25 Million Ear Aches - Otitis Media, the common ear infection, is the #1 reason parents bring their children to their medical doctor's office, accounting for over 24.5 million visits annually and 35% of pediatrician office visits. This common childhood ailment resulted in 23.6 million prescriptions for antibiotics in 1992, up from 12 million in 1980. The standard treatment of otitis media has traditionally been a 10-day course of antibiotics, usually some form of penicillin. Yet recently there has been more acknowledgment within the medical community that viruses play a major role in the number of ear infections that children experience, against which antibiotics are useless. Jack Froom, M.D., a professor of family medicine at the State University of New York stated that if physicians waited a few days before prescribing antibiotics, "it is likely that no more than 20% of patients would get antibiotic’s. European countries use antibiotic therapy to treat this condition much less frequently and have found that with acute otitis media "the infection resolves on its own up to 85% of the time without treatment," When all cases of otitis media are included (not just acute) "physicians can be about 99% safe in not treating otitis media." Other studies go so far as to state that antibiotic treatment is no more effective than placebo, and increases the risks of reoccurrence.

To Treat or not to Treat? - There is a tremendous amount of evidence supporting the "wait and see" approach to ear infections. One study states that "the use of antibiotics as initial treatment for children with acute otitis media benefits one out of 20 children by reducing pain in the acute phase. There is no evident benefit for deafness, recurrent attacks or complications.". The American Health Care Policy and Research guidelines on otitis media go so far as to state, "The Panel identified cholesteatoma, mastoiditis, and inner ear damage as other possible long term effects of otitis media with effusion, but these problems apparently occur so rarely that they were not reported in the controlled studies evaluated by the panel. Another states, "to prevent one child from experiencing pain by 2-7 days after presentation, 17 children must be treated with antibiotics early," and "Antibiotics were associated with a near doubling the risk of vomiting, diarrhea, or rashes.". One article from Medical Tribune stated that "it is incumbent upon (clinicians) to recognize that the benefits of using antibiotics to treat ordinary childhood ear infections, which account for 24.5 million visits annually, are too small to justify the risks of promoting resistance. The price is just too high."

A Moot Point? - What, then, is the driving force behind these needless prescriptions? One article from a recent issue of Medical Tribune states that "Until physicians are granted incentives ... to make early diagnosis, and financially motivated to spend more time with their pediatric patients, new guidelines will do no more than gather dust."

This Drugless System - There are plenty of studies that demonstrate the efficacy of chiropractic adjustments when performed by a chiropractic doctor for all sorts of ailments, including otitis media. A study conducted on 200 chiropractors and 200 physicians to determine the health status of their respective children found that of the children raised under the "chiropractic model," 69.0% had never experienced an episode of otitis media, and 49.1% had never used an antibiotic, compared to the "medical model" counterparts who all but 19.9% had experience otitis media and all but 11.8% had used antibiotics at one point in time. Chiropractic care, however, does not "cure" anyone of anything. This drugless system has helped and continues to help many patients with many types of ailments but only because the doctor of chiropractic seeks the source of the problem - the subluxation that strangles the necessary nerve supply - and lets the patient heal the way they were intended. This care does not have negative side-effects, does not promote antibiotic resistance, and keeps the patient in control of their own well-being.