Recurrent Ear Infections

I'll tell you about my home remedy that I swear works better than anything and you can use it or not...

I put peroxide in the ear first to kill the germs. Let it sit in the ear until it stops bubbling, or dump out and do again if needed. Then stab vitamin E capsule and squeeze in ear (tycopher-ol not -yl kind). Let it sit in ear for about 20 minutes before getting up. Then put piece of cotton in ear and leave in for a day. In most circumstances it is better in one day, but can take up to 3 days. Do every morning and/or evening until better.

I believe that children that get lots of ear infections is because they are deficient in vitamin E, so I'd suggest taking it internally too.

Best wishes!!

I am having a similar problem. My son is 18 months and he now has his 3rd ear infection. His ped response was "3 isn't that many compared to most" and she prescribed antibiotics. He is still breastfed, always has a hat and bundled up, but still gets them? I do think he might be cutting a molar though.
His last one was 1 month ago, so I believe it's the same infection. I would like to try the garlic oil...how many drops??? Is it applied just inside the ear, or directly into the ear?

My son, who is now 13, started getting ear infections around the same age. After months of on and off antibiotics, I had a friend suggest changing the formula he was on to a soy based. It worked! Ear infections went away. He was lactose intolerant and that was what was causing the ear infections.

Hi, B.. I know people who have had amazing results with breastmilk in the baby's ear. If she is still nursing, or if you know anyone who is nursing their child and is willing to give you some breastmilk, I would suggest a couple of drops every few hours or so.

Another thing to try, and again, I have friends who have said it's worked for them, is garlic mullien oil (you can find it at health food stores) drops.

There is also a homeopathic product called Similisan Earache Relief, and they make a kids' version, too. You can read more about it here:
http://www.similasanusa.com/products-earache-relief.cfm

I hope you can find something that works! Too many antibiotics mean too many more antibiotic-resistant bugs!

Peace,
K.

I am VERY happy to hear that you did NOT put your daughter back on antibiotics...they are SO BAD! Both my children have had numerous ear infections. My son 4 has had about 9 and my daughter 2 has had 7-8.
Its scarey...your child hurts so you take them to the dr. The only thing the dr. is going to do it give them antibiotics. My daughter also suffers from "cronic allergies" & sinus infections" - so what does the dr. do put her on antibiotics yet again...she had been on them so many times that she couldnt even use amoxicyln b/c she was immune to it.
Thats when I started looking into more herbal/natural remedies. I found that cuting out sugar and JUICE has helped her become more healthy b/c the sugar feeds the infection. Remember diet plays the BIGGEST role in our health.
Also it is likely that the infection will come back within 4-6 weeks b/c antibiotics do not "cure" the infection, it only covers up the symptoms so you feel better...then once they are out of your body you feel crappy again.
Anyway - ears/eyes/sinus/allergies are all related. I would check out a book called "Say Goodbye to Childrens Allergies" it is a fabulous book and you will surely learn alot.
The garlic oil is fabulous, it will help with not only ear aches but colds and sniffles and stuffy noses etc. Also you may want to look into Herb-a-saurus, which makes a wonderful childrens multi-vit. and vit.C.
Cell Salts are big part of our everyday use.
And also youngs oils. Alot of oils are too strong for children, in that case I recommend getting a vaperizor, you can just put it into the air and the children will benefit from breathing it in. And if I may give you one more piece of advice stay away from tylonal too...it only brakes down the immune system. Remember a fever is actually a good thing - it means the immune system is fighting the infection. Monitor the fever though you dont want it to get to high. If you feel your child is to hot, put them in a cool bath...minced ginger root is great to put in the tub as well it will pull out any toxins and bring the fever down.
GOOD LUCK! And keep up the good work! You did right by not putting your child back on medications, espically at her young age!

It looks like you have a lot of advice already, but if you can stand one more opinion, try garlic - not in the ear, but by mouth. The child doesn't have to smell like garlic; it's available in odorless tablets for kids old enough to swallow them, but even for my little ones I used the liquid garlic extract. I just put some in juice in a medicine spoon. Not having any idea of how much to use, I just made it up as I went along. Tastes nasty to adults but the kids don't seem to mind it. This is going to sound like a commercial, but it's true: I have five daughters, and between them we were having 18-20 prescriptions of antibiotics per year, and we went down to NONE when we started giving them all garlic. Seriously. It won't prevent them from getting colds etc. but somehow it prevents the colds from escalating into ear infections, eye infections, strep and worse. Husband and I take it too now, of course. And the baby, who was born after we started this regimen, has never had even one ear infection.

When I was a young parent, my three young children had their share of ear infections. At that time I was an avid reader of Prevention Magazine. An article about how Vitamin A fights infection caught my attention. I thought, "I wonder if it would work on ear infections?" The next time one of my kids got an ear infection I took a Vitamin A capsule, warmed it up in my hand, pierced it with a sterilized needle and squeezed the oily contents of the capsule into my son's ear as he laid on his side in his bed. I had him lay without moving for a few minutes to give the oil a chance to go deeply into his ear. I then put a wad of cotton into his ear to keep any extra oil from coming out. Within 5 minutes my son was up and running around without any symptom whatsoever. It seemed like a miracle.

I called my brother-in-law who is an eye-ear-nose & throat specialist to ask if putting Vitamin A in my son's ear would cause any damage. He said it would not, but was dubious as to whether or not it would work to heal the earache. I told him I didn't need to know if it would work -- it already had worked. I just wanted to make sure that I wasn't causing any harm.

I started using this "cure" for all my kids earaches and the results were always the same -- cured within minutes. I then had the opportunity to use it on myself when I developed an earache and also experienced the same results. I used the 20,000 IU natural fish oil type of Vitamin A that can be found in any drug store or health food store.

AS A SIDE NOTE: I also started using Vitamin A in this way on infected ingrown toenails. First soak the foot in Epson salts dissolved in warm water for about 15 minutes, dry the foot, squeeze the contents of the Vitamin A capsule onto a bandage and bandage the toe. The pain goes away almost instantly as does the infection. Vitamin A can also be used in this way to treat cuts and infected sores.

Okay, I read the responses you have received so far. Before you try any herbal product, please do your research. Herbal products are not tested by the FDA, which means any herbal company can claim there product is safe and works. Infants inner ears are shaped different than adults, which makes it harder for fluids to drain. Please do not put breast milk in her ear. Milk is a breeding ground for bacteria. If she already has an infections, this could make it worse. However, breastfeeding an infant helps reduce ear infections. If your baby is using a bottle, make sure she is not laying down while drinking, this will increase ear infections as well.

Hi B.~ I'm very passionate about taking a natural approach to children's health and wellness. Shaklee is America's #1 natural nutrition company, for whom I am proud to be a distributor. They manufacture a product called "Optiflora" which is designed to stimulate the growth of the good bacteria in the lower intestine. By 2 years of age, the average child has 5 ear infections, which can be greatly reduced or prevented by increasing the levels of good bacteria (micro flora) in the intestine, which is where Opti Flora comes in. I would be happy to get you more information on this product or the many other natural nutritional support that Shaklee offers for infants and children. You can visit www.shaklee.net/andrea_reak to learn more.

Like you, I cringe at the idea of putting our children on antibiotics so non-chalantly. I hope that your little one is feeling better!
A.

Ask your ped. about giving her an antihistamine to help dry things up. The antibiotic just kills the bacteria; it doesn’t get rid of the fluid behind the eardrum. Also ask to have her hearing tested, or ask for a referral to an ENT.

hi B.,
glad to have read that your little one responded well to the oil drops. i have 3 sons, the only time one of them had ear pain, i heated up some olive oil with a crushed clove of garlic in the skillet~only warm; test on your wrist first~put it in his ear and he immediately stopped crying and fell asleep peacefully. i have read studies which prove that continuous use of antibiotics ENCOURAGES chronic ear infections. i would stay away from antibiotics, unless one of my children had a life threatening illness.
nutrition is a very important factor in a child's health~ avoid white bread, too much pasta, fruit juices and candy/sugar; fresh air every day; plenty of sleep ~ and you will see a brighter, happier more engaged child who is able to fight of the illnesses around her. it is good for the immune system to get sick sometimes; don't interefere with it too much, the next time she is exposed to an illness she will be stronger and able to fight it off.
as far as the safety of homeopathic or holistic approaches to health, i believe they are safer than most of the drugs that a pediatrician would prescribe. remember to trust your own intuition; you know your child better than anyone. the FDA has approved lots of drugs which have later been proven harmful to us. you have your childs best interest at heart, so listen to your inner voice ! A. m

I'm not too sure about holistic approaches but if you have to giver her antibiotics again, when she is done everytime she gets into water put ear plugs in her ears. My daughter had 3 ear infections in 6 months and I started put ear plugs in and she hasn't had one since. Ear infections are cause by water getting into the ear so if you can avoide that you should be good to go. Good Luck and hope the pain ends soon for here!

Hi B.:

My suggestion to you is that you visit NAET.com, order and read the book "Say Good-Bye to Children's Allergies" and make an appointment to consult with an NAET certified doctor. I go to Dr. David Karaba in Fullerton and absolutely love him. His phone number is ###-###-####. One of the wonderful things about NAET is that for children or the infirm, they can be treated through a surrogate, i.e., you. Here is the description paragraph from the book information.

"Say Good-bye to Children’s Allergies
By - Devi S. Nambudripad, D.C., L.Ac., R.N., Ph.D.
Paperback-1st Edition 2000
350 pages, 8.5’ X 5.5’ X .75’
ISBN: ISBN: 0-###-###-####-8-4
In Say Good-bye to Children’s Allergies, Dr. Devi S. Nambudripad, the developer of NAET®, will help you understand your child’s illness and will assist you in finding the right help to achieve better health for your child. This book will show you how certain commonly used products in your foods and environment can cause health problems in your child; how you can test your child in your privacy of your own home using the Nambudripad’s Testing Techniques described in the book. This book will educate you how your child’s health problems can relate to allergy, a traditionally under-diagnosed or misdiagnosed condition; and, how allergies can manifest into myriad symptoms that might seem unrelated. The author also provides remedies for mild conditions of common childhood ailments arising from allergies and how to find help in assisting your child find the right help for serious problems such as, asthma, hay-fever, common colds, sinus problems, milk allergy, peanut allergy, sugar allergy, hives, gastritis, vomiting, colic for newborns, ear infections, irritable bowel syndrome, colitis, bronchitis, drug reactions, and many other conditions. Dr. Nambudripad explains how allergies are often the underlying causes to pediatric problems and how NAET® testing procedures and NAET® treatments can offer relief from these allergies. The book is supported by NAET® practitioners’ testimonials and patients’ success stories."

I've been doing some research on Edgar Kasey, He is all about PH balance, how any illness or disease is placed in a category where there is imbalance, I'm new to it, but thought I'd suggest it if you find it useful, I would always recommend finding a specialist in herbal remedies because some herbs can be harmful or fatal.
GL.

There is an all natural food store in East Troy. They are truly great with helping you find the right approach for healing just about anything. However, is this the first time she has gotten ear infections back to back like that? I ask because is it possible that the first infection wasnt gone? Or if it is a common illness maybe you need to look into tubes? In either case if the Holistic realm doesnt give you the results you would like discuss with an ENT. They seem to be very helpful. Good luck!!(oh and is she teething? going to bed with a bottle? those are two reasons for children to get them as well...)

Hi B.,

I am glad that the advice of the eardrops are working for you so far. If I may make one more suggestion? I had ear infections virtually my whole life since I could remember until three years ago when I made some small changes to my diet. Now it has been three years and I cannot remember what it feels like and I don't want to. For me it was not an unusual event to have an ear infection almost once a month. This al changed when I learned about the effect of dairy products, too many carbohydrates and other acidic foods leading to the overgrowth of yeast and fungus in our bodies. These foods cause a lot of congestion which in turn as you can imagine cause sinus and ear infections ane even congestion on the lungs. Being a Raw Foods Chef and Health and Wellness coach and realizing how society are mislead by the adds that say that "Milk does the body good", I have come to the conclusion that it is important to give people the real story whenever we have the opportunity. If you have never done this, do yourself a favor and visit www.notmilk.com, it is very inlightning.
You are also welcome to contact me at ###-###-#### if you have any questions. We have coached many Moms on how to get rid of those sniffles, aches and pains by just making small changes in their childrens diets. I can give you quick easy and very tasty alternatives for the foods that might not be a benifit to your little one, if your baby is still breastfeeding and not eating solids yet, I would take a look at what you might be eating that could be causing the problem.
Regards,
Nandi

Hi our son had frequent ear infections and although he was breast feed, he still used a pacifier. Our pediatrician was getting concerned that we would need to have tubes put in his ears if he had any more infections. We decided that the cause of the ear infections had to do with the constant sucking on the pacifier. So much to our son's dislike we stopped the pacifier. Once he was off the pacifier the ear infections stopped! Just something to consider. It makes sense - I was a huge thumb sucker as a child and always had ear aches and ear infections. Our daughter on the other hand (not a thumb sucker or pacifier user) and has had one ear infection, I took her to the chiropractor, no medications only accupressure, and she was fine.

Iam a grandma of 6 but I had a daughter that had problems with ear infections extremly bad to the point she had them contantly & had green pus comming out. I know this is gross but we took her to a doctor for natural remidies at the Mayo clinic in Rodchester.
We quit giving her dairy products for 2 weeks & then slowly added them back until her ear just started to hurt & then backed off some. We found for her the limit of 1 dairy a day was all her body could handle. This worked for her & she never had to have tubes put in her ears. She is now 24 & once in a while stills has a problem but just cuts back on her dairy & things are fine.
Just what worked for us with out any drugs or surgury.
Grandma L.

My kids are older now, but they used to get ear infections quite a bit when they were little.
the pediatrician would give me amoxicilin each time they had one. Sometimes he would give
me 3 days worth of the antibiotic for the kids to take, just in case.
I didn't like that. My mom always told me to just warm up a little bit of olive oil and put a couple drops in the infected ear. I tried it and it calms the child down as well.
It's much better to go with a more natural way of helping the ear infection.

Hi B.,

for holistic approaches, have you looked into younglivingoils.com? Dr. Young has studied oils and knows alot about them. Do you have a hot water bottle?

Also for your little one who had heart surgery, you may want to check out the Chakras and Meridians. Knowing about these areas if you don't already, may help heal and combat future illnesses for one so tiny that had surgery.

Good Luck
J.

My son had several of these within the first year of his life. The doctor rotated antibotics so it wasn't the same one and so his body didn't get use to them. He eventually got tubes at 5 years old I think it was. At the first sign of a cold...give her cold medicine to keep her "open".

That's awesome news. I'm a true believer in Pure Therapeutic-Grade Essential Oils. I just love hearing testimonials like that. I invite you to check out this awesome site that has a free membership were you can search on how others are using oils for a variety of health issues. I'm a Young Living Independent Distributor and I'm always referring to that site for my customers or for my friends and family. My kids call me Medicine Woman...... with my mix of potions in the back of a wagon, like in the old west. Close though, I do carry 4 main oils where every I go... My wagon is my SUV!!! lol!
Feel free to contact me if you would like more information. Keep up with the good work keeping our kids off pharma drugs.
Did you know that there are 188 references in the Bible on Essential Oils? There's nothing new about oils.... God provided us with what we needed to protect ourselves. It's just the Gov and the Pharma companies that are in it for the pure profit of keeping us sick. I call it the sickness industry. I'm in the Wellness Industry; truly helping people and it too is a nice profitable home-base business. God Bless!

The most effective, non-evasive, holistic way to get rid of ear infections for good is through Chiropractic Care. Many times ear infections are the result of birth trauma. Every child that I have ever known to have ear infections - once under Chiropractic care no longer have them. My children have been adjusted since birth and have never had a single one.

Hope this helps!

Contact me if you have any additional questions.
____@____.com

My daughter had the same problem at that age. She had an ear infection and was put on Amoxacillin for it. Right when she finished her antibiotic she got a little cold and her ear infection didn't get a chance to clear up. So, it might still be the same ear infection. I wouldn't suggest giving her anything without your pediatricians ok. Because of her heart condition she may have an adverse reaction to some herbal remedies. So, would deffinitely check with the Ped before giving her anything like that. Better safe than sorry. And herbal over the counter remedies aren't regulated by the FDA so they may not be safe especially with her condition. Hope this helps. Please let us know what happens with your little one.

my son never got ear infections from water going into his ear from swimming or baths but everytime he got a cold he would get an infection. he also at a very early age had what i felt was too many but his ped. said not to put tubes in. my son is now 5 and has very few infections!! so talk to your dr and and go with your feelings.

I just saw your info and was wondering if you are doing well and not having infections anymore. My two youngest kids had ear infections alot until we switched the baby shampoo we were using to a natural product. Let me know if you would like any more information.