Preventing and Healing Ear Infections

I couldn’t be happier that the American Association of Pediatrics recently released new guidelines for prescribing antibiotics for ear infections. Woohoo! Annabelle had her first round of antibiotics at 4 months old, for an ear infection. Then she had another round. And then she had antibiotics injected into her pretty little legs while I stood by heart broken not knowing what else to do. Well. It turns out that most ear ‘infections’ aren’t really infections but just fluid that has built up in behind the ear drum. It’s no wonder anti-biotics don’t work if there’s no actual infection for them to work on.

The good news is that after doing my due dilligence I found natural alternatives to dealing with the fluid build up. My recent article on Fox News addresses some great things you can do to help prevent fluid buildup and lower your child’s chances of ear infections. Besides those listed in the article there are a few more that you can try:

Chiropractic Care. Annabelle started getting regular adjustments when she was about 10 months old and her pediatrician was considering putting tubes in her ears. I was desperate to try anything. Here’s how it helps. Regular chiropractic care can keep fluid buildup at bay and is a great preventative tool to protect against ear infections. According to Dr. Rachel Whaley, owner of The Chiropractic Wellness Café in Crowley, Texas children’s Eustachian tubes are more horizontal, making it difficult for fluid to drain. The top 2 vertebrae in the neck have nerves that exit and control the function of the sinus cavities in the inner ear; if they are in an improper position it can directly influence both areas and inhibit the body from functioning at its best. An adjustment will help the body drain any fluid from the middle ear. Children that receive regular adjustments have a much stronger immune system and a smaller chance for infections of any kind to occur.

I took Annabelle every 2 weeks for many, many, months and have just started going a little less frequently, typically once every 3 to 4 weeks and more often when we can or if I have any inkling that we may be getting sick.

Eliminate Dairy. Children with recurring ear infections should eliminate dairy from their diet, for breastfed infants it should be eliminated from the mother’s diet, since dairy causes the body to increase its mucous production which can increase swelling and fluid buildup behind the ears.

Collodial Silver. It’s a great immunity booster and natural antibiotic. If I see Annabelles little hands moving to her ears more than normal I’ll put 2 drops in her ears as prevention. You can use a few drops every few weeks just to help keep ears clean as well. For more in-depth info on the silver go here. We use DavesHealthy Solutions brand.

So what do you do if your child already has an ear infection?

1. First, go to the chiropractor and get adjusted. It is recommended that the first week, with an ear infection, the child be adjusted about 3 times a week until it’s gone.

2. If you’re breastfeeding drop some into your child’s ears. It may sound crazy, but Breast Milk has amazing antibacterial and anti-fungal properties and can speed up the healing properties, and you don’t have to worry about using too much.

3. Use collodial silver drops, 2-3 drops 3 times a day is what we have found to be effective.

4. Up the frequency of massage behind the ears and down the back of the neck. Do it as often as you can. Several times a day. Run a washcloth under hot water and put this on the neck right behind the ears to help encourage fluid to move along. Make sure it’s not too hot, you don’t want to burn your baby!

5. Use garlic oil drops. You can make your own by heating some garlic cloves with olive oil and dropping 2 drops in the ears once it has cooled to body temp. Or you can get plenty of garlic or garlic/mullein combination drops at health food stores.

Do you have any other tried and true tips to help the pain on ear infections? What are some things you do to prevent ear infections??