How Does Chiropractic Care Treat Ear Aches?

It is common to hear pediatric chiropractors treat ear aches, but I don’t understand how? When looking in an ear that is red and has fluid behind the ear drum it may be from different causes, and your chiropractor can help you determine which one. Inflammation with redness and swelling will be similar for the following causes: teething, allergies, infection, joint and nerve inflammation. The American Medical Association criterion for diagnosing an ear infection only requires redness to be present. The AMA also published the majority of ear infections are not bacterial and that antibiotics shorten the ear ache by 1 day verses no medication.

To determine the cause of redness or fluid consider the following questions: Are there other signs of infection like fever, cough, and colorful mucus? Is my baby teething? The nerves from the upper teeth reach high up to the sinus and causes congestion where the fluid goes horizontally toward the ears. Is my child’s cranium round and neck well? An upper neck misalignment releases inflammation (substance P) at all of the places that nerves branch out to, including the ear. Cervical misalignments occur in utero with different positions of baby in the pelvis, as well as during labor and delivery with rotation of the head to pass the shoulders. Cervical adjustments decrease joint and nerve inflammation. Pediatric chiropractors that utilize craniosacral therapy aids the proper drainage of fluid by balancing ear tube pressure when baby swallows when nursing.