 33% to 42%.
• Recent evidence raises concern over the use of antibiotics and the length of treatment, if prescribed. Considering a growing worldwide development of multidrug-resistant bacteria, the uncertainty of diagnosis, and that up to one third of cases of AOM are caused by a virus [unaffected by antibiotics] are reason to change the approach.  Many European countries have no worse outcomes by simple wait-and-see, while lowering costs and risk.
• In several randomized clinical trials, antibiotics provided only a small benefit. In a meta-analysis of more than 2000 children with AOM, ear pain resolved spontaneously without antibiotics in two thirds by 24 hours and in 80% by day 7.
• Minimizing the use of antibiotics in children with AOM does not increase the risks of perforation of the tympanic membrane, hearing loss, contra-lateral or recurrent AOM, or development of mastoiditis.
• In summary, the immediate prescription of antibiotics offers some benefits, but these benefits are offset by the disadvantages of increased cost, drug resistance, and adverse reactions. Watchful waiting is feasible and acceptable to most parents, with a 76% reduction in the use of antibiotics.

Restoring the natural health of ear tube function

To help describe chiropractic’s success in treating children, let me briefly summarize 2 significant studies.

A recent study published in 2004 in the ‘Journal of vertebral subluxation research’ showed great results from chiropractic treatment of acute otitis media (AOM). The results showed that 95% of children with AOM experienced a return to normal after a short course of chiropractic manipulative therapy.

In one of the most comprehensive and highly referenced studies comparing chiropractic versus allopathic treatment for otitis media (OM), there was a remarkable correlation of more effective results in a significantly shorter time with chiropractic management. This remarkable study published in the Journal of Clinical Chiropractic Pediatrics, by Dr. Joan Fallen, DC, investigated 322 children up to 5 yrs old who had prior histories of OM that were treated medically.

Here are the summary points of this research.

• Only 3.8% of all children in the study had no prior cases of OM, but most had multiple prior cases. In fact almost 80% of the children were repeatedly treated, mostly unsuccessfully, with antibiotics for at least 3 to more than 5 recurrent cases of OM.
• The number of repeated courses of antibiotic treatments were in excess of an astounding 8 courses in 20% of the children and almost 50% of the children received 6-8 courses of antibiotics!
• After a short course of 4 to 5 treatments for all groups of children, the number of days to resolve all signs and symptoms by otoscopic examination was 6 days for acute cases, and for chronic cases, 8 days.
• After the chiropractic treatments, the percentage of children who experienced any recurrence over 6 a month period following the initial presentation was only 11% for acute cases and 16% for chronic cases.

The resolution of symptoms and restored health that the children experienced from a short course of chiropractic treatments were drastically better than the prolonged recurrent episodes while under the repeated exposure of apparently ineffective and harmful antibiotics.
These results are a significant finding and highly correlate with the favorable response that the chiropractic profession has claimed for over 100 years in treating OM and other upper respiratory infections.

How does it all work? In simple terms, chiropractic mobilizes the drainage of the Eustachian tubes in children’s ears. With thorough treatment, they can continue to drain without a build-up of fluid and subsequent infection, ultimately building up their own antibodies and recovering more quickly.

To add a little more detail, there are very specific neurologic and muscle components of the mechanism that results in altered or decreased dilation of the Eustachian tube and thus increased pressure of the middle ear without drainage. Factors such as birth trauma, inflammatory conditions surrounding the mastoid air cell system, subluxation of the occipital junction and or craniofascial defects, will directly alter and compromise this muscular mechanism with respect to opening and closing of the Eustachian tube.

The most common and frequent causes of altered or blocked ear tubes relate to the joint subluxations, which incidentally, is often brought on through the physical stresses of normal birth.
The outcome of a compromised Eustachian tube without drainage is pain, inflammation and increased microbial growth. While antibiotics may seem ideal, there is good reason for their predominant failure.

The middle ear chamber is designed to ‘breath’, to have a means of draining or circulating the normal fluids and air within. If the chamber becomes closed off, the application of antibiotics will not directly correct this, which is evident by the fact of the poor results and normal regimen of multiple repeated courses of the drug with repeated recurrence of symptoms.

Simple and safe chiropractic treatments provide the means to restore nerve function and normal muscle tone thereby allowing dilation and drainage of the ear chamber. This straightforward approach provides for the body’s natural return to health, promotes proper immune response and without the use of harmful and mostly ineffective drugs.

It has been apparent that chiropractic continues to capture the attention of the media. Although we don’t have the video, the ‘medical expert’ of the Early Show declared just last month, November 2009 that "chiropractic is providing great results for treatment of children with middle ear infections."

See some other Here are just a few other news broadcasts nationwide that promote similar positive results.

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