Ear Infections Everywhere!

There have been a surge of new patients in the office for ear infections. Usually these kids have been young, around a year old, but have been all the way up to nine years old. The typical history taken at Old Orchard Beach Chiropractic for these kids goes like this: Delivered C-Section as an unplanned emergency, around lots of other kids, several rounds of progressively stronger antibiotics, doctors planning to put tubes in the ears. All these parents want another opinion of what can help and often wind up in our office for an exam and chiropractic adjustments. Most alternative health experts agree that this problem first occurs with c-section delivery. If a baby loses out on the trip down the birth canal, there are beneficial "bugs" that the baby misses out on. Often we think of a c-section as being a procedure where a "window" is opened in mom and baby is carefully taken out and mom is put back together. What occurs, though, is get baby out as quickly as possible, making as small as a surgical incision on mom as possible. An ensuing "tug-of-war" with baby's arms and legs happen more frequently than not. This easily puts strain on the neck muscles and misaligns tiny vertebra causing irritation and eventual symptoms to the little one. We often hear that these kids around lots of other kids and their germs all the time! This, in itself, documents a diminished immune capacity for the little one with ear infections unless all the other kids have active ear infections too. So it's not the germ that's to blame, but baby's body not working as well as it could. As antibiotics are used, infections aren't the only things killed off. All the beneficial bugs in the intestines are killed off too. The first bug to regrow is almost always "yeast". This yeast causes a lot of inflammation that further taxes the immune system as it works to keep inflammation in check. When another infection occurs in the ears, a stronger antibiotic needs to be used as the body has more "bugs" to fight. If things get bad, doctors wind up suggesting various surgeries including adenoid and tonsil removal as a hope to get rid of diseased tissue that is not healing! Consideration for putting tubes in the ears is often started because of the fear of rupturing an eardrum. However, the outcomes of having tubes placed and having an eardrum rupture and heal on its own are nearly identical. The good news is that chiropractic adjustment help a great deal. When coupled with supplementation and sometimes referrals to naturopathic doctors, health can return without hopping on the antibiotic roller coaster.

Families that can't afford to get sick

This month has been inspiring that there are families out there that "get" the big picture of health. We hear of so much doom and gloom with the economy that there are many people asking me if my practice is doing okay. I'm here to say that chiropractic is doing "just fine!" It's become evident to me that even families without insurance are happy to get under chiropractic care because it makes sense that their bodies will function better if their nervous system is functioning better. These same families have come to realize that it's not the money spent on true "health care" that negatively impacts their financial health, but the lost time and productivity when they're sick that has a bigger financial impact. There have been tons of surveys, but the biggest eye opener is that when families wind up in financial crisis (in this case, bankruptcy) due to medical circumstances, 70% of them had health insurance at the time. The most cost effective way of maintaining your health will always be to head disease off before it attacks. Families are learning this in droves and are embracing it! Old Orchard Beach Chiropractic will always be a place that is open to families to achieve their health care goals.