Earache Primer
EARACHES!
I'm getting a lot of calls with ear infections, does this sound familiar? "Our baby girl had a really hard night last night. She was up a lot, and couldn't be consoled easily, if at all. She would maybe fall asleep for half hour, hour at the most, and then she'd start crying and almost seem like she was in pain or something. She ate, but not like normal, sometimes she'd be eating her fist while we walked her...but then she'd just cry again. She doesn't want to be put down, but bucks me if I try to put her in the carrier. No temp."
One hour after our phone consult using the suggestions below: "Tried the Melrose behind the ears with coconut oil, and it perked her right up. We're getting big smiles, and she's seeming more like herself."
Twenty-four hours after our phone consult: "She slept almost all yesterday and pretty well through the night. Up just a few times to eat and change diaper. As soon as I put the Melrose on she wanted food and has been eating much better. Our older child used to get ear infections, but I forgot about them!"
There are SO MANY things you can do for the earache cycle besides antibiotics, these suggestions are just to get you started! BTW - One study found that the pathogen that causes ear infections, known clinically as acute otitis media (AOM), had bacteria in 92% of the cases, viruses in 70%, and both bacteria and viruses in 66%. You may have noticed a pattern that once antibiotics are started, there are frequently recurrences.... more effective long-term results are often found with lifestyle and dietary changes, and addressing the viral component also.
Here are some basic beginning solutions for earaches:
1. Earaches are very common after the holidays, because ear infections are more common after EXCESSIVE sugar! INSUFFICIENT sleep! COLD DAMP WIND on necks & ears!
2. So…… LESS/NO sugar! EXTRA rest! Keep necks warm with turtlenecks, bandanas or silk scarves. You'd be surprised how far this goes.
3. PROBIOTICS. Probiotics. More probiotics. This is a gut issue also, as are so many immune issues. Increase healthy bacteria with ‘Live Cultured Foods’. Sorry, yogurt is NOT the best choice, dairy’s mucus causing qualities can complicate this clogged ear thing. Also, few kids eat it plain, so there’s the sugar again.
4. More fluids, especially warm ones. Less sweet, unless its honey or maple syrup.
5. Make sure their bowels are moving – hard to move the illness out if nothing is moving out, if you get my drift. (How to do that is a whole other post – for now, try applesauce, less dairy/meat, more veggie juices, or slippery elm lozengers from the health food store.)
5. Do you like essential oils? Try Young Living’s Melrose (or possibly Tea Tree or Oregano, or even Thieves or lavender, ask a friend who’s excited about essential oils for some help with their favorite brand) under the ear, on that little dent right up high, where the hinge of the jaw joins the skull. Dilute a little drop to a tsp of some oil – coconut is fine. Anything can be a 'carrier oil'. Most of these essential oils are ‘hot/spicy’, and can irritate tender skin applied straight.
6. Hyland’s homeopathic “Ear Tabs” – Although my kids are now near adults, to this day I will not leave home overnight without these little miracle pills in my kit.
7. Homeopathic singles – look first to Belladonna, Aconite or Pulsatilla.
9. Rest with the offending ear on a hot water bottle (here's my absolute favorite!) or heating pad.
10. My favorite for the families that just seems to have round after round of ear infections each winter…. VS-C! It’s a Nature’s Sunshine (NSP) herbal formula that was originally developed to use against the Herpes Virus. Used for cold sores, cancer sores and herpes infections, it’s Chinese indications are “weak chi (or vital energy) with external heat.” It’s therefore useful for viral disorders in which the immune system is weak, but external heat (sore, fever, etc) are present. It comes in pills and glycerin-based liquid, which tastes SORT-OF like an herbal honey, and it’s easily been one of Indigo Forest’s best sellers over the years.
Also, check out NSP's outstanding probiotics, (safe colloidal) Silver Shield, Essential Shield, Sunshine Hero's Kid Probiotics and delicious Omega-3's.https://www.naturessunshine.com/…/vs-c-liquid-2-fl-oz/3167/…