This last half of the year, Gracie has been battling ear infections just about every month. Her first one was around July and I tried any natural remedy that I could think of (garlic oil, grapefuit seed extract, a warm onion cut in half, heating pad...). Nothing seemed to work so we went to a Minute Clinic at a corner pharmacy and, of course, they gave her the typical dose of antibiotics... internal and drops to put in the ear. After a day of hesitating before giving them to her, we followed through with the routine 10-day dosage. It worked... until she got it back a month later.
This time, I tried to wait it out and see what happened. I still tried the natural stuff along with Children's Motrin at night. After a while, her ear popped and drained. I had read up on it and knew that it was not a big deal because it was draining the infection out. It relieved her pain, but within a week, it healed up and started hurting once more. Then, it popped... again. Now I was starting to wonder if this would continue and she would end up with scarring and permanent hearing loss, so I took her to another immediate care... and he prescribed antibiotics. I was looking for a cause, not a quick cure. He insisted that if I didn't give them to her, she would probably end up with some Strep infection in the brain and die... Whatever. What really irritated me what that he was like 10 years younger than me (probably with no kids and even less experience) AND he was a physician's assistant, not a doctor. He spent a half hour surfing the web to find information to print to confirm his doomsday prophecy, while I was waiting not-so-patiently with 4 little kids in his 4 by 8 exam room. I filled the prescription anyhow and after a couple days of sitting in limbo (and Grace being in pain), I gave in. And, hey, what do you know? It worked... for another month.
I've tried ear candles (which seemed to work temporarily), purchased homeopathic tablets specifically for ear infections, and bought probiotics to build back her good bacteria. I'm done with over prescribed antibiotics (that aren't working anyhow). Even after all that, her ear popped once again this week, and then the other ear started hurting. I was at a complete loss and totally clueless on what to do next. I talked to a few friends and decided to go radical... nutritionally. We juiced carrots and apples which, along with rose hip tea- (full of vitamin C), is what she got all day. I dosed up every cup of juice with probiotics, colloidal silver, and Acerola powder (another rich source of Vitamin C from cherries). By the end of the day, her pain was starting to subside. In addition, I've cut her off of all dairy (which I had been doing for a while) along with all wheat (the most likely allergens). Whatever was causing the irritation seems to be going away. She doesn't have any more ear pain, but she can't hear very well yet. I'm guessing there's still some swelling and fluid that needs to drain. Time will tell if we've solved the root of the problem...
Through it all, she's been a trooper. She realizes that she can't eat what everyone else eats and for the most part is ok with it. And with all the hearing problems, she's getting really good at lip reading. Who know's, maybe she'll be the next Annie Sullivan (Helen Keller's teacher). :)
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