Ear Infections and Acid Reflux

You might try getting her tested for food allergies. Both of my boys(separately) tested positive for several foods, including a severe peanut allergy at around age 2. They had ear infections, upset tummies and eczema. I took them to my allergy doctor and she did the skin test and confirmed milk, eggs and peanuts. The secret is to become a label reader and avoid those ingredients and those foods. They are now 12 and 16 respectively and healthy. I have lots more suggestions and info if you are interested. Good luck!

Updated

Sorry, I meant to say him, not her.

both of my boys had bad reflux. My 2 year old was on Prevacid and had constant sinus infections. We went to the ENT and they ended up removing his adenoids at about 18 months because the reflux was causing a lot of inflammation and the enflammed adenoids were blocking his ears and sinuses from draining. His reflux got better (totally gone now at 2 1/2) and he has not been sick or had any sinus or ear issues since!

He sounds just like my son. The reflux is a sign of food allergies. He probably has food allergies so I would take him to an allergist. My son is 3 and still can't tell me too much about his allergies but my hubby gets sinus infections from eating food he's allergic to, so I would not be surprised if the ear infections are caused by that.

Dr Ledford near USF is an area expert on food allergies. I also recommend Dr Hotchkiss as a ped ENT in Tampa and Brandon. We tried the chiropracter and it did not work. I just spent a lot of money there.

I definitely think it does, my friends that used to live down here went through hell with their daughter tube after tube and then figured out it was reflux and stomach problems causing it. Good luck, do what you think is best for your daughter, don't let them blow it off. LisaM

You should consider food allergies. A ped can do IgE testing for allergies and IgG testing for food sensitivies. BTW milk is the most common allergen.

I am so sorry you've had to deal with all this before he's even 5! Our natural doc is great & treated our son without all the meds. His digestion and allergies have improved tons! But having scoping...that's alot for a kid his age. Good luck & take care-

E.,
I don't have a lot of anwers for you but. I was one of those chlidren with Chronic Ear Infections as a child. I had tubes put in my ears 4 different times. I had chronic problems in tonsils, strep throat, adnoids.. you name it. I eventually grew out of it. But, I have bad allergies now and hearing loss from surgerys. Have you ever tried saline for his sinuses? I've never tried it but heard it worked. My cousin is going through the same thing with her son and actually takes him to a chiropractor and it has done wonders!

My daughter was on zantac for her GERD/Acid Reflux for a month and it did nothing. We went on Previcid for 3 more months and by the time hse was 4 months it went away. Ironically, I was told try going to a chiropractor for that too. but, her condition was related to an underdeveloped muscle at birth. You might want to go to a GI doctor.

My heart goes out to you.

My son was scoped at about a month old or so and had acid reflux. We opted to wait it out and not give medication until it was detrimental. My ped. dr. explained the strong side effects of them and negative responses. Luckily, nature took course and it has gotten better. We did put him on medication for a few weeks but it seemed to disturb him more than anything. Even though he had these problems, my baby boy never had ear infections. I'm not sure it is related. He is 2 1/2 now and has had only one ear infection since he was born. Some kids are more suseptible, something may be causing allergic reactions... check environment, climate changes, even materials used for clothing and bed spread. I know I have to still use baby detergent because my son has reactions to other detergents at times. Good luck!!! Hope you find results and let us know what happens.

Read the book, Healing Childhood Ear Infections: Prevention, Home Care, and Alternative Treatment (Paperback) ~ Michael A. Schmidt Ph.D (Author). This helped us find alternative ways of helping our son get off the cycle of medicines from the doc and uses natural remedies. Today he is 14 and rarely has even a cold. There is light at the end of the tunnel. You just need to get off the merry go round of going to the doctor's office. The medicines given to our son for ear infections did cause digestive troubles, which the book also helped with. Good luck.

Please take your son to a chiropractor. The International Chiropractic Pediatric Assn can give you a referral.
The statistics are very clear- the more a child is put on antibiotics the more infections they will end up with, it is a problem to the developing immune system.
To make up for that you can obtain a very good probiotics- we use the ones from Simplexity-this repopulates the GI tract, and helps with the immune system, as well as digestion.
Additionally the anti acids are 180 degrees from the way the body works- and make billions of dollars for drug companies. Go to a basic physiology book- the stomach needs acid to digest protien, and the digestion of protien is necessary for all bodies, but esp. for littles ones as it is needed in growing.
Acid reflex comes from not digesting protien and the protien then rotting in the stomach and the acid from the rotting is the problem. Decrease the acid and the protien digests less-more acid.
See Dr. Bruce West at Health alert- you can get a consult with him, for your son, and subscribe to his newsltr and learn how bodies work for your sons future.
There is alot of false information and it takes being really pro active to sort it out. I think if you look at the result of what has been done to your son already you can see this is the time to be aggressive. I am sorry that you have been given wrong data.
best,k

Why not ask your pediatrician to put him back on the Zantac or Prilosec for a trial period of 6 months and see if there is any effect on the other infections. 6 months I think is a reasonable trial period before just getting him scoped.

Your answer will lie in food allergies. Seen SOOOO many of these kids get better permanantly with NAET treatment. Go to NAET.com and find a provider in your area. It's natural, safe and no needles. So simple but SO profound.

I have acid reflux, and had similar issues with chronic sinusitis. I was told that the acid can even causes asthma, and I became asthmatic 15 years ago. I never had asthma as a child, and I am the only one in my family. I have allergies, and my ears are constantly itching. I was on allergy shots for two years, and developed hives over the years. I know that I am allergic to many things, but cannot prove it. I had all the tests, and many sinus surgeries. I have been on some meds for the allergies including cingulair, but I still suffer year long. I would eliminate tomatoes, orange juice, and everything that is acidic from his diet. He can have limonade, because lemons/limes don't affect GERD (acid reflux). I will take him off all dairy products, and give him soy. You can replace it with soychocolate, vanilla, strawberry, and you can make him delicious shakes with fruits. I hope it will work out for you, and raise his headboard (place a block under it). They also have soy cheese, yogurt, and ice cream.

Hi E.
I teach nutrition and study holistic nutrition. The gut as well as the mouth, nose, throat, Eustachian tubes and middle ear of a newborn are sterile. But soon after birth these areas get populated by a varied mixture of microbes. Just as it happens in the gut, children also develop abnormal flora in the ear area as well. With your son it sounds like he is unbalanced in both the gut and the ear area. Was he really colicky as a baby? Did he have eczema? Does he have normal poops? Digestive issues?
With too much mucus and a constant state of inflammation the middle ear provides a good environment for infection. Antibiotics may clear the infection, but they do not solve the problem and in the long run make the problem worse by again altering the bacterial flora even further. After a few infections and a few courses of antibiotics, docs suggest tubes (another channel for draining the mucous) This operation is a symptomatic measure, which again does not remove the real problem. The real problem is the abnormal flora which must be normalized and balanced.
If you want to get your child off meds you will need to eliminate foods that feed on abnormal bacteria and bring his body back into balance. These foods are sugar, milk and processed carbs. In addition, common contributing factors to ear infections are food allergies, particularly allergies to milk. Feed him real, whole foods (tons of fruits and vegetables, healthy essential fats, tiny amounts of animal protein from grass fed animals only, 100% whole grains like quinoa, millet, buckwheat, beans and legumes and a really great supplement would be a whole food fruit and vegetable supplement like Juice Plus. Go to www.wejuiceplus.com to see the research. Juice Plus is clinically proven to help bring the immune system back into balance.
The second step would be to put him on a therapeutic probiotic to clear out the pathogenic flora and re-establish normal healthy flora in the ear, nose, mouth, throat and gut. In addition to adding it to his food, you can put the powder on the child's tongue last thing at night after eating, drinking and teeth brushing. This way the probiotic will have a chance to work on the flora of the mouth and throat all night reaching the back of the nose where the tube tonsils are. This will hopefully clear out infection and reduce the inflammation. Establishing normal bacterial flora takes time so you need to be consistent with his diet and the probiotic.
There are many natural treatments that can be used as an immediate response to an ear infection and I would seek out a physician with a more holistic approach. Check out www.wholisticpeds.com as he is in your area.
Feel free to contact me for more info on nutrition and or how our company will pay for children to get on Juice Plus.
Yours in Health,
C. Soave M.S.Ed
____@____.com
Certified Family Nutrition Educator

visit www.naet.com

Hi E.,

Everything in your body relates to the other parts. They are all connected...a bad digestive disorder can cause kidney stones, poor nutrition can cause bone loss AND acne, scoliosis can be the cause of gout....I could go on and on. It sounds like your little one has a weak immune system and any nutrition he is getting is not being absorbed properly. Nutrition is the key to most problems. Nutrition builds the body strong so it can manage or fight off anything that is not normal...like an ear infection or acid reflux. If the digestive system, the spinal column and yes, the mouth, are in good health, most everything else will be too.

The meds he was on may fix a problem temporarily but antacids will cause a rebound effect and the next time the reflux comes, it will come with a vengence. Stomachs are meant to contain stomach acid to digest food. If the acid is not there, the food does not digest (it rots, ferments, etc) and will cause the reflux. the stomach doesn't just start doing what is supposed to by itself. It has been abruptly stopped and it will stay stopped until. It also means the food is not digesting and the nutrition is being destroyed. The ear infections come because his body does not have enough strength to fight them off.

I lived with digestive issues most of my life, and all of my childhood, and if one doctor had told me how to eat instead of medicating me I would have been as healthy then as I am now. I KNOW the doctors still prescribe the same way they did when I was little and it appalls me that they have not learned from their mistakes. I know your little one needs an absorbable multivitamin (I know a kids chewable that is guaranteed to absorb) and he needs to be eating a lot of fiber. Milk is not an evil thing unless there is a condition that it exacerbates like your son's. I would remove all dairy from his diet. Chiropractic care can jumpstart an immune system to working right. If you don't have one you trust that understands the immune system, go to upspine.com and find one in your area. Detoxing his body and your home will help as well. anything that will give his body relief will start the healing process.

If you have any questions, feel free to ask. I'll be glad to help.

M.

Hi E.,
I am a speech pathologist up in Jacksonville. I have had a lot of training in esophageal disorders, especially dealing w/ reflux. The acid reflux can absolutely cause the ear infections. When the acid refluxes up the esophagus it usually disapates into a mist but can go up all the way into the nasal cavity and then travel to the middle ear causing swelling of all the tissue it touches and excess mucous production. An infection can then occur. I would just see if the ped. would put him back on the prevacid and if he/she won't I would go see a pediatric ENT rather than a GI. Hope this helps!