Ear Infections and the Chiropractor: How Chiropractic Care Can Help Heal Ear Infections

Ear Infections and the Chiropractor: How Chiropractic Care Can Help Heal Ear Infections
April 24, 2007
by Lea Barton
Associated Content

Ear infections in children are every parent's chronic nightmare, and the chiropractor can help. While many parents don't turn to chiropractic doctors for regular care, more and more parents are learning that ear infections and the chiropractor do Mix. Chiropractic medicine can do a great deal to help children and adults with ear infections. Given the nature of how a chiropractor does his or her job on the neck and back, ear infections and healing can be greatly aided by a quick trip, or series of trips, to a doctor of chiropractic in your area.

When a chiropractor works on the twenty-four bones in the spine, and the countless bones in the neck, the goal is to align the nerves and bones of the spine, to improve wellness in the patient. Ear infections, in general, are blockages in the Eustachian tubes. Manipulation of the neck and spine bones can help to unblock any fluids or infections in the ear, which a chiropractor gently manipulates to open up and allow the fluid to drain properly.

Small children have Eustachian tubes that are more parallel than those in adults. This means that blockages can occur more readily, leading to increased ear infections. Parents can reduce ear infections and their chances by propping children's heads at night, not permitting bottle drinking at night, reducing inflammation throughout the body by limiting sugar, and by catching ear infections before they become severe.

While many pediatricians will examine an ear, note redness and infection, and then write an antibiotic script, more and more pediatricians are refusing to give antibiotics for ear infection; the chiropractor agrees. This is a good process, designed to reduce antibiotic abuse. Most ear infections are viral and not bacterial. An antibiotic is useless, in general, against a virus.

A chiropractor can help more than a mainstream pediatrician in many cases. A chiropractor will use an otoscope to examine a child's ears, as would a primary care physician. The chiropractor then feels the neck and spine, examining for misalignments. Any good chiropractor then makes adjustments as needed to the child's neck, to help release the fluid that is causing the ear infection (or retaining the bacteria or virus). Thus, a chiropractor allows the body to heal itself; he or she simply helps clear the blockage.

Finding a pediatric chiropractor to manage your child's ear infection issues isn't difficult; look in the telephone book under "Chiropractor" and call around to find someone who specializes in child issues. Adults can use chiropractor methods as well as a first resort when dealing with ear infections.