The quiet was interrupted by the crying of my youngest daughter and soon I was summoned by her mother. At first I thought she had done something wrong, and I was being called upon to do the daddy discipline bit.
"Look at Noelle's ear," her mother said. "Have you ever seen anything so red?"
She was right. My daughter's ear was as red as a beet and she was sobbing with pain. A quick look with my stethoscope confirmed a raging case of otitis media. What was so interesting was the abruptness and intensity of the symptoms.
There are few things more difficult than treating your own family. The adjustments are never just what they should be, your advice always seems to be a little off, and your judgment somewhat confused. No one seems to take you as seriously as you feel they should -- you're just "daddy."
Well, I couldn't just stand there so I rushed to the safety of my office. Even that didn't help for I could still hear her crying above the music and the purring. Let's face it -- there wasn't any place to hide. I had to act like a doctor/daddy.
Quickly I made a homeopathic remedy that was supposed to help the otitis. She was given two tablets -- that was all -- and put to bed. With what I had seen already, I half expected to have her awake for the entire evening.
To my surprise she slept through the night and awoke the next morning without any symptoms whatsoever.
The most important things to remember when a child complains of an acute earache is to take the child's temperature and to give an otoscopic examination. Depending upon the age of the child, hearing acuity tests such as a Weber and/or Rinno might also be given.
If a rapidly fulminating infection seems a possibility then more radical emergency procedures should be implemented. Barring serious indications, homeopathic remedies can be the safest and most effective form of treatment.
Again I must calm the feelings of the super straights and those who feel that homeopathy is mystical nonsense. For the prior -- they must force themselves to realize that nothing is a panacea, not even the chiropractic adjustment. For the latter -- they must force themselves to realize that not everything must be understood to be viable. If this were the case, most doctors would spend their time watching fungi grow.
For those of you really interested in using the homeopathic approach as an important part of your practice and who might be treating otitis media, two remedies come to mind.
For the patient whose symptoms have come on abruptly after a chill -- particularly in dry weather and especially if the symptoms are more acute at night -- Aconitum at a 6C potency has proven quite effective. Two tablets or drops four times a day is what I've found to be most effective dosing.
For the child with a throbbing violent pain which is relieved by the local application of cold water, ferrum phosphoricum with the same dosing as the Aconitum should be tried.
While neither may be effective, there are many other remedies such as belladonna, kali muriaticum and pulsatilla that can be used. What is most important is that whatever you use -- if applied for the right reasons and in the correct dosage -- the remedy is not only effective but, most importantly, quite safe.
There's little doubt that because of its safety and effectiveness, homeopathic medicine will become increasingly popular. It's said that homeopathic remedies cure from above-down/inside-out and in reverse order. The perfect synergist to the chiropractic adjustment.
RHT