From 3 months of age to 4 years of age, Sarah was put on antibiotics 12 times for ear infections. None of the doctors could tell me, definitively, why she was subject to recurrent ear infections.
They could determine what was happening but not why. The body produces fluid and mucus to protect mucus membranes from absorbing allergens. This fluid, when it forms in the Eustachian Tubes, and middle and/or inner ear chambers, is the medium that fosters the bacteria resulting in ear infections. In an attempt to dry up some of this excess fluid, Sarah was on decongestants constantly.
Since the shape of a baby's head is round, this makes the Eustachian Tubes horizontal. As they become a toddler, their face elongates, which makes the Eustachian Tubes become slanted downwards, and gravity keeps fluid draining down the back of their throat, somewhat reducing fluid pooling in the ear chambers. This does not get rid of the problem, but provides a margin of help.
She was given a hearing test at the age of 9 months and it was discovered that she had "depressed" hearing and a fluctuating hearing loss, meaning the quality of her hearing was sometimes clear and very poor at other times. They put tubes in Sarah's ears at 18 months of age, to help drain off fluid building up in her ears.
The eardrum is a tympanic membrane, which needs to vibrate to absorb sounds which the brain can then interpret for us to know what we are hearing. Scar tissue is Keloid tissue, which is rigid and inflexible. She did not get any other illnesses except ear infections, and with each ear infection, scar tissue was left behind on her eardrum.
Between the ages of 2 and 4, none of the many doctors (ENTs and Audiologists) treating Sarah ever mentioned that there was an on-going, huge controversy in the medical establishment about the efficacy of the use of oral antibiotics for treating ear infections in children! Several more years would pass before I learned of this situation.
Sarah turned 3 years old and had never spoken one single word. Not "momma" or "bye-bye" -- nothing, and had been going to speech therapy for a year. When tested for cognitive ability, she was off the charts. Her comprehension was equal to that of a child twice her age, which defied what the medical establishment knew about the impact of hearing loss on the development of cognitive ability.
They surmised that if a very young child could not hear what was going on around them, they could not gain more than a bare minimum of knowledge of their immediate environment; and certainly not while living a “normal” life at home with their family, unless of course, they were subjected to daily “lessons”. Children naturally learn by mimicking what they see and hear. What they learned from studying Sarah, and others like her, is that a deficiency in one area heightens acuity in another, which they did not know was possible when very young children had a hearing deficiency.
In a miss-guided effort to ward off more hearing loss, more and more often antibiotics were prescribed for Sarah at the first sign of an ear infection. No one offered any information about what was causing her body to produce too much fluid/mucus. Not one doctor ever talked to me about the dangers, or down side, of over-prescribing antibiotics for localized infections, until it was too late.
At the age of 4 she became allergic to penicillin (ANY drug with "cillin" on the end -- as well!) After this, the doctors switched to prescribing newly developed "broad-spectrum" antibiotics for her ear infections, which we would learn years later, damaged her body's NATURAL immune system even further.
As she got older the frequency of ear infections was reduced, but she still suffered with them. When Sarah was seven, and I was pregnant with Adam, I began studying holistic health care options. Nothing, thus far, in allopathic medicine had produced any level of acceptable health for my first child, and I was determined to find a different path before the birth of my second.
I found a pediatrician who supported my Big Three (changes in healthcare options for my children): 1) I opposed routine infant male circumcision, and viewed it as mutilation for cosmetic reasons, and not at all medically necessary for hygiene, 2) I opposed forced immunizations of my children (Sarah received no immunizations after the age of 7 and Adam (b. 1985) and Molly (b. 1988) never received any immunizations, and 3) no more antibiotics prescribed for ear infections.
This new doctor told me that controversy had been brewing for several years, and the prevailing stance (that year) in the medical establishment was that ear infections were a localized infection, and oral antibiotics most likely never reach the site to actually treat the infection. He cited a couple of scientific studies that had recently been completed that clearly showed young children treated for ear infections with antibiotics did not get well any faster than those who received no medications. And, the topical application of cortisone eardrops were the fastest way to reduce the painful swelling which often accompanies ear infections. Learning that this information had been kept from me for years left me unbelievably angry at all the doctors who had treated Sarah.
I began studying the wise woman sage-way of holistic healing. Friends began to lovingly call me “Dr. Martha” as a joke, because I began to take the opposite approach from that of most doctors. The alternative treatments for ear infections that I chose were old-fashioned, country remedies, such as comfrey and sea salt poultices, and hot washcloth compresses, both held over the ear and neck on the affected side, as well as, topical application of a few drops drizzled into the outer ear canal, of warmed extra virgin olive oil infused with the oil from fresh pressed raw garlic. And maybe the most important old fashioned remedy: when your child is sick, keep them within arms reach. Make a sick bed for them on the couch, where you can cuddle them and comfort them often to ease their path to wellness, by making sure they stay hydrated, and are watched constantly to monitor if symptoms worsen.
At the first sign of an ear infection, I also gave Sarah a 6-ounce dose of a medicinal cocktail, comprised of a pesticide free organic carrot, apple, two raw garlic cloves, and a tablespoon of liquid chlorophyll, pulsed together in a juicer.
Our new pediatrician supported my use of holistic remedies, and I cannot tell you how thrilled I was to have found a doctor that I didn’t have to fight with about not treating Sarah’s ear infections with oral antibiotics. It was such a relief to find ONE pediatrician who was willing to think outside the box, and this was in San Francisco, where we had been living for five years, having moved from Fort Worth Texas, just after Sarah’s second birthday. This new pediatrician was also the first doctor to suggest that common household allergens, such as dust mites, pet dander, air fresheners, cleaning products, and even perfumes in laundry detergent used on the clothing of others, quite possibly might be the cause of Sarah’s susceptibility to ear infections.
At his suggestion, I bought a book called, “Nontoxic and Natural,” by Debra Lynn Dadd ** and threw out the cleaning products. Two years later, in 1987 a new book was published by, Robert S. Mendlesohn, M.D.*** a doctor who taught other doctors how to become pediatricians. He was a self-proclaimed “medical heretic” -- just the kind of doctor I was ready for – and the name of his new book was, “How to Have a Healthy Child, In Spite of Your Doctor.”
With all the holistic changes in how we handled our healthcare, by the time Sarah turned 10 years old, she was down to one ear infection every 10 to 12 months. But also, by that age, Sarah had been seen and/or treated by more ENTs and Audiologists than most adults would have seen of all the doctors combined in a lifetime!
In November, 1988, one month before Molly was born, when Sarah was 10 and Adam had just turned 3 years of age, we left our beloved San Francisco, and moved to a new city, where we found a new pediatrician. And, after telling him of Sarah’s history with ear infections, and seemingly intermittently occurring hearing problems, and him being personally interested in my newly developed penchant for holistic healthcare approaches, he offered a possible solution to the mystery of why Sarah got so many ear infections. (Adam had never had even ONE and he was 3 years old.) He said that she might have a dairy sensitivity, and to find out, I should take her off of all dairy and see if the quality of her hearing improves.
That very day, after discussing the idea, Sarah decided she was excited to try this experiment, because she was very tired of struggling with poor hearing. After two days of having no dairy products, Sarah woke up the next morning, and within a few minutes, began yelling very excitedly. She ran up to me, and with a big hug, blurted out through tears, that she could hear EVERYTHING. Even words spoken from another room, which was a first for her!
To really understand the significance of her recovery, one must know the extent of her depressed hearing. If someone cups their hands and places them over their ears and starts having a conversation, the quality of their hearing is depressed. Then, if they turn away from the person speaking, or vice versa, with cupped hands still covering the ears, the person with depressed hearing would not be able to understand all the words being said. That is how bad Sarah’s hearing was on her best days. On her worst, her hearing was like a person with normal hearing having big, thick, pillows over their ears, hearing words only occasionally and random sounds. To serve these times, she had taught herself over the years to rely on reading lips and body language to learn what was going on around her!
Behind the scenes, I had always arranged for Sarah to sit in the front of the classroom, next to the teacher. I’d also informed teachers that Sarah needed to see them when they talked, which was a modification that was very hard to fulfill. Teachers often address students while they write on blackboards, with their backs turned to the class!
After our new discovery that Sarah had a dairy sensitivity, she was able to determine how much dairy she could tolerate in her diet, BEFORE it was the amount that would trigger her body to start producing fluid/mucus build up. After just a few months, she didn’t even have to think about it – her body would reject dairy when it needed to. One time she had eaten only one bite of ice cream and pushed it away, saying she could not eat it. A woman nearby offered to give her a different flavor, thinking she simply did not like that one, until I explained she could only tolerate eating dairy products a couple of times a week, and no more.
Ten years of ear infections left behind some serious scar tissue in Sarah’s ears, which prevents her hearing from ever being of normal quality. But, the improvement in the quality of her hearing was so significant, once she reduced her dairy exposure to a level compatible with her body, it became obvious that the permanent hearing loss was minor by comparison.
Nine out of ten doctors who have ever read Sarah’s medical records steadfastly deny that there is any possible connection to her hearing difficulties and a sensitivity to dairy products. Lactose intolerance STILL appears to be the only medically recognized dairy sensitivity. I no longer find this single-mindedness surprising, but I do loathe it as a clear example of “medical elitism.”
And, most unfortunately, learning the cause of her recurrent ear infections did not mark the end of this unnerving story. Over-exposure to antibiotics to treat ear infections in childhood weakened Sarah’s natural immune system. Not asthmatic as a young child, she began to suffer at the age of 15 with severe, chronic asthma, after being exposed to chemicals in the silkscreen industry over the course of one summer spent in Arkansas living with her Aunt Cindy. The damage to her lungs from that one summer was as great as if she had suffered with asthma all of her life, according to tests done by a top-notch pulmonary specialist when she was 17 years old.
Sarah is still, and always will be, allergic to Penicillin, because she was given it too many times the first 4 years of her life. It is the drug of choice to treat pneumonia, and Sarah, a severe asthmatic even now in her 30s, has been stricken with this illness every year for the past 15-years – and on more than one occasion, twice in the same year. In more than half these instances, Sarah has come very close to dying, because the other antibiotics to which they must resort do not work nearly as well as Penicillin. High doses of steroids are the only thing that has saved her life a dozen times or more, and those drugs damage her immune system further.
My thinking 30 years ago was that a doctor would never do anything to hurt my child, or, not tell me if they were “just guessing” at identifying effective treatment options. I now know better. Ninety percent of the time, ALL doctors are just guessing, but they always present their plan as if it is the ONLY correct treatment.
The last time Sarah was seen by an ENT, and evaluated by an Audiologist, to measure the improvement in the level of her hearing, she was 12 years old. It is a visit that haunts me still, when I remember the rage I felt that day. When pressed for answers, these specialist doctors admitted to me it was common knowledge that the MAIN reason babies and very young children are given antibiotics is to “make the parents feel better and less anxious about their child being sick!”
Sarah’s youngest sibling, ten years her junior, has since birth, been treated with antibiotics maybe twice. I learned my lesson about not questioning the use of antibiotics in children. Too bad Sarah had to pay the price… and is still paying, for my own ignorance, and the medical mistakes made by her trusted doctors, all of whom had taken that oath to “ … first, do no harm.”
I think all would now agree that finding the cause of recurring ear infections as early as possible and making that trigger ineffective is the most prudent course of action, and certainly more safe than recurrent treatment with oral antibiotics. Keep in mind, though, that your doctor is probably NOT going to be the one to initiate such an endeavor. To keep your child as safe as possible, you MUST become your child’s best medical / healthcare advocate. It is imperative that you question everything a doctor wants to do to your child!
I recommend you use websites such as, medlineplus.org at the National Institutes of Health, and that of world renowned holistic MEDICAL doctor, Andrew Weil (drweil.com) among others, to compare information on illnesses and treatment options, BEFORE you go see a doctor, so that you can have knowledgeable conversations and make informed treatment choices.
The two websites above are invaluable, and there is another on which I rely heavily:
http://mothering.com/child-health
“There are many things that you as parents can do to promote the health of your family—it's not always about making trips to the doctor. Changing habits, learning about other holistic approaches and considering alternative and complementary medicines are also wonderful ways you can nurture your family's well-being. Here is Mothering's section on health issues and research.”
In closing, my intent in sharing this story was to educate and inform, and arm young parents with knowledge they may not get otherwise, in an effort to help better protect all children from harm. No child should have to endure what happened to Sarah.
--Martha Bee
** “Toxic Free” (Penguin) In her new book, “Toxic Free,” consumer advocate Debra Lynn Dadd shines a light on the harmful chemicals and substances hidden in seemingly benign household items — from the dinner dishes (ceramic glazes often include lead, which can cause damage to children’s central nervous systems) to the ironing board cover (probably coated in Teflon, which can give out chemical irritants). “If you are reading this book, it is likely you have toxic chemicals in your body that are making you sick,” she writes. Fortunately, alternatives are often easy to come by. Since permanent-press bed sheets may be coated with a resin that releases vapors of formaldehyde, which can cause insomnia, Dadd suggests buying sheets marked “untreated.” When you see the word “fragrance” listed in ingredients of perfume and aftershave, be very afraid: The term can imply up to 4,000 chemicals, she says, and many of them are harmful. Instead, use perfumes made with natural or essential oils.
Review by: Aaron Leitko, Published: September 5, source: The Washington Post NATIONAL, http://www.washingtonpost.com/national/health-science/toxic-free-book-by-debra-dadd-notes-toxins-found-in-household-items/2011/07/27/gIQAQgKD4J_story.html
*** Robert S. Mendelsohn (1926 – 1988) was an American pediatrician who criticized his profession, inveighing against pediatric practice, obstetric orthodoxy and the effect of the preponderance of male obstetricians, and vaccination. He also opposed water fluoridation, coronary bypass surgery, licensing of nutritionists, and the routine use of X-rays.
For 12 years, Mendelsohn was an instructor at Northwestern University Medical College, and was associate professor of pediatrics and community health and preventive medicine at the University of Illinois College of Medicine for another 12 years.
From 1981 to 1982, Mendelsohn was president of the National Health Federation (NHF). He also served as National Director of Project Head Start's Medical Consultation Service (a position he was later forced to resign after criticizing the public school system), and as Chairman of the Medical Licensing Committee of Illinois.
He often spoke at NHF conventions and produced a newsletter and a syndicated newspaper column, both called The People's Doctor. He appeared on over 500 television and radio talk shows. In 1986, the National Nutritional Foods Association gave Mendelsohn its annual Rachel Carson Memorial Award for his "concerns for the protection of the American consumer and health freedoms."
Mendelsohn considered himself a "medical heretic." One of his books charged that "Modern Medicine's treatments for disease are seldom effective, and they're often more dangerous than the diseases they're designed to treat"; that "around ninety percent of surgery is a waste of time, energy, money and life"; and that most hospitals are so loosely run that "murder is even a clear and present danger." (source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_S._Mendelsohn )
