Did you know that ear infections are the MOST misdiagnosed and over treated childhood illness?
Earaches can be painful for your child and very scary for you as the parent. Rest assured that the many ear infections will resolve on their own.
Conventional Treatment
Antibiotics are the most common prescription written for ear infections; however, many experts agree that they are useless and harmful in many cases. In fact, antibiotics help only 1 in 8 children and risks creating antibiotic resistant strains of pathogens.(1)
According to the CDC, middle ear infections, “may not need antibiotics in many cases because the body’s immune system can fight off the infection” and a mild case “often will get better on its own without antibiotic treatment.” (2)
What causes ear infections in children?
According to Robert S. Mendelsohn M.D., author of How to Raise a Healthy Child in Spite of Your Doctor, “Allergies are a frequent component in the production of ear infections. They may predispose your child to bacterial infection. The most common culprit is cow’s milk, in its natural form or as found in infant formula.”
But how can milk and other food allergens cause ear infections?
According to Dr. Mendelsohn, “[Milk] causes a swelling of the mucous membranes, which interferes with the drainage of secretions through the eustachian tube.” He also goes on to say that allergies to other foods, dust, pollen, etc. can produce the same effects.
What we are now understanding is that allergies (even to non food items) can cause a release of inflammatory chemicals that not only stimulate these secretions but causes damage to the lining of the ears. When this happens, the combination of the inflammation and fluid accumulation provides the perfect environment for an infection.
According to a study in 1994, “Untreated food allergies increases a child’s susceptibility to bacterial and viral ear infection.” (3) It is important that food allergies be addressed in order to reduce future ear infections in the future.
More Evidence
This same 1994 study showed a very strong correlation between food allergies and ear infections. Children between the ages of 1.5 and 9 who suffered from recurrent ear infections were also tested for food allergies. The children who tested for food allergies were put on an elimination diet for 16 weeks removing all food allergens from the diet. The findings? “The elimination diet led to a significant amelioration of serous otitis media in 70/81 (86%) patients as assessed by clinical evaluation and tympanometry.”
Then those same children were put on a “Challenge Diet” where their food allergens were reintroduced back into their diet. Guess what happened? “The challenge diet with the suspected offending food(s) provoked a recurrence of serous otitis media in 66/70 patients (94%).” (4)
In another study, almost half of the participants with OME were found to have a food allergy. The conclusion states, “This study demonstrates that food allergies may play a role in the etiopathogenesis of OME.” (5)
Need more proof?
After conducting a study in 2001, Dr. Arroyave concluded that, “All patients with recurrent otitis media with effusion should be investigated for food allergy.” (6)
It is clear that there is a definite correlation between ear infections and allergens. In many cases, removing these allergens from the child’s environment will reduce inflammation and reduce the likelihood of recurrent ear infections. Chiropractic is also a wonderful tool! More information on this soon!
If you would like to uncover any potential allergies/sensitivities that your child may have, e-mail me at dana@thrivekin.com. We can discuss if Nutrition Response Testing is right for your child.
Questions? Just ask!
1. New England Journal of Medicine, Oct. 10, 2002.
2. https://www.cdc.gov/…/common-illnesses/ear-infection.html
3. Role of Food Allergy in Serous Otitis Media”, Annals of Allergy, September 1994;73:215-219.
4. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/…/8092554-role-of-food…
5. Otolaryngol Head Neck Surg 2004; 130: 747-50.)
6. Arroyave, CM. Recurrent Otis media with effusion and food allergy in pediatric patients Rev Alerge Mex. 2001 Sep-Oct; 48 (5):141-4