A Chiropractor can help with what?!

Here’s my experience and story behind why we chose a chiropractor to help with preventing ear infections…

When I was growing up I had the worst luck with ear infections and strep throat. I was continuously going into my ENT (ear nose throat) doctor, when finally the decision was made to put tubes in my ears. Well, the tubes never liked to stay in my ear canal where they should, so after six sets of ear tubes, I had finally grown out of needing them. The last set actually fell out one day and when I noticed it I saved it to show my Mom (who, needless to say, wasn’t very excited to this!)

However, due to the multiple surgeries, there was quite a bit of scaring and there is even a small hole in my ear drum to this day! The good news is, I haven’t had any more issues with my ears since then! 🙂

Strep throat was my second enemy, coming down with it multiple times a year. (I must say, I LOVE the delicious pink amoxicillin though!) I got strep throat so much that when we visited my Grandparents in McAllen, Texas (a Mexico border town), we would go to ‘la Pharmacia’ and pick up a few bottles of ‘amoxicillin’ to have on hand. This saved my mom trips to the doc and saved me from the dreaded strep test and that darn stick they jab down my throat – I despised that!! 😦

My very traumatized and scarred tonsils were finally removed when I was about 12, after I came down with strep again, after more than a year streak of being strep free! Since then I have rarely been sick or had strep ever again.

Once my son was born, ear infections were a fear of mine, given my history. I hoped he would never have to endure all the poking and prodding that went along with being sick all the time.

My son trucked right along developing and growing and he was rarely ever sick. He definitely is blessed with a strong immune system! I was SO thankful for this. When he finally got his first ear infection at 4, he never even complained of any ear issues at the time; it was his doctor who discovered it during his well visit.

This ear infection was determined to be THE ear infection that wouldn’t go away. After the first meds didn’t do the trick, he was upgraded to the more potent meds. As great as antibiotics are, I prefer to steer clear if possible, but we felt so desperate for the infection to just go away!

After this whole experience, I did a little digging and decided to try a different approach to helping prevent ear infections, and thus helping steer clear of unnecessary antibiotics. I had heard of some great success stories using chiropractic methods to help deter recurring ear infections in children from a Mom’s breastfeeding support group, so we checked it out. I made an appointment with a highly recommended chiropractor in our area who is great with kids.

Seeking chiropractic care helps to ensure the relationship between the spine and the nervous system are in line and functioning at full potential. Chiropractic care helps restore the normal body functions that can be thrown off when the spine isn’t in line. (There are some fancy words used but I’ll stick with my simplistic explanation.) Since our nervous system controls and coordinates all of the systems of our body, this is crucial to ensuring our body is working at its full potential.

Here’s a great general and informative article summarizing Chiropractic care and small children: A Parent’s Guide to Chiropractic Care for Children

On our first visit to see Dr. Steve (Global Chiropractic, Dr. Steven Enriquez ), he definitely noticed that Dom was ‘off-kilter’, he performed a few quick adjustments and he was all done! Dom did a great job with the whole experience. In fact, he now calls Doctor Steve, “the clicking doctor” because he makes his body click. 🙂

Children’s bodies are a lot more resilient than adults, which means fewer adjustments are needed to help kids realign the spine. (Yet another amazing way the human body works!)

He remained ear infection free for about a year, until just recently when he got another ear infection. I truly believe that had I brought him in to see Dr. Steve earlier when first noticing signs of phlegmiest, he would probably have been ear infection free. But in the end, it’s no biggie, as long as Dom is a healthy boy, we’re happy with that!

All in all, I’m glad that we sought out chiropractic help, in spite of any pre-conceived notions I previously had about chiropractic care. The experience has been great and very positive. I definitely recommend chiropractic care especially if your baby was born by C-section; is struggling with breastfeeding, has a colic, reflux, chronic infections, sleeping issues or allergic reactions. Even if none of these are issues or symptoms your child experiences, I believe there’s still many benefits in visiting a chiropractor for the whole family!