Also, ear infections is another problem often associated with dairy. Try cutting it out. best, Jane

A college doctor told me yrs. ago to pour a capfull of Hydrogen peroxide into the ear and hold your head sideways (2-5 min.) leaving the solution inside to bubble out the ear wax. It works great. Don't do this daily only when it's bad, maybe 2x month. If this doesn't clear out your ear, use warmed oil (any vege or olive is fine), 1 tsp., pour in ear,lie down a bit and wait, 10-20 min. or when it feels done to you. Anyways, this works too.

ok why in the world is dairy a cause of ear infections? How old is your son? Are they chronic because if they are you may need to get surgery(hubby had lots and lots and lots and lots of them as a kid so eventually they had to stick a drain in his ear as well as his brother. Something to do with genetically the way his eardrum is shaped)

Personally i wouldn't switch his diet. Dairy had the fats inside of it as well as do other foods that are needed to establish a healthy nervous system as well as brain pathways.

ANd on another note isn't their some sort of natropathic thing thats supposed to change the sugar composistion of the ear to make is less prone to infections? A friend had told me of this when antibiotics and other things weren't working and he got it from a naturopath. I'm not sure if you have to take it before ear infections or what.

It is fairly common knowledge that most ear infections are related to dairy.

Please do not subject your child to unnecessary surgery before cutting every molecule of dairy out of the diet.

If you are not aware of this fact. Do not poo-poo it before you RESEARCH it.

Here is something to start you out. It is a scientific abstract at a place called docguide.com:

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?db=pubmed&cmd=Retrieve&dopt=AbstractPlus&list_uids=11759256&query_hl=3&itool=pubmed_docsum

RESULTS: We found twenty five patients with recurrent otitis media with effusion and food allergy demonstrated by positive skin testing. The most common food found to be associated was milk, egg, beans, citrus, and tomato. The elimination of the food diet led to a significant amelioration of the otitis in 22 patients, in whom clinical and tympanometry evaluation was performed. The challenge diet with suspected offending food provoked a recurrence of the otitis problem.

Kimsoeganic -
"It is fairly common knowledge that most ear infections are related to dairy."

As to the study you cited ... they were looking at patients ALREADY known to have allergies. And they didn't JUST find a relationship with dairly products, it was "milk, egg, beans, citrus, and tomato" ... they don't specify which.

"METHODS: We reviewed medical charts from children with food allergy and otitis media with effusion for a period of three months of duration or every month for the last six months seen in an allergy clinic."

"CONCLUSIONS. The possibility of food allergy should be considered in all pediatric patients with recurrent serous otitis media and a diligent search for the putative food allergen made for proper diagnostic and therapeutic intervention."

Second-hand smoke is one of the KNOWN risk elements for OMe.

Please note, that I was scientifically re-inforcing a very good suggestion that was made earlier by someone else. It was later poo-pooed by someone who obviously didn't know why ear infection would be related to an ear infection. I was simply trying to back up some good advice given and help people try to avoid surgery.

That said:

It doesn't matter that they already knew the children had allergies. Many people have allergies and don't know it. Therefore, food allergy/sensitivity is still a very strong possibility and preferable to surgery. Allergy testing is not very accurate. An elimination diet is far more telling.

They don't have to specify which food, the point is that those are all good starting points to cut out if you're going to try diet before surgery (although I would include gluten in the list of things to cut out). Second-hand smoke is also a good suggestion.

"CONCLUSIONS. The possibility of food allergy should be considered in all pediatric patients with recurrent serous otitis media and a diligent search for the putative food allergen made for proper diagnostic and therapeutic intervention."

Translation: Look for food sensitivity to be the culprit for causing re-curring ear infections.

Kind regards,
KimS

There are a number of risk factors for middle ear infections in infants/toddlers, including heredity and anatomic characteristics, but two of the most important are secondhand smoke exposure and being around lots of other susceptible kids, i.e. in day care centers.

Food allergies are not considered a prime cause of ear infections. From a recent review in Pediatrics (June 2003 by James):"The role of food allergy in otitis media is controversial and probably is extremely rare."

So before subjecting a child to elimination of a large number of items that are part of a healthy diet, it would be a good idea to look at other, well-understood risk factors first.

"So before subjecting a child to elimination of a large number of items that are part of a healthy diet, it would be a good idea to look at other, well-understood risk factors first."

Hmm, I disagree with this. There is nothing in dairy that is critical to human development and health that cannot be found in another source.

My children, and this will probably blow your mind, have never eaten any dairy products. They also do not have any kinds of developmental issues. On the contrary, they are above average developmentally according to the regular visits with our pediatrician. They have also never had an ear infection and have never needed any antibiotics or medication of any sort. The only thing they have ever suffered from is mild colds or flu. While this is a small sample size it demonstrates, to me at least, that there are ways to grow healthy children without dairy products.

As I understand it the benefit from elimination (or reduction) of dairy is to reduce the production of mucus. There are other foods that can increase mucus production as well (wheat for example). This can help when you get a cold, sinus infection, etc. from turning into an ear infection. Commonly, mucus will get trapped in the middle ear and become a petri dish for bacteria resulting in an infection.

I think it is sound advice to recommend removing dairy from the diet as long as any lacking nutrition is compensated with another non-dairy source. This method was used by my parents and grand parents with everyone in our family. So, as far as I am concerned it works.

Keep cotton balls and ear swabs out of the ear canals.

Some bacteria, including staph, like to colonize fibers.

Additionally, staph is "challenged" by many treatments, and sometimes develops into MRSA. Less than 3% tea tree oil can provoke this; I don't know if other essential oils would have the same effect.

Try to teach your child to yawn until his ears pop. This opens up and aerates the eustachian tubes, which helps to prevent infection.

Additionally, the homeopathic preparations out there, some in pill and others in drop form, do seem helpful.

Earaches can be lethal, despite the current reluctance to utilize antibiotics. A college prof of mine neglected one. It spread to his brain, caused a brain abcess, and he died from it. Home remedies are not always sufficient.

Remember, herbalist Scott Cunningham reportedly died from meningitis. Herbs will not always be effective, especially with well-developed infections. Sometimes antibiotics won't, either.

By what measure to homeopathic remedies seem helpful?

Something I didn't see mentioned, an air filter. The reason parents who smoke have kids with lots of ear infections is not that the air around them is cleaner.

Ounce of prevention

All the children in my family have been above average. ;)

Hi eric,
Grading on a curve ?

I have used homeopathic pills for mild earaches only, which I thought might develop into actual infections. They have seemed to help.

I have never tried a homeopathic remedy for a true ear infection; I try to avoid allowing one of those to develop.

If a child's eardrum is pink instead of dead white (this can be seen in most ears with the aid of a flashlight), in my opinion the child should be seen by a physician.

If a child has repeated ear infections, in my opinion the child should see an ear, nose, and throat specialist.

Are you familiar with the concept of Confirmation Bias?

This milk association is very real - I started drinking milk, and then have a lingering ear infection. Antibiotics are not helping. The last time this happened I was taking some milk. Cut the milk!