I was in a conversation with someone who suggested I do this post on ear infections. It had not occurred to me to do so, as in our practice we do not see ear infections nearly as often as we used to. That thought made me smile.
When I started in practice, we saw them all the time. They were as common as the common cold. Once I learned about homeopathy and integrated it into my practice, our use of antibiotics to treat ear infections dropped, and indeed, today in 2021 we rarely use antibiotics to treat ear infections for two basic reasons:
- We rarely see them
- We have better treatment options that actually work faster than antibiotics and Motrin to alleviate pain (Most of the time. Nothing is 100%)
An ear infection or otitis media (literally= inflammation of the middle ear space behind the ear drum) is a common occurrence at the tail end of the cold. When the Eustachian tube becomes irritated from the postnasal drip in a cold, it swells a little, compresses, and stops flowing normally. This causes normal body fluid to back up behind the ear drum leading to inflammation, which then pushes on the ear drum (tympanic membrane or TM) causing intense pain.
If you have never had an ear infection, you cannot appreciate the pain. The first one I saw in an adult was a huge man, built like a linebacker, crying from the pain. I got a front row seat and new respect for the pain of an ear infection. Children tolerate the pain better than we do as adults.
So now you know what it is. When a child cannot stand the pain/discomfort, they scream and cry, and we want to do anything to stop the pain for them. Motrin often helps (after 20 minutes). (Tylenol is no longer favored by my practice as it can lead to asthma later in life). Antibiotics help after 24-48 hours. Keep reading; I will get to what works better shortly.
In my early years of practice, I treated with 10 days of antibiotics like everyone else and saw everyone back in 10 days. I started asking when they finished the meds on the follow up and learned that many parents stopped the medication after three days. I asked why. Mostly they forgot once the child was acting better.
This led me to start seeing follow ups at 3 days on antibiotics.
AMAZINGLY, the ears in most children were completely healed! And did not return. Less diarrhea, fewer allergies, no abdominal pain, and reduction in yeast rashes became noticeable.
I discovered homeopathy around this time when antibiotics did not heal our older child from recurrent sinus infections. Homeopathy did. I was now a believer. I went to school to learn homeopathy…all the while holding on to skepticism (from my medical training). Homeopathy is easy, nontoxic, and inexpensive….how could it be effective????
It works quickly when you have the correct remedy, and if you do not have the right remedy, it causes no side effects or harm. You simply look again at the symptoms and reevaluate.
Well, ask and you shall receive. No better test then a personal experience.
Coming home from class one night, I found our younger child crying and flopping around in bed. He was weepy, whiney, clingy, pitiful, and he had a typical red ear drum, a beautiful hallmark of otitis media. I had learned a remedy that night and decided to try it. Perfect way to prove this is bunk. So I gave him a remedy (Pulsatilla: known for being weepy, whiney, clingy, and dramatic.) I gave it to him and waited. I timed him to see if this was really going work the way I was being taught.
TEN minutes. TEN!! That was all it took for him to respond, lay down and sleep soundly. I will tell you that prior to that I had never had any Tylenol, Motrin, antibiotic, ear drop, etc. work that fast. Our child was 10 months old. It was not placebo.
That was my second conversion moment, and after that I had no doubts that this modality helps. I integrated it in the practice and have never regretted it. Homeopathy WORKS!
We also use Herbaceuticals (Chinese herbal medicines) that work as well to stimulate a healing response in the body!! We use garlic/willow (or garlic/mullein) drops and colloidal silver to stop the pain. Colloidal silver can be used in any orifice of the body safely.
Other therapies that work well on ear infections include chiropractic adjustments. We have had fevers and ear pain improve on the table! Craniosacral therapy also works as does neurosomatic therapy that helps realign muscle structures so the energy and body fluids can flow.
We also noticed in our practice a drastic reduction in ear infections when we began postponing vaccines until age one. In hindsight, I realized that vaccines may have been instrumental in the recurrent sinus infections our first child had…..that resulted in two sinus surgeries before the age of three.
Treating any illness has its western a “standard of care” and then…there are options that work as effectively. Some may need a longer healing time. In the end , though, it takes the same amount of time to HEAL. Symptom relief is one thing and healing time is another. We have options, and sometimes that is the greatest gift. Just knowing that simple, affordable natural substances offer our bodies the stimulus to heal without suppression is a beautiful option. And after 30 years in practice, I KNOW they work.
Dr Franz