I have seen so many new parents’ fears of their child’s suffering from ear infections be put to rest with a responsible combination of homeopathy, nutrition and conventional medical monitoring. With the fall, day care and school fast approaching, you’re little ones exposure to new germs will be on the increase. I advise parents who have children with chronic ear infections or upper respiratory conditions to seek homeopathic treatment prior to the onset of severe symptoms. Illness is a natural way for your child to acquire immunity, but chronic conditions means that your child’s self-healing ability has been impaired. I have found homeopathic treatment to be a good addition to your healing team. I will share some of the latest research reported by Dana Ullman in The Integrative Medical Consult May 2001.
Now accounting for some 24.5 million visits per year, acute otitis media (AOM) is the number one pediatric complaint for which physicians are consulted, and the most frequent reason for prescribing antibiotics to children in the United States. It is generally understood that the increase in antibiotic-resistant bacteria is, in part, a result of overuse of antibiotics to treat AOM.

In a recent study, 75 children (aged 18 months to 6 years) with middle ear effusion and pain and/or fever for no more than 36 hours, were randomized to receive individual homeopathic medicines or a placebo (Jacobs et al). Daily scores showed a significant decrease in symptoms at 24 and 64 hours after treatment in the homeopathic group (P<0.05).
An earlier nonrandomized open trial conducted in Germany investigated the homeopathic treatment of AOM (Friese et al). In this study, 103 children who were treated with individually prescribed homeopathic medicines were compared with 28 children who were given antibiotics, decongestant nose drops, or other conventional drugs. The children who were treated homeopathically experienced ear pain for 2 days while the children given conventional drugs felt pain for 3 days. After one year, 70.7% of the children given homeopathy experienced no reoccurrences of ear inflammations, while 56.6% were symptom free.

Physicians are increasingly concerned about the overuse of antibiotics, “the wait and watch” method during the first three days of an AOM has become a more respectable option. Given that the Jacobs study showed significant improvement in symptoms during the first 24 hours in children, homeopathy may be a useful option for parents and pediatricians.

- David Sollars