Monday, February 01, 2010

linking ears

My poor little man has a ruptured eardrum. He didn't seem horribly ill. We were preparing for my sister's wedding so maybe I was too busy to notice. I feel rather guilty that it burst before I realized the extent of his earache.
I have had countless issues with my ears - 15 ruptured eardrums, 9 myringotomy and rather dulled hearing as a result. I remember that my mom has said that she could tell if we were getting sick as children by our breath. Now, as a mom, I agree.
The signs that show up for me with my kiddos are:
  • stinky breath
  • increased water consumption
  • faster breathing
  • crankiness

He's now on antibiotics. I am wondering about the causes of frequent ear infections. I know that I have been told that I have short eustachian tubes which cause pressure to build up behind the eardrum more quickly than if I had more space. I am assuming that Briar has the same thing going on behind his little eardrums. But I am also wondering if lactose-intolerance plays a part? Or some allergy? I'd like to prevent him from having scarred eardrums and the terrible pain associated with earinfections and rupture.

Poor, little monkey.....

7 comments:

Debbie said...

Sending hugs to Briar. I hate earaches and his must be even worse than the run of the mill ear infection! Hope those antibiotics start working quickly!

BTW, you make yogurt?? Cool?? Want to share your recipe?

Mama_Bear_Sarah said...

that majorly sucks! hope he's feeling better soon!!

The Cribkeeper said...

Take him to a Chiropractor. That should keep him from getting them in the future. I wish my mom had known it would help when I was a child. I had to get ear tubes. Horrible! Now my kiddos get adjusted regularly and don't have to suffer like I did!

Anonymous said...

hi there! i'm sorry to hear about poor briar! there is infact a link b/t dairy (not just lactose, a milk sugar) and ear infections. a friend of mine suffered from them for years, as did all of her brothers and sisters. their mother cut out dairy, and they never got another ear infection! i've also read this somewhere...
here's to a pain-free boy and a smile on your face!

Anonymous said...

Oh, you're so tuned in! A really great book you may like for your library is "perfect health for kids" by Dr. John Doullaird. He is an Ayurvedic doctor and is super prentative, talks about watching the signs of your kid to know their well being (like you already are)..taking pulse, checking tongue and using ear oil for ear infection prevention.

I hope your little man feels better soon, poor soul.
xocon

Victoria said...

Gosh that sounds seriously painful! I agree on the stinky breath tip though, mine definitely give that sign.

Jess said...

Oh no, poor Briar! My husband had them all the time when he was little. Now our kids have all had trouble with them. My oldest had tubes and has outgrown the ear infections...I wanted to avoid that with the younger 2 after 3-4 rounds of antibiotics so I've been taking them to a chiropractor and I am a firm believer that getting them adjusted works. In less than 2 weeks, my son's ears had cleared up after being on antibiotics for 2 months. Our chiropractor has also told me about the dairy link to ear infections, although it doesn't seem to affect my children because all of my children were/are breastfed and still seem to get ear infections at a young age.