Content uploaded by Rupali Bhalerao
Author content
All content in this area was uploaded by Rupali Bhalerao on Mar 22, 2018
Content may be subject to copyright.
EAR INFECTION IN CHILDREN AND HOMOEOPATHY
One of the difficult things for parents is to watch their child in ear pain and not be able to
help. If child has a pattern of repeated ear infection, you probably feel helpless. The conventional
medical approach is antibiotics every time for an ear infection. Recent medical studies have
shown that giving antibiotics does not affect the course of ear infections at all. They do not help
much but they can hurt. There are many negative consequences of antibiotic over use. If these
medicines are ineffective, tympanostomy (tubes) is performed. Tympanostomy is done by
puncturing a hole in child's eardrum and inserting a tube. This can result in loss of hearing from
scarring or hardening of the ear drum.
If the conventional approach doesn't work - what does work?
In conventional health care it focus on treating each ear infection separately, but does not
look at the pattern of ear infections and did not works to stop the pattern. Homoeopathy does this
by not treating the ear infections as a separate problem but instead treating the child as a whole.
The same child who has ear infections probably also has other physical and emotional problems.
They have a certain type of personality, certain likes and dislikes and many other things that
make them a unique person. All of this information’s helps us in selecting the right homeopathic
remedy which matches the whole pattern of symptoms. This one right homeopathic remedy will
help bring child back into balance and allow his body to heal itself and strengthening the overall
health of the child. Once immune system is stimulated the child's health improves along with the
ear infection and other problems permanently go away.
What is ear Infection?
An ear infection is an inflammation of the middle ear, usually caused by bacteria, that
occurs when fluid builds up behind the eardrum. Anyone can get an ear infection, but children
get more often. Three out of four children have at least once ear infection by their third birthday.
In fact, ear infection is the most common reason for bringing the child to a doctor by parents.
The scientific name for an ear infection is Otitis Media (OM).
Internal ear view.
Types of Ear Infection
There are three main types of ear infections. Each has a different combination of symptoms.
• Acute otitis media (AOM) is the most common ear infection. Parts of the middle ear are
infected and swollen and fluid is trapped behind the eardrum. This causes pain in the ear—
commonly called an earache. Child might also have a fever.
• Otitis media with effusion (OME) sometimes happens after an ear infection has run its course
and fluid stays trapped behind the eardrum. A child with OME may have no symptoms, but a
doctor will be able to see the fluid behind the eardrum with a special instrument.
• Chronic otitis media with effusion (COME) happens when fluid remains in the middle ear for
a long time or returns over and over again, even though there is no infection. COME makes it
harder for children to fight new infections and also can affect their hearing.
How to identify ear infection in children?
Most ear infections happen to children before learning how to talk. If child isn’t old enough to
say “My ear hurts,” here are a few sign and symptoms to look for:
• Tugging or pulling at the ear(s)
• Fussiness and crying
• Trouble sleeping
• Fever (especially in infants and younger children)
• Fluid draining from the ear
• Clumsiness or problems with balance
• Trouble hearing or responding to quiet sounds
These symptoms are frequently associated with signs of upper respiratory infection, such as
a runny or stuffy nose or a cough. Severe ear infection may cause Tympanic Membrane rupture.
If Tympanic Membrane ruptures the pus starts to drain out of the middle ear and into the ear
canal.
Causes:
Ear infection may be caused by:
• Respiratory infection (cold)
• Allergies
• Exposure to cigarette smoke
• Infected or overgrown adenoids (tonsils)
• For infants, being fed lying down (drinking a bottle while lying on the back)
• Some medical conditions such as Down syndrome, cleft palate are associated with
frequent ear infections.
• Children that spend more time in a daycare setting, where they are exposed to more
bacteria.
• Poor immune system.
Ear infection occurs most often in the winters. They are not contagious, but a cold may spread
among a group of children and cause some of them to get ear infections.
Diagnosis:
Earache should always be suspected when an infant cry continuously or when the fever suddenly
rises during the course of an acute illness without assignable cause. The throat must be examined
for evidences of pharyngitis and when enlarged tonsils and adenoids are present the possibility of
earache should never be over looked. Inspection of the ear drum will give positive evidence of
the disease.
Why children suffer more with ear infection
Eustachian tubes are smaller in children than they are in adults. This makes it difficult for fluid to
drain out of the ear, even under normal conditions. If the Eustachian tubes are swollen or blocked
with mucus due to a cold or other respiratory illness, fluid may not be drain.
A child’s immune system isn’t as effective as an adult’s because it’s still developing. This makes
it harder for children to fight against infections.
As part of the immune system, the adenoids respond to bacteria passing through the nose and
mouth. Sometimes bacteria get trapped in the adenoids, causing a infection that can then pass on
to the Eustachian tubes and the middle ear.
Tips to prevent recurrent ear infection
• Wash hands frequently. Washing hands prevents the spread of germs and can help
keep child from catching cold or flu.
• Avoid exposing baby to cigarette smoke. Studies have shown that babies who are
around smokers have more ear infections.
• Never put baby down for a nap, or for the night, with a bottle.
• Don’t allow sick children to spend time together. As much as possible, limit child’s
exposure to other children when child or child’s playmates are sick.
• Never use instruments or cotton tipped applicators to clean the ears.
• To promote drainage prop child at a 30 degree angle, this will help reduce pain too.
• Apply cold or warm compresses, depending on what child is comfortable with.
Homoeopathic Therapeutics
The goal of treatment in ear infection, in acute otitis media is to relieve discomfort, prevent
infectious complications and reduce the time spent with middle ear effusion and accompanying
conductive hearing loss. Recurrent otitis media is to be treated by acute medicines as well as
with constitutional homoeopathic medicines.
For Acute Ear Pain:
Capsicum:
• Children needing Capsicum, will be obese, very lazy, hate sports, and clumsy in any
physical activity. They are ambitious but too lazy to realize their projects.
• An odd feature in Capsicum children is a strange dislike of being away from home, they
have problem any time if there is change at school, at home, or in their habits, if newborn
arrives in the family.
• In a typical child with a mild earache the whole external ear is bright crimson. The face is
generally red; tend to have local hyperemias.
• The ear is always a weak point, with frequent involment of the mastoid. Mastoiditis with
burning pain.
• The mucus membrane burn as though pepper had been sprinkled on them, the pains in
general are burning in character and accompanied by chilliness.
• Cough nervous and spasmodic; pain in distant parts when coughing and escape of
pungent, fetid air from the mouth when coughing.
Belladonna:
• Generally sensitive and fine children with delicate skin, wide head, fair hair and blue
eyes. They show intelligence, they are impressionable with very fertile imagination.
• Fundamental characteristic is sudden violence with inflammation in head, throat or ear.
• Complaints usually are on right side eventually moved to left.
• Sleeping is disturbed, because upon closing their eyes they are red or black dogs, fearful
scenes. They often grind their teeth.
• The cough appears in sudden and spasmodic fits, is cavernous and dry, with irritated
throat. Dry burning throat with sense of constriction.
• Pharyngitis and tonsillitis, painful and aggravated by air passing through the throat and
by swallowing; symptoms spread to ears.
Chamomilla
• The main indication for these children is hypersensitiveness to pain, to noise, being
touched and irritability. Reacting to pain they become offended and furious; they kick
and hit anybody who approaches them.
• Dentition is always painful and associated with gastric complaints like vomiting,
diarrhoea and fever. Fever can appear after fit of rage and accompanied by redness and
heat of cheeks.
• Children often suffer from otitis media of middle ear after exposure to cold; the pain is
intermittent and worsens from pressure and in the open air, ameliorates from heat i.e.
protecting ear with hands.
• In any type of pain, they tend to ameliorate with movement, they want to held or rock
constantly.
• Cough is dry, shaking and painful that does not wake the child from sleep. Improves
when warm in bed generally after midnight.
For Ear discharge:
Hepar sulph
• Hepar sulph children often have dark and greasy hair, the upper lip swollen and cut in the
middle of the lower lip.
• They are dispose to contradict, intolerance of contradiction and impulse to do opposite of
they are told to do.
• Sensitive to cold air always cover head with blanket when in bed. Complaints ameliorate
from heat. Hypersensitive to pain and can also faint.
• Inflammation of middle ear with intense stitching pain that often wakes the children at
night > from hear and covering ear. Otorrhea with offensive smell similar to old cheese.
• They suffer from asthma alternating with skin eruptions. Suffer from recurrent tonsillitis
with stitching pain spreading to ears.
Pulsatilla
• These children’s are kind by nature, affectionate, mild and very sensitive. They are
always seeking security and support; which is also expressed physically.
• Shyness and tendency to blush are characteristics. Express emotions easily and relief
from crying.
• Suffer from otitis media with pulsating pain < at night and by heat of bed > by open
air or cold application.
• Ear discharge is thick, yellow green and sometimes offensive. Ear disorder can appear
after measles or scarlet fever with discharge and diminished hearing.
• Characteristic dry cough, all night long which produces copious thick yellowish
expectoration.
Children often have recurrent infection due to lowered resistance power. Homoeopathic
treatment based on the ‘Holistic approach’ treats the disease at the root level, hence enhancing
the defense power of the child. As a result, the child does not fall sick frequently. Aim of
homoeopathy is to stimulate child’s own curative power
Few Research abstracts:
1. The homoeopathic treatment of otitis media in children--comparisons with
conventional therapy.
In a prospective observational study carried out by 1 homoeopathic and 4 conventional
ENT practitioners, the 2 methods of treating acute pediatric otitis media were compared.
Group A received treatment with homoeopathic single remedies (Aconitum napellus,
Apis mellifica, Belladonna, Capsicum, Chamomilla, Kalium bichromicum, Lachesis,
Lycopodium, Mercurius solubilis, Okoubaka, Pulsatilla, Silicea), whereas group B
received nasal drops, antibiotics, secretolytics and/or antipyretics. The main outcome
measures were duration of pain, duration of fever, and the number of recurrences after 1
year, whereby alpha < 0.05 was taken as significance level. The secondary measures were
improvement after 3 hours, results of audiometry and tympanometry, and necessity for
additional therapy. These parameters were only considered descriptively. The study
involved 103 children in group A and 28 children in group B, aged between 6 months and
11 years in both groups. For duration of pain, the median was 2 days in group A and 3
days in group B. For duration of therapy, the median was 4 days in group A and 10 days
in group B: this is due to the fact that antibiotics are usually administered over a period of
8-10 days, whereas homoeopathic can be discontinued at an earlier stage once healing has
started. Of the children treated, 70.7% were free of recurrence within a year in group A
and 29.3% were found to have a maximum of 3 recurrences. In group B, 56.5% were free
of recurrence, and 43.5% had a maximum of 6 recurrences. Out of the 103 children in
group A, 5 subsequently received antibiotics, though homoeopathic treatment was carried
through to the healing stage in the remaining 98. No permanent sequels were observed in
either group.
2. Homeopathy in acute otitis media in children: treatment effect or spontaneous
resolution?
The conventional antibiotic treatment of acute otitis media (AOM) faces a number of
problems, including antibiotic resistance. Homeopathy has been shown to be capable of
treating AOM successfully. As AOM has a high rate of spontaneous resolution, a trial to
prove any treatment-effect has to demonstrate very fast resolution of symptoms. The
purpose of this study was to find out how many children with AOM are relieved of pain
within 12 h after the beginning of homeopathic treatment, making additional measures
unnecessary. Two hundred and thirty children with AOM received a first individualized
homeopathic medicine in the paediatric office. If pain-reduction was not sufficient after 6
h, a second (different) homeopathic medicine was given. After a further 6 h, children who
had not reached pain control were started on antibiotics. Pain control was achieved in
39% of the patients after 6 h, another 33% after 12 h. This resolution rate is 2.4 times
faster than in placebo controls. There were no complications observed in the study group,
and compared to conventional treatment the approach was 14% cheaper.
3. Homeopathic treatment of acute otitis media in children: a preliminary
randomized placebo-controlled trial.
BACKGROUND: The use of antibiotics in the initial treatment of acute otitis media is
currently being questioned. Homeopathy has been used historically to treat this illness,
but there have been no methodologically rigorous trials to determine whether there is a
positive treatment effect. METHODS: A randomized double blind placebo control pilot
study was conducted in a private pediatric practice in Seattle, WA. Seventy-five children
ages 18 months to 6 years with middle ear effusion and ear pain and/or fever for no more
than 36 h were entered into the study. Children received either an individualized
homeopathic medicine or a placebo administered orally three times daily for 5 days, or
until symptoms subsided, whichever occurred first. Outcome measures included the
number of treatment failures after 5 days, 2 weeks and 6 weeks. Diary symptom scores
during the first 3 days and middle ear effusion at 2 and 6 weeks after treatment were also
evaluated. RESULTS: There were fewer treatment failures in the group receiving
homeopathy after 5 days, 2 weeks and 6 weeks, with differences of 11.4, 18.4 and 19.9%,
respectively, but these differences were not statistically significant. Diary scores showed
a significant decrease in symptoms at 24 and 64 h after treatment in favor of homeopathy
(P < 0.05). Sample size calculations indicate that 243 children in each of 2 groups would
be needed for significant results, based on 5-day failure rates. CONCLUSIONS: These
results suggest that a positive treatment effect of homeopathy when compared with
placebo in acute otitis media cannot be excluded and that a larger study is justified.
Bibliography
1. Dr. Shashi Kant Tiwari. Homoeopathy and Child Care, first edition, B.Jain Publishers,
New Delhi.
2. Paul Herscu. The Homoeopathic Treatment of Children, First Indian edition 2002, B.Jain
publishers, New Delhi.
3. William Boericke. Boericke New manual of Homoeopathic Materia Medica with
Repertory Third revised and augmented edition, B.Jain Publishers, New Delhi.
4. Robin Murphy. Homoeopathic Medical Repertory, 2nd edition, 2004, B.Jain Publications,
New Delhi.
5. Roberto petrucci. Children Homoeopathic Materia medica with reportorial symptoms,
B.Jain Archibel, Belgium.
6. Friese KH, Kruse S, Lüdtke R, Moeller H. The homoeopathic treatment of otitis media in
children--comparisons with conventional therapy, Int J Clin Pharmacol Ther. 1997 Jul;
35(7):296- 301. PMID: 9247843
7. Frei H, Thurneysen A. Homeopathy in acute otitis media in children: treatment effect or
spontaneous resolution? , Br Homeopath J. 2001 Oct; 90(4):178-9. PMID: 11680801
8. Jacobs J, Springer DA, Crothers D. Homeopathic treatment of acute otitis media in
children: a preliminary randomized placebo-controlled trial, Pediatr Infect Dis J. 2001
Feb;20 (2):177-83 PMID: 11224838
