Chiropractic Helps in the Prevention of Recurring Ear Infections

In the October 1998 issue of the Ladies Home Journal appeared an article entitled, “Chiropractic Adjustments for Chronic Ear Infections.” This article reviewed several studies showing the effectiveness of chiropractic care for preventing re-occurring ear infections known as Otitis Media or OM.

According to the article, reoccurring ear infections account for over 35% of all pediatrician visits in the United States. Sometimes these infections are due to bacteria and sometimes these are due to a virus. The most common medical care for this situation has been antibiotics, even though antibiotics have no effect on viruses. While the article mentions that the antibiotic may be effective in an acute bacterial infection, they do nothing to stop repeat infections. Research and statistics is now showing that repeated use of antibiotics is contributing to future infections by creating drug-resistant infections. The surgical approach has met with little long term results as the “tubes” placed in children’s ears often come out and usually require a child to be put under general anesthesia to do the surgery.

The article in the Ladies Home Journal states, “Chiropractic care is thought to prevent recurrent infections by correcting misalignments (called subluxations) and allowing normal fluid drainage from the middle ear.” What the article took special note of was that 6 months after the chiropractic care was given to the children in the study, 80 percent had not suffered a recurrence of ear infections.

In closing the article did make a profound statement. They made a recommendation to parents on this subject. “If your child is between ear infections and his doctor suggests ear-tube surgery, ask if you can try chiropractic treatment first.” While we agree with that sentiment, we suggest you not wait for a period between episodes, and you don’t have to “ask” permission from any other doctor to seek chiropractic care. As the sneaker company said, “Just do it!”

Benefits of Chiropractic on Asthma – A Study

You probably already know that Asthma is a huge and growing problem in East Tennessee.  Knoxville has been ranked the #1 Asthma Capital by the Asthma and Allergy Foundation of America for the third time in five years!

Asthma has become a large health concern for children in recent years. Over the past 20 years the incidence of asthma has doubled.

In a study conducted in 1996 by the Michigan Chiropractic Council (MCC), doctors performed a study to test the effectiveness of chiropractic care on children with asthma. The high demand of parents seeking alternative care for pediatric asthma was shown by the overwhelming interest in the study. More than 500 parents called the MCC seeking to get their child involved in the chiropractic study.

The study, which took place during May and June of 1996, examined the chiropractic effectiveness in correcting the cause of asthma in patients from birth to age 17. The average age of the participant was 10 years.  “After 30 days of chiropractic health care, patients averaged only one attack, whereas prior to the study they were experiencing more than four attacks,” said MCC Dr. Bob Graham.  “Medications, which can be costly, were decreased by nearly 70 percent. Finally, patient satisfaction was rated 8.5 on a scale of 10.”

Chiropractic Helps Health of Underprivileged Population According to Study

A study published in the March 2007 issue of the scientific periodical, the Journal of Manipulative and Physiological Therapeutics, showed very positive results in health for chiropractic care rendered to populations living under the poverty line. The study was based in Canada and looked at patients who presented themselves to one of two community health centerbased chiropractic clinics between August 2004 and December 2005.

The purpose of this study was to see if Chiropractic should be included in publicly funded health care in the Canadian system in Ontario. The study noted that presently chiropractic care is not available in the publicly funded health care system and therefore is mostly not available to those in lower income situations who do not have privately funded healthcare.

In this study, 324 patients with musculoskeletal conditions were recruited into the study, and 259 (80.0%) of them were followed to the study’s conclusion. Participants underwent chiropractic care and were then evaluated for general health, pain index, and site-specific disability using standardized testing methods.

According to the study, “Clinically important and statistically significant positive changes were observed for all outcomes.” This means that in all areas tested, the patients in this study showed improvement. Of equal importance is that in this study the results showed that, “No adverse events were reported.”

The authors concluded, “Patients of low socioeconomic status face barriers to accessing chiropractic services. This study suggests that chiropractic care reduces pain and disability as well as improves general health status in patients with MSK conditions.”

Read more Knoxville Chiropractic Care articles at Healthy Knox Articles.