“Honey, look at that – he’s tugging at his ears again!” mommy said.
“Oh, no! Look at how red they are too! I will call Dr. McConnell’s office right away and we will go in to get antibiotics today so he’ll feel better,” daddy said.
It’s a fear for almost every parent – your child is in pain and you cannot soothe him. As a parent, you want to do the right thing. You want to make him feel better. And, ear infections can be excruciatingly painful, especially in children. What is the current medical approach to ear infections?
Antibiotics and tubes in the ears. But do they work? You may be surprised!
Here are the facts. The standard medical practices of antibiotics and surgery to place tubes in the ears have both been found to be relatively useless and many of times harmful. Evidence has long showed that the use of antibiotics for ear infections is not recommended and that their use can actually increase the likelihood of getting another ear infection, according to a recent British Medical Journal study. Antibiotic use has also been linked to an increased risk of cancer and is the leading cause of drug induced liver damage leading to acute liver failure. More than 142,000 people are rushed to the emergency room each year from adverse reactions to antibiotics, according to a 2008 article in Clinical Infectious Diseases, and an estimated 70,000 of those cases may be a result of unnecessary antibiotic prescriptions.
The New England Journal of Medicine published a study stating that the use of tubes for treatment of ear infections had no measurable benefit in children. Sadly there remains an estimated 300,000 insertions a year in the United States despite subsequent well-planned studies that have shown their lack of benefit. Dr. Jack L. Paradise, professor of pediatrics at Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh says the reason why is because “You get paid for operating and not paid for not operating.” The average operation will cost anywhere from $2000-$4000. That’s a pretty hefty bill to pay for little to no value! Dr. Paradise’s advice to parents of such kids: “Don’t just do something. Sit there.”
With 10 million new cases every year, ear infections are the most common illness affecting babies and young children and the number one reason for visits to the pediatrician. But when the only options a pediatrician has to offer are harmful drugs and surgery, many parents are turning to chiropractors for a safer and a far more beneficial approach. One large study done with 332 children suffering with chronic ear infections showed that chiropractic adjustments allowed for roughly 80% of those children to end their streak of ear infections.
There is a clear and definite difference between the medical approach and the chiropractic approach with this situation. A Maximized Living doctor does not see a child as broken and in need of a man made drug or surgery to fix them. We have an inborn ability to be healthy and heal from any condition as long as there is no interference to that system that runs and controls our body.
When a chiropractic adjustment is delivered, no matter what the condition or diagnosis, interference to the nerves and the body is being reduced and the body’s innate ability to heal is increased.
While every problem has unique needs, the ML Principle is the same when it comes to all conditions:
STEP 1: Build health. If you work towards getting the body well and working right again, all conditions improve or are eliminated.
STEP 2: Look at causes. Whether it’s diabetes, asthma, ADD/ADHC, chronic ear infections, pain, fatigue, cancer, or Alzheimer’s – there’s an underlying reason.
Conditions are rarely there as simply a result of genetics or bad luck. Might be easy to call it that – but just not true. Don’t wait until your child is suffering with an ear infection to contact your local Maximized Living doctor.
