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Earache

I'm sure most of us have had them and we all know they are NOT fun! If you are a mother you know that kids only get them late at night! ;) If you were like I was you probably think that the only thing you can do for an earache is to go to the doctor and get an antibiotic. In fact when my oldest child was a baby we were in the doctor's office many times and I was told she had a ear infection. After repeated visits and stronger antibiotics each time. I remember hearing the word tubes! I was not impressed to say the least I felt like there had to be other answers. At the time I remember praying for help and knowing tubes in her ears were a LAST resort! Around that time my mother was studying about health and had learned a lot of interesting things about cow's milk and the role it can play in children's health. Also my pediatrician recommended giving her a decongestant every time we traveled. It actually seemed to help but deep down I knew It was just treating symptoms and I didn't like a lot of the ingredients in the decongestant. I still had lots to learn about ingredients but I knew I did not like artificial colors of ANY kind. My mom had figured that one out when my younger brother was just a kid! Anyway to not bore you with too many details and to make a long story short. A few years later I read this book!



I highly recommend this book ESPECIALLY to young parents! It has so much great info and it was written by a experienced pediatrician who was not afraid to challenge the status quo. I learned so much from this book and changed my thinking on so many things that I had just accepted as "the only way!" I still wonder why we put so much trust in a system that will go broke if they help us to truly be well. But I won't go off on that it's just earaches I want to focus on this time! Before I go on and tell you what I would do for an earache I want to quote from Dr. Mendelsonhn's book he has a whole chapter in it called "Earaches: Painful, Yes; Dangerous, Rarely!" Here are just a couple of highlights from that chapter.


"Allergies are also a frequent component in the production of ear infection. They may predispose your child to bacterial infection. The most common culprit is cow's milk, in its natural form or as found in infant formula. It causes a swelling of the mucous membranes, which interferes with the drainage of secretions through the eustachian tube. Eventually infection results because of the accumulated secretions."


"A series of controlled studies have revealed that the use of antibiotics for treatment of ear infections makes no difference in terms of the important outcomes--hearing loss, spread of infection, or mastoiditis. Their use may slightly shorten the duration of pain and infection, but the trade-off is that the antibiotics also reduce the body's natural immune response. Consequently, in order to slightly reduce the duration of the infection, you increase the possibility that the child will have new infections every four to six weeks."


Interesting stuff isn't it. But I like to have my cake and eat it too. I don't want to use the antibiotics and reduce the body's natural immune response, but I also want to shorten the duration of pain and infection. So I turned to herbs. With the study of herbs that I have done this is what I have used for earaches with great success. Before I found that you can buy an oil combination with all three herbs I used to put a drop of each in the ears. I now have a favorite E-3 ear oil that is made in my area. I love it! If you are really ambitious you can make your own oils. But I won't go into how to do that right now.


Ear Oil
it is simply Garlic oil
Garlic will kill infection if there is any


Mullein oil


Mullein helps loosen and break up the congestion


and Lobelia tincture
(usually comes in a vinegar or alcohol base)

Lobelia will help with the pain
You can usually find ear oils at a health food store. I would just look at be sure it has those three ingredients usually in a base of pure olive oil. Or you can find each individual product and mix them on your own or put a drop of each in each ear. With earaches I always put the oil in both ears even if only one is hurting.
Just a side note: I do not remember the last ear infection we had around here. It's been AT LEAST 6 years! I blame that on our giving up cow's milk. There have been a couple of times where one of my kids will wake up and say their ear hurts usually I will just rub some of the ear oil behind each ear and down the neck and if they want I will put a drop in each ear. But for the most part in our family earaches are a thing of the past and I couldn't be happier about it!

14 comments:

fitncrafty said...

This is great information. I when my kids were little I used to squirt breast milk in their ears, and eyes as they were prone to them too because of clogged ducts.

Great info as usual thanks so much for sharing!

Permission to Unwind said...

Thank you for coming back to my blog! I was really missing you. I've had the same problem with my Google Reader not showing updates, so I've given up on using it.

I had the same experience with ear infections with my oldest, and that's when we discovered garlic oil. It's spared us all future trips to the doctor for ear infections! We love garlic!!!!

Permission to Mother said...

Great post.
Believe it or not, I don't see that many ear infections in my practice (maybe all "my" moms know this kind of stuff already :) ).

As you know I have many babies who are exclusively breastfed, cared for by parents, and relatives (not daycares), families attentive to nutrition, and minimal tobacco exposure. I really don't see much ear infections.

Ear infections certainly seem to be related to lifestyle choices and are for sure a consequence of breastmilk substitutes.

I often recommend a book called, Healing Childhood Ear Infections. It's on amazon.

Trish said...

I don't have any kids yet, but I definitely plan on reading that book! I am a little nervous about all the sicknesses kids get- but I'm hoping that with the changes I am making to my diet that things won't be so bad.

Emily said...

I Love Dr. Mendelsohn...not only is he completely smart with tons of common sense, but he is the cutest old guy ever!

The Lazy Organizer said...

That sounds like a horrible thing to go through! My sister's kids were always getting ear infections but mine don't for some reason. My oldest daughter had one ear infection one time and she is the only one.

Thank you for the book recommendation!

Carla said...

Where do you get your E-3 oil? I have tried a couple ear oils, but my dd said they didn't help her pain.
Thanks,
Carla

Tammie said...

Carla: I get the E-3 oil at my local health food store. I'm sure you can find it or something like it at most health food or herb stores.

Cherie said...

Another book I really like on the subject is No More Antibiotics by Dr. Mary Ann Block. She is an osteopathic physician and includes a really helpful massage in this book.

Tammie said...

Cherie: Thanks!!! I always enjoy being told about a good helpful book! I have added it to my amazon favorites so I can remember to read it!

Mrs. Wetzel said...

Thank you for sharing this! I had ear infections as a kid and I remember the bubble gum anti-biotics and the whole deal. My son has had some and I don't want to just dope him on antibiotics. I'll have to read this book and look into those oils. I'm all about natural healing so I am glad to have found this. =)

Christy said...

I have that book too and can say from experience that it is the truth. My first two sons were on the ear infection/antibiotic circuit, with #2 ending up with tubes. By son #3, I had begun to learn about healthy eating, milk "allergies", vaccinations, etc. Sons #3, #4, and #5 have only experienced earaches a few times total and we treated them at home.

Anonymous said...

I too learned a lot with my first kid, he had the ear infections for 6 months till we started the natural alternatives. This cleared it up in three days and never returned! Thanks for posting this stuff! With kid # 2 we r doing much better treating ear infections or etc.

Tricia said...

Raw apple cider vinegar works like magic, too. Two or three drops in the ear. I've also read that colloidal silver will do the trick.

I have five children- only one has ever had an ear infection about 6 years ago- before I knew anything about natural health. Another one had pain in her ear a couple of years ago- I put the ACV in and it immediately healed her. Gotta love that.

We were never big milk drinkers in our home- just a little on cereal and some cheese and ice cream here and there, but I gradually came to realize that dairy was not our friend- even a little causes problems over time. I went vegan for awhile, vehemently opposed to cows milk, and that spilled over into my children's diet. I have since discovered raw, grass fed cow's milk. It's been a blessing for our family and has caused absolutely no problems with digestion, congestion, sinus trouble, ear infections, or other illness that pasteurized, homogonized grain fed dairy causes. I'm so happy to have found that it works for us- and actually makes us feel good!