So after rounds and rounds of antibiotics for ear infections for my two year old, I received great advice from my professor Dr. Beth Blue Swadener to go see a naturopathic doctor... and they are so amazing! they gave me some wonderful herbal formulas, probiotics, diet suggestions (no more dairy and gluten for a couple of months), and suggested the following two remedies (links attached)...plus a wet sock treatment for colds...AND i highly recommend the onion earmuffs and the socks! it seriously is working! ALETRIS is the center i went to! (there are many great naturopathic pediatricians in AZ, I selected them based on soonest appt available (as i was desperate and dealing with a crying and in pain fussy two year old) but also because they had wonderful reviews! I also read great things about AZ Natural Health Center, Dr. Ham is supposed to be wonderful and Dr. Matthew Baral www.drmatthewbaral.com has a great website and reviews. Dr. Baral is a bit more pricey and harder to get an appointment with as he also teaches in the center and does a lot of public speaking it appears, but my experience thus far was so refreshing. Having been so used to going into Doctors offices and having them not even look at you, prescribe you medication, expect you to have absolutely no questions, and then brush you off as if you were an imbecile if you are worried about the effects of excessive medications...it was so nice to talk to a person for almost 45 minutes about everything that is going on in my child's life and then having them design a treatment plan, give you guidance on what to do next...it's called integrative medicine. When I was super obsessed with labor I recall looking up naturopathic doctors and thinking that that is exactly the kind of doctors I needed to have my child see, but soon let go of the idea when our insurance didn't cover them. Now that we are self-employed with no insurance, we have the one small bonus of choosing where to go. The great thing is that they still provide you with insurance codes so you can get reimbursed for seeing an out of network provider. They are reasonably priced given that they give you remedies, formulas and recommendations you can apply immediately and it feels great to know you are treating the source of the problem rather than masking it through medication.
#happymom
Onion Ear Muffs
- Cut 1 inch to 2 inch strip of onion.
- Heat up in oven until warm
- use oven mitts/glove to pick up onion
- insert in a sock
- hold near ears (about 1-2 inches from ear to avoid burning)
- Keep here for about 10-15 minutes (i.e. as long as child will allow)
Wet Sock Treatment
What is it? It's an immune system stimulant. It causes the body to increase the circulation to the lower body in order to warm and dry the socks. It acts reflexively to decrease congestion in the upper respiratory passages, head, and throat. May also aid sleep and increase the healing response to acute infections. Good for chest colds, earaches, migraines, nasal congestion, and many other conditions.
- gather 1 pair of thin socks and a pair of warm pajamas
- 1 pair of wool or thick socks (i used two athletic socks)
- place thin socks in cold/ice water and ring out excess water
- just before bed, put on wet socks on warm and dry feet
- immediately place the warm socks on top of the wet socks
- go to bed with the socks over night remove socks in the morning when completely dry
- complete for at least 3 nights in a row
Garlic Oil
- Place a couple of cloves of garlic in some olive oil
- warm the oil
- place 1-3 drops in each affected ear
- OR buy garlic oil drops at a local health food store most stores have them :)
- Repeat every 2-3 hours
