Ear infections are so incredibly common, half of visits to a pediatrician are typically ear infection and respiratory related. However, just because they are common, does not mean they are normal.
Instead of working backwards to just find better treatments for ear infections, pediatric chiropractors work on sorting out the underlying cause(s).
Why are ear infections so frequent?
There are two things that we will look at that that can make a child more susceptible to ear infections:
- Physical stress and tension on the upper part of the neck and base of the skull, surrounding the ears. This is the area of the spine that affects the nerves that support the muscles in and around the Eustachian tubes, including the most important one known as the TVP muscle. When those nerves are affected it prevents proper drainage of the Eustachian tubes from taking place, because nerve function determines motor and muscle function. You can’t have one without the other.
- Poor nutrition and toxins in the environment that cause inflammation in the body.
As the body experiences stress, whether it be physical stress or toxic stress, it hits a point where it doesn’t function as well as it should. It gets stuck in a malfunctioning state, allowing the fluid to literally get stuck in the ears, the child is then stuck in a state of chronic, repetitive illness and ear infections.
In chiropractic we call that combination of stress build up and decreased nerve function, a subluxation.
When there is physical trauma to the neck in-utero, during birth, or from a fall early in life it creates that “kink” in close proximity to the “drain pipes” coming from the ears, sinuses, and head. Specifically, the top two vertebrae share a lot of nerve supply, muscles, and structures with the inner ear and sinuses.
When those “kinks” (subluxation) are in that region specifically, it affects movement, and movement of those muscles in the Eustachian tube which prevents proper drainage.
Subluxation = poor movement, poor drainage.
Still there’s more… to top it all off, we also know that subluxation leads to an overactive and sustained triggering of what’s call the sympathetic or “stress” side of the nervous system. Since the nervous system also controls and modulates the immune system, it leaves it in a pro-inflammatory state.
Therefore the challenges with #2 are magnified when a child is subluxated, and their immune system won’t be able to properly handle normal childhood occurrences like colds and teething, and is more likely to overreach to certain foods and environment triggers.
My child is struggling, how do I help?
In our office, we address the root cause of the problem, so the child can drain and properly heal if suffering… or even better, never get them in the first place. Here’s what we recommend:
1. Have your child checked by a trained Pediatric Chiropractor to see if there is subluxation (misalignment, fixation, altered neurological function) in the regions mentioned above, causing poor drainage and altered neuro-immune function.
2. Clean up their diet, especially limiting or removing dairy products, preservatives and other chemicals, and refined sugars.