Pediatric Chiropractic Care for Chronic Otitis Media - An Alternative to Antibiotics

Two case studies demonstrate that pediatric chiropractic care is an effective treatment for middle ear infections, both published in the Journal of Pediatric, Maternal and Family Health. One study discusses the improvement of a four-year-old boy with a history of failed tympanostomy tube surgery. The other details how chiropractic care helped a nine-year-old girl avoid getting myringotomy tubes altogether.

Upland Chiropractor Dr. Tymothy Flory stated, “Chronic ear infections can be painful for a child and distressing for a parent. Vertebral subluxations were found in the neck in both research cases, the structural shift was gently corrected and the children improved without medication.”

It is estimated that 40% of children suffer from otitis media by 5 years of age. Direct and indirect costs of otitis media total approximately 3 billion dollars. The most common medical treatment is antibiotic usage, which is effective for cases with a bacterial infection. However, up to 80% of ear infections are caused by viruses, and as such antibiotics are useless.

The working theory as to how chiropractic helps resolve ear infections is that a structural shift in the neck disturbs fluid drainage from the head and neck. This causes the fluid to back up in the middle ear, among other places, and a warm static fluid environment is ripe for infection to develop.

On the third visit, the boy had seen so much improvement that his mother opted out of her son’s scheduled second attempt at surgery. Both patients attended care with the recommended frequency at 2 times for the first two weeks, followed by once a week for eight weeks, for a duration of 12 weeks.

“The successful chiropractic care of these two children with chronic ear infections is well described. These studies provide supporting evidence that kids with a similar condition may also benefit from chiropractic care” said Dr. Flory.

Anyone wanting more information may contact Dr. Tymothy Flory, whose office is located at 2335 W. Foothill Blvd. Suite 20, Upland, CA (telephone 909-982-9100).