Orthodox medicine offers antibiotics and myringotomy as the only
treatments for otitis media, both of which have been challenged in various
studies and suggested to be no more effective in preventing recurrences of
otitis than placebos. Otitis media is the most common complaint we treat in infants and can generally be treated homeopathically with great success. In the child's first homoepathic interview, we spend an hour with parents and child gathering detailled information including explicit details of the otitis symptoms, a review of systems, prenatal and birth history, growth and
developmental milestones, mental and emotional charac- teristics, food desires
and aversions, behavior with adults, other children, and animals, family
history, diet, etc. There are many possible remedies to treat otitis media in
children, and it is not possible to interview a young child in the same manner
as an adult, so it is essential to rely on our observation of the child and on
information offered by the parents.
In a great majority of otitis cases, we find that the symptoms began after
lactation was dis-continued and cow's milk or soy formula introduced. If the
infant is still on these products, we recommend their switching to goat's milk,
which is generally very well-tolerated, In some cases, however, the otitis
occurs even though no dairy products have been introduced or lasts long after
all dairy products have been discontinued. We also use a pediatric
vitamin/mineral and chewable calcium for nutritional support and often offer
herbal ear drops with garlic oil as the main ingredient as a backup, mostly to
give the parents a feeling that they are doing some- thing for the child while
the homeopathic remedy takes time to act. We use homeopathy, however, as the
mainstay of our treatment for otitis and nearly always give the child a single
dose of a high potency remedy such as 200c or lM. Most of the time, a single
dose of the correct homeopathic remedy takes care of the otitis and we don't
see the child again for another year or two when another acute childhood
illness of some sort arises. The following three cases are ex-amples of
successful homeopathic treatment of otitis media. (After studying each case,
read the correct prescriptions and case analyses at the end of the article.)
Case l: We treated L.R., age 22 months, in Winthrop, Washington. He
was a cute, active, blond-hair, blue-eyed child with a history of otitis media
since one year of age. Since that time the mother complained that every cold
went to his ears. He had a total of five episodes of otitis which were treated
unsuccessfully with Amoxicillin. He would develop a runny nose with his colds
with a thick green discharge. He pulled at both ears, his face was sometimes
red with a fever, and he could wake at night with ear pain. He'd get cranky,
but remained active. The otitis had no association with dentition. The
pregnancy had gone well. The mother had introduced some yogurt into his diet at
nine months and was still nursing him two to three times a day. The mother
drank milk the whole time she nursed him. His height and weight were at the
25th percentile and he was slow to teethe. He could skip a stool one day, but
would make up for it the next. His mother described him as extremely stubborn
and said he knew exactly what he wanted. He would scream and cry if he didn't
get what he wanted. He was not yet talking, but was very inquisitive. He didn't
like to be held by strangers. The mother noticed no improvement when she
recently removed cow's milk from his diet. Another naturopathic physician had
treated L. with Pulsatilla repeatedly without noticeable effect.