Twenty two years ago, I met a three year old girl, Susan, who had been diagnosed as being mentally disabled, and was on her way to the special education track. After thorough testing, it turned out that this bright little girl had hearing loss so profound that she could not her preschool teacher’s voice.

Susan had continuous congestion and was constantly fighting ear infections, which were barely controlled with herbal medicine. Since the parents were “health nuts”, she had never had antibiotics. She was light, blond, blue eyed, second in birth order, and born to an older mother with a history of allergy and undernourishment- all risk factors for chronic ear problems.

After consulting about their daughter’s case, we settled on a targeted program of natural medicines. To their great joy, all ear infections ceased, never to return.They continued to support the child’s immune system and by one year later, the child was nominated for the gifted program at school, and continues to be an honor roll student throughout her schooling.

An earache, properly called “otitis media”, is a swelling of the tissue lining the middle ear or the eustachian tube.As the swelling increases, the opening of the eustachian tube becomes blocked, and the middle ear can’t drain properly.Fluid builds up, and may become infected, or just further inflamed.

Otitis media (OM) is most frequent in young children, who have short, horizontal, more easily blocked eustachian tubes. Frequently, earache occurs together with a cold or other upper respiratory infection during the winter months.Earache can be extremely painful, but often there’s no particular connection between OM and pain.Chronic ear infections may not be painful, while acute ear infections can be supremely painful.

Symptoms include:

Ear painChange in eating habits

FeverChange in hearing

Drainage from earRefusal to nurse on one side

SleeplessnessNasal obstruction or discharge

Irritability

Otitis media is, after well baby care, the number one reason for childhood visits to he doctor, accounting for over one third of pediatric visits. Dr. Andrew Weil in Spontaneous Healing calls ear infections “the bread and butter of pediatricians.” By their first birthday, two out of three children will have suffered an ear infection, rising to eight out of 10 by the age of three.

OM is increasing in epidemic proportions. The number of physician office visits for acute OM increased more than two-fold- from just 1975 to 1990!

Bacteria or viruses cause acute middle ear infections, which often include fever and ear pain. Up to 88% of acute ear infections resolve without antibiotics. On the other hand, OM with effusion (“glue ear”) does not involve infection- just a buildup of fluid in the middle ear behind the eardrum. Children with this condition may feel stuffiness in their ears and may hear poorly. In such cases, experts typically recommend tubes, surgically inserted through the eardrums, for young children, to drain fluid buildup in the middle ear. Chronic ear infection or fluid buildup rarely causes permanent hearing loss but often does cause temporary hearing loss.

Risk factors for earache include season of the year (September to April), cow’s milk consumption, bottle feeding lying on back, smoker in the home, fetal alcohol exposure, day care attendance, allergy, nutritional deficiencies, respiratory problems, and early solid food.

Standard medical treatment involves analgesics, heat to the ear, rest, and pain-relieving eardrops.

It turns out that the vast majority of ear infections resolve without medical treatment, so medical experts are rethinking the treatment of ear infections. Overuse of antibiotics means that a growing number of bacteria are developing resistance to antibiotics. Many doctors now feel that reducing antibiotic resistance outweighs the small risk of developing a complication.

Even so, antibiotics are sometimes considered necessary in otitis. According to the American Academy of Pediatrics, the total response rate is increased by a measly 14% when antibiotics are applied. According to the FDA, in 1977, 26 percent of all antibiotics prescriptions were for OM.By 1986, the number had risen to 42 percent. Physicians write an estimated 30 million prescriptions for childhood ear infections each year. Out of every ten prescriptions written for children in the United States, four are for ear infections.

In a Dutch study on antibiotics in ear infection, the physicians concluded that 88 percent of all patients with acute OM never need antibiotics. They also found that when antibiotics are begun on the first day of the disease, the frequency of recurrence is 2.9 times higher than when no antibiotics are used.When antibiotics are begun after the eighth day, the rate of recurrence is 1.3 times higher.

By any measure, antibiotic therapy does not shorten the disease.

If antibiotics are reserved for cases in which complications are threatening or present, as is done in the Netherlands, the rate of complications is low (0.3/1,000). The Journal of the American Board of Family Practice says that if we adopted the Dutch guidelines, it could result in annual savings of about $185 million.

Essential Fatty Acids (EFA’s) are critical to the body’s development of its inflammation fighting processes.In our modern diet we typically get almost no EFA’s, as they are destroyed in processing food oils.One reason ear infection is increasing so rapidly today is that processed (hydrogenated) and saturated fat makes up most of the dietary fat we consume, replacing the EFA’s in natural vegetable oils such as corn, sesame, and walnut.

Medical research on natural remedies for OM is scant. In one interesting study from 2002, scientists noticed that OM patients had lower vitamin A and selenium levels than normal. Reasoning that these nutrients might enhance prevention, they gave each child a modest dose of lemon flavored cod liver oil and a multiple vitamin/mineral containing selenium. Just this simple measure reduced antibiotic need for OM by 12%.

Herbs can produce excellent results in earache. Elder (Sambucus nigra) is an immune herb. In a placebo-controlled clinical trial, people with recent onset of influenza were given elderberry extract and 93.3 percent were much improved after two days. Elderberry syrup tastes good, and children will take it easily, a distinct advantage.

Traditionally, elder flower is used to stimulate nonspecific immune function, especially in the upper respiratory tract, nasal passages, and sinuses. Herbalists use it earache because it soothes and decreases inflammation of the mucous membranes, reduces fever and dries up excessive mucus when taken as a hot tea or bath.

Arabinogalactan, a promising medicine, is extracted from the timber of the Western Larch Tree (Larix occidentalis). This high molecular weight polysaccharide is virtually identical to that found in all species of echinacea.

This product provides a renewable source of the type of polysaccharide found in herbs like shiitake, astragalus, and echinacea. As a potent source of the concentrated polysaccharide, it has earned the nickname “atomic Echinacea”.

Clinically, these polysaccharides are immune modulators, and are reportedly used in recurrent middle ear infection. The material is a white crystalline powder, readily soluble in water, which is stirred into a drink. For acute cases, use two tablespoons up to 3 times a day.

Goldenseal root (Hydrastis canadensis) is broadly antimoicrobial, and has a long history of use for upper respiratory tract infections. Two primary alkaloid ingredients are hydrastine and berberine. Berberine has been extensively researched. It has a wide spectrum of antibiotic activity against the bugs that infect kids’ ears.

An excellent immune herb for children is thyme (Thymus vulgaris). An antibacterial and expectorant, it is widely recommended by German pediatricians for respiratory infection.

I’ve raised three children. With these methods, none of them have ever had an ear infection. Earaches may resolve themselves, but they sure are miserable. None of us would like our child to suffer so. Fortunately, there is no need for all that misery.