I have heard of many kids with recurrent ear infections who are repeatedly given antibiotics to cure them. Again, a case of giving medicine to fix the symptom, but not finding the cause of the problem. Don’t get me wrong – I am not against medicine! Drugs are a wonderful thing when needed to ease pain or to prevent greater health problems from occurring. But, in conjunction with fixing the what, shouldn’t we as a society (doctors, you, me) investigate the why??
So, back to ear infections. According to pediatrician Dr. Greene, “Of the kids who are prone to ear infections (about 1/3 of kids), allergies are the underlying cause about 1/3 of the time. Cow’s milk is the most likely non-airborne culprit. Presumably, it causes inflammation of the Eustachian tubes — the tubes that normally keep the ears clean and drained. It can also change the nature of the secretions.”
Also, a study done in Finland concluded that children with cow’s milk allergy in infancy, even when properly treated, had experienced significantly more recurrent ear infections.
So, if a child has a lot of ear infections, investigate milk as the cause. This could mean doing allergy testing and/or eliminating milk from the diet (consult your doctor).
Read more about Milk Allergy and the Milk-Free Diet.
Sarah says
This is absolutely true. Both of my children had recurring ear infections that began as soon as cows milk was introduced into their diets. After multiple visits to the doctor, and being told they needed tubes I decided to follow the advice of my chiropractor and cut out the milk and some other dairy items. Voila! Not another ear infection since then. Kaylie is 4 and has been ear infection free since 18 months (after having 7 in a row). Jennah is 18 months and has been ear infection free since 12 months (after having 4 in a row).
Shawntelle says
You know what come to think of it that’s when my son started with all these ear infections after I stop breast feeding him at 7 months and started him on cow milk at 12 months that’s when the ear infections started. We are on our 2nd set of tubes and still recurring ear infections. My son loves milk drinks it all the time….only thing he like to drink really. I going to try and take the milk away from him to see if that helps. Thanks