When tiny ears hurt

One of the most frequent illnesses in children is otitis media, the infection of the middle ear.  Each day, doctors have children coming to see them because their ears hurt.  Their parents see them tugging at their tiny ears.  The kids are very irritable and inconsolable.  The child often has some cold symptoms- a runny nose, maybe a fever.  Looking into the ear, the doctor sees redness, a bulging tympanic membrane and fluid behind the ear drum.  Let me tell you how you can help them.

In one study, published in The Archives of Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine in 2001, 103 children ages 6 to 18 with acute otitis media were randomly split into groups and assigned to be treated with either anesthetic ear drops or an herbal ear drop containing extracts of garlic, calendula, St. John’s wort and mullein in an olive oil solution. The researchers found reductions in ear pain in both groups and concluded that the herbal ear drop was just as effective as the anesthetic one. Garlic is a great anti-microbial and mullein oil helps to reduce pain and inflammation.

Boost your child’s immune system by giving Vitamin C with bioflavonoids, zinc and elderberry extract. Check your child’s Vitamin D status.  Eliminate dairy products which are mucous causing, making it difficult to drain the infected ear drum.  Find a homeopathic remedy that fits your child’s symptoms. Massaging your child’s ear can be helpful to keep the Eustachian tube open.  If this is a chronic problem, check for food and environmental sensitivities.  

Try some of these things the next time his or her tiny ears hurt.

Recipe for basic ear oil

1/2 oz each of mullein oil, St. John’s wort oil and calendula oil

Add garlic oil or goldenseal glycerite for acute bacterial infections (you can make your own garlic oil by heating a fresh clove of garlic in olive oil)

Warm the oil just a bit and put 2 drops in each ear three times a day

 References

1.     Sarell M et al.  Efficacy of Naturopathic Extracts in the Management of Ear Pain Associated With Acute Otitis Media.  Arch Pediatr Adolesc Med. 2001;155:796-799.

2.     Bove, Mary (1996).  An Encyclopedia of Natural Healing for Children and Infants. Connecticut: Keats.