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Ear Infections
by Viola Frymann, D.O., F.A.A.O., F.C.A.
 During the years from
birth to five years, the child is checked
regularly by the pediatrician concerning his
ears, throat, eyes, heart, lungs, digestive
tract. In other words, is this child's
body functioning efficiently?
Many children get ear infections. The ears
are examined and if the infections have
occurred a number of times there may be a
hearing test performed, and various tests that
zero in on the ears. But the ear isn't
something sitting out there in space. The ear
is part of a total mechanism in this body. For
example, the ear itself is held in what we
call the temporal bone. (If you feel just
behind your ear you will feel a somewhat
pointed bone, which is the mastoid
process.)
From the inner part of the ear, that is known
as the middle ear, the Eustachian tube extends
into the throat. Therefore, what goes on in
the throat has a bearing on what goes on in
the middle ear, and vice versa. Not
infrequently the problem may begin as a sore
throat, a cold, and it progresses to an ear
infection. Therefore, the state of the throat
and the state of the ear are very intimately
related.
Let's come back to the temporal bone for
a moment. The temporal bone articulates, or is
connected to most of the other bones of the
head, directly or with one bone in between.
So, if this child has had a fall on the back
of the head in which the articulation between
this bone and the occipital bone at the back
of the head has been jammed, the bones cannot
move freely, one in relationship to the
other.
Perhaps at the time of the injury the child
cried for a little while, had a bruise there
or a swelling, and it passed. A few weeks
later an ear infection develops. If you stop
to think about it, you will find the ear
infection has developed on the same side on
which the head injury occurred.
The blood supply to the ear by way of the
arteries, the venous drainage from the ear by
way of the veins, and the lymphatic drainage
is impaired if that normal, rhythmic mobility
of the temporal bone is interrupted. If there
has been an injury it has interfered to some
degree with the inherent mobility of that
bone. Furthermore, if the child fell on the
back of the head, that fall may have disturbed
the alignment of the bones of the neck. The
blood supply passes through the neck up into
the temporal bone.
So the ear problem is not confined to the
ear. It may be related to certain things that
have happened in levels below the ear. Now we
begin to see that we cannot localize ear
infection in an ear because it is tied in to
other parts of the body. Of course, the
circulation begins at the heart and ends at
the heart, so anything between the heart and
the temporal bone may be a factor in that
circulation. The lymphatic drainage is
associated with certain structures in the
neck, going all the way down to below the
collar bone. Anything in this area may have a
bearing upon that ear infection.
It is not uncommon to get the story that this
child has had ear infections over and over
again. Perhaps the first ear infection
occurred when he was six weeks of age. He was
treated with an antibiotic, he got over it;
two months later there was another ear
infection. He was treated with antibiotics, he
got over it and six weeks later there was
another ear infection, and so it has gone on,
perhaps for several years, one after
another.
At some point the parents decide there must
be some other way. Also, by this time the
child may have reduced hearing in one or both
ears.
This is the time to go back structurally and
inquire whether there is any evidence of
injury at birth which may have started the
process, and whether there had been any
injuries since then to which the child is now
responding with this susceptibility to
infection.
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Osteopathic Center for Children & Families
4135 54th Place • San Diego, California 92105
• 619.583.7611
information@osteopathiccenter.org
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