Objective: To describe a case report entailing chiropractic care of a 9½-year-old girl experiencing chronic ear infections as well as discuss the ear infections in the context of its etiology, chiropractic theory and current literature.
Clinical Features: A 9½-year-old girl presented to a chiropractic clinic with her mother for consultation and possible care for chronic ear infections, neck pain and headaches. According to her mother, the patient was medically diagnosed with chronic otitis media and recently scheduled for tympanostomy tube surgery. Examination of the cervical spine revealed hypolordosis, hypertonicity of paraspinal musculature, lymphadenopathy, decreased ROM, positive orthopedic tests and chiropractic subluxations.
Intervention and Outcomes: The subject was cared for with high-velocity, low amplitude adjustments (i.e., Diversified Technique) particularly at the C1, C4 and L4 vertebral levels at 3 times per week for three weeks. Over the course of care, the patient no longer experienced episodes of headache and neck pain with her otolaryngologist reporting a 95% improvement in previous diagnosed hearing loss. Accordingly, the myringotomy tube procedure was cancelled.
Conclusions: Numerous studies have identified positive outcomes in otitis media with chiropractic care based on the detection and removal of spinal subluxations. This case report provides supporting evidence in this paradigm of care. We encourage further research in this area of pediatric care.
Author Keywords: Subluxation, Diversified, otitis media, tympanostomy, myringotomy, hearing, Eustachian tube, adjustment, spinal manipulative therapy
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