Children's Earaches (Otitis Media)
And Brain Therapy
© 2005 Dr. Barry R. Gillespie
Childhood chronic earache is a very treatable condition with
the appropriate therapies (craniosacral therapy integrated
with TMJ dental and fascial therapies) along with dietary
modifications.
Currently the medical model treats children with this condition
with antibiotics, which do not get at the root cause of the
problem. In natural care once the physiology of the body is
normalized, the disease can fade away.
If we build on the health of the child, any disease has difficulty
taking hold in the body.
This article will briefly discuss the important role of Brain
Therapy in the treatment of earache for children. I truly
believe that someday every pediatric office will have therapists
trained to care for these children.
The Magnitude of The Problem
Of Earaches In Children
Ear infection is the number one reason parents bring their
child to the doctor. It can result in
- hearing loss,
- speech impairment, and
- learning difficulties.
Before the age of six, 90% of all children in America will
have had at least one ear infection. Over 2 million ear tubes
will be inserted in America’s children this year. It
is the most common surgical procedure for children.
Healthy Conditions: The Ideal
In a perfect world every child at birth would have craniosacral,
fascial, and muscle therapy.
What better start in life could you have than a beautiful
60-second brain cycle in a loose body!
The child would grow up with whole non-mucous forming foods
and bodywork check-ups every year to mitigate the usual physical
traumas. The temporal bones would be in nice alignment and
moving well. All the healthy conditions that could minimize
the possibility of having chronic earaches would be present.
Unfortunately this rarely happens in our society now.
The Brain Therapy Difference
In Treating Earaches In Children
When a child with earaches presents to you for Brain Therapy,
a number of factors need to be looked at.
First And Most Important
Most important, the temporal bones will probably be out
of alignment and restricted in their motion, causing a very
short brain cycle (less than 5 seconds).
The head will usually feel asymmetrical or lop-sided. Usually
one temporal bone will be pushed in or medially (internally)
rotated, and the other temporal bone will be pushed out or
laterally (externally) rotated. Sometimes both temporal bones
will feel like they are pushed in (internally or medially
rotated). The brain will usually feel very restricted around
these positions, resulting in a very short brain cycle.
The Second Factor: Fascial Strain
The second factor is to palpate fascial strain that may start
in the trunk of the body, traverse through the neck, and end
in the temporal bones.
The fascia can powerfully pull at a force of up to 2,000
pounds per square inch and create ear dysfunction.
Third: Tight Muscles
An equally important third factor is tight muscles that may
also be straining the temporal bones. You can do all of the
craniosacral work in the world, and if these soft tissues
are freezing the temporal bones, craniosacral therapy may
not be helpful.
The fourth factor: Dietary.
Similar to asthma, mucous forming foods can clog the auditory
(Eustachian) tube that connects the nasopharynx to the middle
ear. This stagnation of fluid allows a breading ground for
bacteria to build up in the middle ear chamber causing the
earache.
Children must avoid dairy products and wheat (gluten), if
applicable, for lasting results. In my practice over the years
a number of mothers did not do this initially, and even with
my best efforts, treatment failed. When they finally eliminated
dairy products, their children were fine.
Diet can be a big factor in earache conditions.
The Difference With Natural Care
Current medical care is antibiotic in nature. I have seen
many children who were even on continuous daily antibiotics
for years for preventive care! Many children have ear tubes,
which only last 6-12 months, inserted in their tympanic membranes.
The primary function of the tube is to act like a drainage
pipe, allowing the infection to drain out of the middle ear
into the external ear. Without tubes, the infection can build,
cause pain, and possibly destroy the three small hearing bones
(incus, malleus, and stapes) in the middle ear.
For this reason doctors recommend the surgery because they
are afraid that a child could possibly loose his/her hearing
with multiple ear infections. The tubes eventually fall out
because the body rejects them as foreign objects and may have
to be redone, if the condition persists.
Natural care involves craniosacral therapy to
balance the temporal bones and open the brain. I like to
see a minimum brain cycle of 60-seconds for success. The
muscle and fascial components need to be treated, and the
diet corrected.
In my twenty-five years of doing Brain Therapy I have found
a classic parental dilemma that you will probably face. The
parents are coming to you for a second opinion. The doctor
has said their child needs ear tube surgery, which can run
$4-5,000 dollars, but insurance will pay for it.
You are recommending non-surgical, natural care for about
one tenth the price, but insurance will not cover your bill.
They do not want the surgery, but they do not want to pay
you out of pocket.
You must be prepared to accept the fact that some parents
will go ahead with the surgery just because of money. Hopefully,
someday the system will change.
We as "Brain Therapists" have all of
the tools to help children with earaches.
We need to educate parents and the medical model that there
is another integrated approach. We need to do it in a large
scale to show everyone that it works. Drugs and surgery will
never get at the root cause of the condition.
Natural care can effectively correct the problem in a short
time and at a minimum cost. Someday this will happen at every
pediatrics office in this country and then worldwide. It is
our job to make that day arrive as soon as possible.
For
more articles about the role of Brain Therapy in correcting
chronic conditions in children and adults .
. .
For
more information about the "Brain Therapy for Children
and Adults" seminar for health professionals
. . .
