Ear infections in Children

I decided I have to post on this because of what I see as an ever increasing trend in my office. This is the trend of placing children on repeated antibiotic use over the course of the first 3-5 years of life. This pattern appears to start early in life with medical/pharmaceutical intervention and continues on a path of health decline over the next few years. Below I will describe the first five years of life that I see these young children experiencing. You might see your child or a friend or family members child in this same situation. My goal in practice is to reverse this trend so that children can live a happy drug free life that is full of activity and happiness.

Below is the first five year pattern in the child that is pharmaceutically or medically treated. This doesn't hold for all children but for many it does.

1. Child gets sick with virus or bacterial infection
2. Infection starts in the lungs but moves the oral and nasal passages and travels into the middle ear.
3. Child is taken to the pediatrician and given an antibiotic based on symptoms alone without culturing the sputum, saliva or ear discharge.
4. Antibiotic drugs kill off most or all bacterial and NO viral load in the child, also destroying the healthy gut flora in the process
5. The child apparently heals but really has a temporary suppression of symptoms
6. Now the childs gut flora is destroyed and their immune system is suppressed which allows a secondary or additional infection to occur. This lands the child back in the pediatricians office for the second round of anitbiotics.
7. Repeat Steps 1-7 at least three to 12 times within a calendar year.

Then after complete or partial destruction of the immune system the parent of the child is told that ear tubes are a necessity otherwise the child could lose their hearing. Or better yet, that we need to remove those darn adenoids and tonsils because they are causing all the problem. "Don't mind that God put those structures there for a purpose, I know better than God what should happen with your childs' body." Of course, the parent that wants to avoid this type of surgical intervention is challenged by the pediatrician and told that they could be responsible for causing their childs hearing loss or worse. However, the real causative culprit for the repeat ear infection and immune supression were the antibiotics that were prescribed by the pediatrician. Of course no liability is placed with the pediatrician but solely with the parent who is not once again using antibiotics that have proven not to work the previous 12 rounds etc.
As I say, "When all else fails, blame the patient or the parent, even if you were the cause of the problem."

8. Later in life this same child develops allergies and asthma as a complication of ongoing immune system suppression and everyone wonders why.

9. Then as an adult there is some thought that some chronic and degenerative diseases are more prevalent as a result.

This is a sad tale that is often repeated and doesn't need to be. If would like our help in finding a different solution than the one above, please email or call.