My 4 year old daughter was diagnosed with reduced hearing 7 months ago; turned out she had fluid in both ears. The ENT (ears, nose, throat specialists) put her on antibiotics. Did nothing. Then we went away for a month and upon our return, we had her checked again. Fluid had decreased in 1 ear but was still strong in the other. ENT feared it would impact her learning (the decreased hearing) and lead to ear infections (they couldn't believe she hadn't had any, to my knowledge,since she was about 2). In the meantime, my 1.5 year old son also had 1 ear infection after the other, and when we returned from our trip he also was checked fluid in both ears, plus a lingering infection they treated with antibiotics. They strongly urged me to get tubes in their ears. Our niece had them inserted and my sister as well as everyone else said it's no big deal, the worst part is seeing your child unconscious as it's general anaesthesia, but they bounce right back. I made the surgery appt and then my dad sent me an article from the Wall Street Journal citing studies that concluded the tube surgery is done way too often, and unnecessarily. Since this was coming from my very conservative dad, I thought I'd better question establishment. So I got this book, "Healing Childhood Ear Infections" by Dr. Schmidt. After 1 chapter I canceled the surgery. Instead, I got them into chiropractic care, removed dairy (cows milk) from their diets, and took them to a naturopath who put them on 3 supplements: minerals for their immune systems, and something to thin the mucous. Today I took my daughter to the ENT for a check-up (1 month after trying alternative treatments) and they were shocked no more fluid, perfect hearing! You should have seen how proud she was when they told us. My son still remains to be checked, but knock on wood, has been infection-free since I started all this. The kids love the chiropractor my son screams when his turn is over and there are plenty of dairy alternatives out there (soy is also to be avoided or at least moderated but my son loves goats milk yoghurt). The supplements mix in with their juices so they don't even notice them. Anyway, I'm telling you this so that you question your own kids' treatments. According to this book, once a kid is on antibiotics it's very likely he'll develop another infection (ear) soon thereafter. In most countries, they're not even prescribed unless the baby is under 1 or has had a high fever (over 101) for 3 days. Plus, this book stated that most US children have a very nutrient-defficient diet and in particular lack minerals such as magnesium & zinc, which are very important for the immune system. Hopefully you can all benefit from this and although I don't know which of my 3 forms of treatment did the trick with my daughter, I'm going to continue all 3. Thank goodness for this book, which gave me the tools and the courage to try safer alternatives.
I thank the author for presenting all the options available.
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This a book I should have reviewed a long time ago. I am really writing a review on the first version of this book which was published about 20 years ago! Imagine that.I still remember the day I realized my son was reliving *my* life as a child. I was sick with upper respiratory infections almost since the day I was born. The only difference is that no one thought this was unusual now. It was that thought combined with the difference of opinions about treatment between the pediatricians seeing my son and the pediatricians I worked with that sent me looking.
I went to a store that sold herbs and alternative remedies and this book was there. I read it that night and we began using the options in the book. What a change. No more stuff dripping from his nose, no more weepy eyes, no more crying, no more trips to the pediatrician (which of course can lead to more illness because that is what most kids are there for of course), no more vomiting (some of the antibiotics are not always well-tolerated), no more sleepless nights sitting up in the rocking chair, we could turn of the humidifier.
We were all much happier and healthier too. It is quite important to note that a key factor in what everyone calls alternative medicine is that it is taylored to each person and their specific needs. Unlike aliopathic medicine which seeks to find that one magical solution to all woes, alternatives *can* take some time. This because so clear to me when I asked the pediatricians I worked with for a second opinion. Doctors tend to base their prescriptions and treatments based on what *they* know and what they believe works, not necessarily what the patient is needing.
We used what we learned with our first child and our second son bypassed all of that misery. My oldest is now just shy of 20 and is quite healthy and happy. I also want to share some information related to learning disabilities. I believe the repeated fevers and infections played a role in some minor learning disabilities my son displayed as he went through elementary school. Again, though because of what we learned about alternatives from this book, we sought out treatments and today you would never even know he had issues.
As a side note, I must also say I was lucky enough to meet the author as he lived nearby at the time the first edition of this book was published. He is intelligent, kind, thoughtful, and very conscientious.OK, I do not do reviews that often. But, this book needed one!! My son had 4 double ear infections between 3-5 months of age. We met with the ear doctor on 5/7. She said he needed tubes asap b/c of some hearing loss due to the fluid in his ears. We set the surgery for tubes up for 5/15.
I got the book that afternoon and read it on the 7th and 8th. I scheduled an appointment for the doctor and I to sit down and talk on the 9th b/c I decided that maybe tubes was not the answer....yet. After meeting, the doctor was still set on tubes. I thought about it over the weekend and on Monday 5/12 I cancelled the appointment for the 16th. It is now the 23rd and the fluid has gone away in one ear completely and the other still has fluid but it has only been a few weeks.
This book not only tells different things to do to alleviate the problems it also tells you the risks involved. The doctor did not tell us these things and when I brought them up, she downplayed them. Two of the risks were weakening of the eardrum in up to 40% (I think) of the patients which could lead to ear drum rupture later in life. My husband had had 3 ruptured ear drum incidents and he had tubes as a child. Hmmmmmm. The other was issues with scar tissue hardening around the incision. I don't know if I am explaining that right. I don't have the book in front of me. Anyway they were serious issues.
So, I am having his ears monitored for 4-8 weeks and if they don't get better, I will have the tubes put in. But, one is better already.
READ THE BOOK BEFORE YOU PLAN THE SURGERY!!!!!
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Loved the opportunity to read a book that suggests alternate ways to address ear infections. We had been searching for answers and recommendations other than the standard medical response. We tried many of the recommendations, against the recommendation of our MDs, but unfortunately they did not work for our child. We changed our diets, stroked the lymph nodes religiously, added supplements, etc. We even tried chiropractic with a highly recommended person with 50% pediatrics in their practice, but our child ended up with long-term complications (numbness in extremities, dizziness, neck pain imagine this is from compressed spinal cord/brain stem but 10 months later we are still trekking from MD to MD trying to get the complications improved since there is NO way we will have him adjusted again and risk permanent paralysis). I would recommend people try techniques in this book because maybe they will work for your child, but PLEASE be careful with spinal adjustments, particularly working around the occiput!
