subject: Can Chiropractic Help Ear Infections, Antibiotics And Sudden Infant Death Syndrome? [print this page] If you have children, then reading this article may be one of the most important thing that you do to make sure they grow up happy, healthy and to their best potential. 66% U.S. children suffer middle ear infections also known as otitis media, by the age of 2. The infections usually follow a course of viral respiratory infection. The first symptoms are red and swollen eardrum, pain and fussiness in kids. Sometimes fluid will accumulate in the middle ear right behind the eardrum. This can remain for weeks or months and may negatively affect hearing.
Kids get sick all the time. So imagine you come home from work and your child has an ear infection. What's the next step? First of all, you need to know your facts. The treatment you decide on could have a drastic effect on the rest of your kid's life. You have to know a little bit about ear infections. The thing about ear infections is that they are not as dangerous as many people think think. A study done by the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality along wiht the Southern California RAND Evidence Practice Canter (EPC) found. Nearly two-thirds of children with uncomplicated ear infections recover from pain and fever within a 24 hour period of diagnosis without antibiotic treatment. Over 80% recover within 1 to 7 days which is very important to understand.
About 93% of children treated with antibiotics recover within several days of treatment. Research also discovered that the newer and more expensive antibiotics give no additional benefit to kids than amoxicillin. The EPC also found no evidence that short duration therapy was more effective than long duration therapy. There was no significant difference in the clinical outcome for children of two years of age.
Over five million cases of acute ear infections occur annually. This costs about three billion dollars. In the November 1997 issue of JAMA, experts say the regular use of antibiotics against pediatric ear infections produces little health benefit while it also contributes to the spread of drug resistant bacteria.
They point out that children whose previous ear infections were treated with antibiotics have a rate of amoxicillan resistant bacteria that is three times higher during subsequent ear infection episodes. In extreme cases, deaths from drug resistant meningitis have been linked to built-up antibiotic resistance traced to previous treatment for ear infection.
What's more, Dr. Joseph Mercola, MD, from Johns Hopkins University states: "The treatment of ear infections is a huge problem. MOST of the chronically sick children I see were given antibiotics frequently for recurrent ear infections. The sad tragedy is that nearly all of these are preventable."
This may mean that not only does using antibiotics for many cases of ear infections possibly not help, it may lead to chronic illness which may cause further damage. Now that's the bad news. The good news is there are natural ways to help prevent and stop ear infections without the use of harmful antibiotics which may cause further problems. There has been much speculation of how chiropractic care can help children with ear infections.
A study was performed comparing the health of two hundred pediatrician's children versus 200 chiropractor's children. The results will shock you. The study found that 80% of the "medical" Children Suffered Ear Infection versus only 31% of the "chiropractic" children! And "pediatricians were more likely to feel that every child would have been on a course of antibiotics at least once, and the occurrence of infectious diseases was significantly less among the latter sample." The study went on the say, "This study has shown that children raised under chiropractic care are less prone to infectious processes such as otitis media and tonsillitis, and that their immune systems are better able to cope with allergens such as pollen, weeds, grasses, and more as compared to children raised under allopathic (medical) care."
Alot of people were astounded by these findings because they could not understand What could be the difference that made the chiropractic children healthier. They didn't know if it was one thing or a multitude of others. To understand, your nervous system controls every function of your body. Your brain sends messages by electrical signals down your spinal cord and nerves to all your organs and cells. Everything in your body including the heart and lungs is controlled by the nervous system.
These controlling electrical impulses can get affected as they come out of your spine. Bones can become misaligned and cause the spinal joints to malfunction. During this process, your body doesn't function the way it should. Your immune system becomes hindered. When the bacteria responsible for an ear infection invade your child's body, the damaged immune system cant fight it off like it should. The end result is an ear infection. Normally, without any interference from the spinal joint, the germs would easily be defeated.
Dr. G. Gutmann who is a medical researcher did a study. He examined over 1000 infants and concluded that approximately eight percent had imbalances. Many had imbalances from the top bone in the neck causing nerve impingement. Abraham Towbin, a Neuropathologist at Harvard Medical School found that 7 out of 8 autopsies he performed on sudden infant death syndrome died from a spinal cord injury from the birth process or shortly after the birth process.
The birth process is not an easy process. The infant is usually grabbed by its head and is yanked and twisted out with great force. One thing to consider is that our baby's neck is very delicate. It has been living in a fluid filled sac for the last 9 months and has never even had to hold up the weight of its own head.
The final determination is that children should receive a complete chiropractic spinal examination to make sure they grow up happy and healthy. You must remember that Medical researcher Dr, Gutmann found that 80% of the infants he examined had spinal imbalances. Most children are not any different. You can contact New Century Spine Centers in San Diego to find out how all of your children can get a free spinal trauma evaluation. Their number is 619-630-9153. It's quick and easy. And most importantly it may change their life.
