Earaches

I am so very excited to write this about earaches and Chiropractic’s involvement in the problem. I have eliminated earaches in children many times in my 38 years of practice. Earache is known medically as otitis media. The best answer the medical profession can give for the cause of earache is that the eustachian tube linking the middle ear to the throat is convoluted or otherwise blocked. This may very well be, but we in the Chiropractic profession look elsewhere for the cause and cure of earaches.

The spinal column is made up of 24 vertebrae. Seven are in the neck, twelve are in the thoracic spine (defined by each have a pair of ribs), and five in the low back. The very uppermost vertebra or C1 is also known as Atlas. This is from the Greek wherein Atlas holds up the world, and the vertebra Atlas “holds up” the head. This is the most important vertebra in the spine as all the nerves coming from the brain to all parts of the body from the neck down, pass through this ring shaped bone.

When the Atlas is not in proper position many functions of the body can be affected. Ear health is an example. When the Atlas is not in proper position, earache can result. The cause may very well be a blocked eustachian tube brought about by a displaced Atlas. Whether or not a blocked or convoluted eustachian tube is the immediate cause of the earache, we look to adjusting, or moving, the Atlas into proper alignment. This relieves any pressure on the nerves of the area around the ear and usually results in normal function.

My fervent belief is that if Chiropractors could adjust every child in this country, many childhood maladies could be averted, and we would have a much healthier population. For example, see my writing on asthma in children.

My own personal experience with earaches is as follows: When I was four years old, I was playing with a half dozen children in a back yard when I ran right inot a little girl on a swing. My forehead directly hit the wooden seat of the swing as it came back (into my head). It raised a good shiner on my forehead which resolved within a week.

What didn’t resolve is that the blow from the swing resulted in my first cervical vertebra (Atlas) being subluxated or displaced. In about six months I started getting earaches. This was 1949 and the medical doctor’s prescription was antibiotics. I experienced four to five earaches a year for several decades.

I remember always sadly wondering why I would get these earaches and none of my friends did. I finally found out in 1975 when I went to Cleveland Chiropractic College in Los Angeles. There I discovered that it was the Atlas being shoved out of alignment that caused the earaches. The problem is that to this day the treatment for earache is the same as those who administer the treatment will not accept that the atlas being out of place is the cause of the problem.

I have helped many children in my practice get over earaches with chiropractic treatments. Sicknesses other than earaches also respond to our treatments such as sore throats, asthma, add and adhd, and headaches. If you or someone you know has a child that has recurring illnesses, please alert them to the possibility that chiropractic treatments can help them.