Homeopathic Remedy For Earache Posted: 12-26-03 02:28am
Earache
normal ear and its function
what is an ear infection
what happens in otitis media
causes of earache
symptoms
prevention
what can homoeopathy do
if there is one thing we remember surely
to have been affected with in our
childhood, it is earache. Probably
apart from “stomach pain” earache is
the most commonly suffered from.
The inevitable ‘colds & coughs’ in
children sometimes do not resolve so
easily and can be the cause of infection
spreading to the ear, nose, throat and the
lungs or in other words the upper and
lower respiratory systems.
Earache is the fallout of the same.
Normal ear and its function:
for the sake of understanding let us
divide the ear into three parts.
Outer ear: this helps in collecting sounds
and functions as a channel to transmit the
sounds into the middle ear.
Middle ear: it is separated from the outer
ear by a thin membrane called the tympanic
membrane which functions as a receptor to
sounds and vibrates on reception of the
same. These sounds are transmitted to
the three tiny bones of the middle ear
called as the malleus, incus and the
stapes and the waves set these bones into
motion.
Inner ear: with the motion of the bones of
the middle ear vibrations are formed and
transferred to the inner ear which is
nothing but a space richly supplied with
sensory nerve cells which convert these
vibrations into electrical signals to the
brain and we call the whole process as
‘hearing’.
When we talk of earache it is
predominantly due to infection of the
middle ear. This middle ear is a hollow
space in the bone of the skull and is
separated from the outside world by a thin
membrane called the tympanum, contains
three fine bones and is connected to the
back of the nose and the top of the mouth
through a fine tube called as the
eustachian tube.
What is an ear infection?
It is nothing but the infection of the
middle ear and is called as otitis media.
Depending on the course of the disease
if it resolves in a three to four days it
is called acute otitis media and if the
infection persists or becomes recurrent it
is called as chronic otitis media.
What happens in otitis media?
If the eustachian tube becomes blocked by
the swelling or congestion in the nose and
throat or by swelling of mucus membranes
in the middle ear there is an imbalance of
air pressure in the middle ear and the
fluid cannot drain out properly from the
middle ear through the eustachian tube.
the build up of this mucus secretion
in the middle ear eventually blocks sound
vibrations, impairs hearing and in turn
lead to infection if bacteria get into the
fluid.
if the fluid retention is temporary as
in acute otitis media the congestion is
drained out and normal function and
hearing returns within span of hours to
four days.
if the fluid retention persists and
the eustachian tube remains blocked as in
case of chronic otitis media the fluid
could become thick and draining becomes
that more difficult.
since the air does not enter through
the tube vacuum develops in the middle ear
and the tympanum becomes deformed and
sometimes perforated and is not receptive
to sound easily. This can also lead to
the degenerative changes of the tiny bones
in the middle ear and in rare cases if the
infection is left untreated the same can
spread to the layers of the brain near to
the ear.
Causes of earache:
cold and regular cough.
multiple upper respiratory tract
infections.
allergies.
chronic sinusitis
ear trauma.
swelling of tonsils, adenoids.
viral infections.
bacterial infection due to
streptococcus pnemoniae, haemophilus
influenza is common.
Symptoms:
typically due to the infection there
is inflammation, production of fluid, pus
and pain.
older children complain of ear pain,
ear fullness and hearing loss. There
could be dizziness and loss of balance.
younger children may become irritable,
fussy, have difficulty in feeding,
sleeping and may have hearing loss.
drainage of pus from the ear.
fever is usually associated with the
above.
the loss of hearing though temporary
is due to the accumulated fluid preventing
the motion of the three tiny bones in the
middle ear and the vibrations are too weak
to send any electrical signals to the
inner ear.
in younger children the development of
speech could be delayed as hearing is not
proper and if the fluid accumulation is
mild can cause subtle changes in speech,
as few words are not pronounced properly.
Prevention:
as the cause remains to be the upper
respiratory tract infection, cold and
cough when treated promptly would help in
reducing the attacks of otitis media.
also the children who have had bouts
of ear infection should be treated without
delay.
environmental irritants like tobacco
smoke, exposure to undue cold, breeze
should be avoided.
intake of chilled drinks to be
abstained from.
while swimming children should be
asked to plug their ears to prevent entry
of the water into the ears.
What can homoeopathy do?
homeopathy has remedies to address the
problem at any stage i.E. Acute or
chronic.
it has remedies to alleviate the pain,
reduce the discharge, relieve the pressure
in the middle ear and cure otitis media.
homeopathy can cure the cause of the
problem too whether it is frequent colds &
coughs, sinusitis, respiratory infections,
tonsillitis, adenoidal hypertrophy etc.
