Chiropractic Care For Earaches In Children

Many parents have experienced a crying, fussy child and the sleepless nights awake with a child with the pain of an earache. Most earaches are caused by an increase in pressure in the middle ear caused by an interference with the airflow within the middle ear. Through chiropractic care, treatment for your child with an earache can be accomplished without dangerous drugs or surgery.

Here's how chiropractic care can remove the cause of earaches:

Earaches are usually caused by an abnormal pressure in the middle ear, which the nervous system perceives as pain. Any time there is an abnormality of any part of the body, the pain receptors send a signal to the brain that some thing is wrong. Pain is the way that the body signals to the brain that something is wrong and needs to be addressed. The body has a remarkable ability to self-regulate and heal itself if it has interference free communication and the reserves (nutrition) to make the repairs.

Air needs to be continuously circulating through the middle ear to equalize the pressure on the ear drum and optimize hearing. The ventilation of the middle ear occurs through the Eustachian tube, which runs from the middle ear to the back of the throat. When the air flow through the middle ear via the Eustachian tubes is compromised or completely blocked, then the pressure increases and pain is produced. You may often feel this same pressure with a change in elevation or when flying, if your Eustachian tubes aren't functioning properly. This blockage can occur through mechanical means or neurologically. Through chiropractic adjustments, your chiropractor can remove the interference that causes the blockage of the Eustachian tube from either cause.

The mechanical cause of earaches is an external compression of the Eustachian tube from tight muscles, vertebral subluxations, or both. By adjusting the cervical vertebrae, your chiropractor can restore normal positioning of the vertebrae and reduce muscular tension removing the external pressure on the tube, allowing it to resume its normal ability to transmit air.

The Eustachian tube can be closed through improper neurological impulses as well. There is a valve at the end of the tube where it enters the throat, which is neurologically controlled. If the neurological impulses that are conducted by the cervical nerves that control this valve are impinged upon by vertebral subluxations, this valve will not function properly. By removing this interference on the nerves by adjusting the cervical vertebrae, your chiropractor can return normal function to the Eustachian tube.

Often when the Eustachian tubes are blocked, fluid can build up in the middle ear, which often then becomes infected. An infection in the middle ear can be a serious health problem, sometimes causing a ruptured ear drum which can lead to deafness. By taking your child to your chiropractor at the first signs of any ear discomfort, serious complications can be completely avoided. It much easier to prevent an earache and possible infection then it is to treat a full blown ear infection.

For more information on earaches, possible infections, and Eustachian tube blockages contact your neighborhood chiropractor: