As a parent nothing can be more frustrating than seeing your child suffer. Chronic Ear Infections (otitis media) can be such an event. The little one may be pulling at their ear and crying, the kind of thing that breaks a parent's heart.

I have many parents bring in their children for ear infections. Often they hear about Chiropractic Treatment of Ear Infections from a friend or coworker. It seems to always be "word-of-mouth" because the concept has yet to penetrate the mainstream media and go into our cultural awareness.

One of the reasons that Chiropractic is so ill-understood is because the Nervous System is very complex and the majority of people don't adequately understand it. For the average person the

Ear Infections
The neurology of a childhood ear infection caused by a subluxation (misaligned vertebrae) is quite simple. In most cases, the nerves coming out of C2- C3 are the causitive factor. C2 and C3 form a nerve called the Auricular Nerve. The Auricular Nerve's comes out of the neck, up to the scalp, wraps around the ear, and goes to outside of the eardrum.

Substance P's Role
"Substance P" is a chemical produced by nerves that causes inflammation. Substance P is in full effect when you eat spicey food. The red ring of irritation around your mouth is caused by nerves releasing the amount of Substance P they have stored.

When C2 and C3 Spinal Nerve Roots are irritated or injured the "Greater Auricular Nerve" (auricular meaning ear) begins to release large amounts of Substance P. This causes the area of the eardrum that is innervated by C2-C3 to become inflamed and red. When a doctor looks in the ear he or she will see inflammation. This inflammation sparks a fluid build up behind the eardrum. A clear fluid called "serous exudate" builds up behind the eardrum. This causes pressure and ear pain for the child.

Enter Bacteria
Bacteria loved fluid filled spaces. Especially ones that have relatively few white blood cells. A single bacterium in this fluid filled space will replicate rapidly and thus an ear infection is born! Often people will take their child to the Medical Doctor for antibiotics. Many times the child will relapse once the antibiotics are done. Why? The fluid is still behind the ear. The fluid is like a big petry dish waiting to be populated by bacteria.

How's the Child Feel?
Typically the child will be unhappy, fussy, won't want to sleep or eat like normal, and many other symptoms. Clinically, I've seen kids with ears so bad they hurt taking off their shirt at home. Sometimes they have goopy watery eyes with plenty of discharge. Sometimes the ear itself is red from the infection or the child pulling on it.

So Now What?
Have your child evaluated by a Doctor of Chiropractic. Make sure they do a range of motion in the neck. Subluxations in the in the upper vertebrae of the neck can be shown by a loss of rotation. A loss of 10 degrees or more is usually indicative of an Upper Cervical Subluxation. In our office we usually use an Elmo Doll to test the range of motion. Then we perform a spinal scan using the Insight, and then the physical exam. After that it's pretty clear where the problem is.

What about the Treatment?
A Chiropractic Adjustment for a child is very different than for an adult.  In our office we use a non-force technique. Subluxations in children haven't been there for very long. That means that they are easier to reduce, less force, less repetition. Most children I have treated for Chronic Otitis Media (chronic ear infections) usually are better after 3 visits. Some take more, depending on the severity. It is definitely worth your time to check it out.

Call me at the office if you have any further questions.