Natural healing for ear infections

'Tis the season.

Every year around Christmas, it's like the plague around here. I exaggerate not. One year everyone--including Daddy-- had chicken pox, another year it was bronchitis. We had an outbreak of head lice, and pink eye that made everyone's eyes swell shut, followed by a bonus round of "Guess Who's Allergic to the Eye Ointment?" (That would be Michael for you kids playing at home). Last year everyone was throwing up. The year before that? Baby chest x-ray! It's like Santa Claus brings a sleigh-full of germs.

No matter was the yearly ailment is, it almost always brings ear infections. My oldest is especially susceptible. He had seven (SEVEN!) ear infections by the time he was five months old and, while I know for a while they were handing out tubes like candy, they actually did Michael a lot of good.

I am motivated, however, to dig through my resources and make sure I have my natural healing staples for ear infections on hand.

Homeopathy: We've never had any luck with homeopathy for ear infections. This site does give some recommendations for homeopathic remedies for ear infections.

Nutrition: We really limit dairy and sugar during ear infections. None of my kids drink milk, but we limit other dairy when they're in the midst of an infection. Breastmilk is not dairy, of course, and nursing can really help a sick little one. For all kids, I make sure they're well hydrated, drinking plenty of water and herbal teas.

Herbal: Most of our herbal interventions take the form of eardrops: garlic and mullein oil, warmed beforehand, not only can help an ear infection but also make your little one smell delicious, as if they should be served up with a salad. I never, ever give drops if the ears are draining.

Vitamins: Vitamin C, of course, is essential to add whenever there's illness. I also like to give a low-dose zinc supplement.

Antibiotics: Typically, this is the first line of attack when treated conventionally. I really avoid these at all costs, especially since they've been shown to be rather ineffective. If I do resort to antibiotics, I try to have the child on a weeklong course of acidophilus.

Other Comfort Measures: A warm cloth or rice bag on the ear can really make little ones feel better. I'm partial to the herbal animals myself. And of course, lots of cuddling and loving!

Do you have ideas for treating ear infections naturally? I'd love to hear them!

Question of the Day: Why do cuts bleed?

Brought to you by Katie Grace, after a particular rough time roller blading

Odd Note: Google kept trying to change my search to "Why do cats bleed," which actually had more results.

My standard answer (and one supported by the University of Google) is that bleeding is actually a blessing, because it's your body's way of cleaning a cut. The bleeding stops when the blood clots.

There are allopathic and traditional ways to treat cuts.
First Aid:
How to Treat a Cut with First Aid
Kids Health: First Aid for Bleeding

Herbal Treatments:
Remedies for Cuts and Bleeding

In our house, we like to keep rose water, or "fairy kisses" for boo boos that are more emotionally than physically traumatic. If I can find a good source of fresh rose petals, I'd like to make our own.

This page gives a (graphically gross) description of how scabs help cuts. And there's more fun scab science here.

And there you have it!

This is a healing song... it helps when things go wrong...

We had a bit of a mishap at the grocery store. Nicholas, in his usual be-bopping way, be-bopped in front of me and tripped me. I scraped up my knee, my back is sore, and, although my mama instinct kicked in and I put my hand behind the baby's head so he wouldn't smash it on the ground (he was in the sling and I fell forward), I managed to bend my hand at an angle I am fairly certain it isn't meant to go.

The whole thing left me feeling very sore and achy. I also have a headache and feel generally out of sorts. I came home and took some arnica, which helped a little. But the whole ordeal made me think of how the children must feel after a particularly hard tumble. It really is a shock to the whole system! (At least, this is what I choose to believe and not, as DH says, that I am just getting old!)

When searching for the arnica, I thought of the Healing Basket we had when the children were smaller. Now I keep my meds and herbals waaaaaaaay up high where little hands can't reach them, homeopathics in one plastic bin, herbs in another, cough and cold remedies in another. The salves are all in a little crock downstairs on top of the hutch, as are the allopathic remedies.

Back in the day, when it was a more hopping list, WE_HS had a great discussion on healing or "boo boo" baskets. Ours had kid salve, arnica (both pellets and gel), band-aids, Schweitzter fluid, rose water for "fairy kisses" when a boo boo didn't really need any physical attention, Weleda calendula, wound, and burn ointments, and the Healing Pig, an herbal animal you can heat up and cuddle up to.

All this sat atop my favorite health and healing book for little ones, Your Vital Child: A Natural Healing Guide for Caring Parents by Mark and Angela Strengler.

I'd really like to get a basket like this together again. I'll post pictures when I do!

On the third day of Christmas, my true love gave to me... a chest x-ray?!?!

Every year it's like the plague around here at Christmastime. One year it was head lice. Another year, chicken pox. Last year it was pink eye and double ear infections. This year we decided to start a round of Echinacea and Vitamin C beginning the day after Thanksgiving. So far, everyone is pretty healthy, except for Babymort, who obviously did not get the memo.

He's had this weird strainy cough that ends in him gaggy on his own phlegm until he can't get his own breath. Lovely, eh? And it's been over a week. At first I thought it was a weird reaction to cheerios or he was choking on his own teething drool. Then my imagination kicked into overdrive and brought out the big guns. He must have asthma. He's allergic to me. He has a lung tumor. Pneumonia. I had no idea.

We went to the doctor, who thought he might have heard some cracklings in his chest. Chest x-rays with almost-eight-month-olds are tres unpleasant. But the x-ray is clear and hopefully he will feel better soon. The doctor wrote a script for antibiotics ("This probably won't do any good since it's most likely viral, but just in case..." which I won't fill. I could wallpaper our bathroom with all the prescriptions they write and I don't fill. What I will do is nurse him tons, give him some Hyland's vitamin C, and run the humidifier with sniffletime aromatherapy in it. And if I need to, we'll cuddle up in the bathroom at 4 AM with the shower running on hot again and try to loosen things up.

Of course, I've also been bitten by the organizing bug. This is tough with a sick babe. I would say that at least 50% of our "getting out the door" issues (and oh, boy, do we ever have issues!) are due to hats and shoes. (In case you're wondering, in my estimation 25% of the issues are baby needs that can't be helped and the remaining 25% is pure unadulterated original sin and contrariness) I moved the changing table up to the bathroom--it's not beautiful, but it works--and am trying to create a "landing spot" for hats, shoes, boots, etc. I bought a shoe rack and brought down the coat tree from Katie Grace's room. I'll try to get some pictures tomorrow.

What I want to get done before we start school again:
Plan out the next quarter of school
Tweak the daily routine
Do some Waldorf reading to get re-inspired
Move the craft stuff to the basement
Move the extra food to the mudroom shelves
Move the bulk of the books to the basement
Rearrange the living room (after the tree is down on Epiphany)
Make a Household Control Notebook
Organize the kids' rooms
Finish this new "landing spot"
Add a play corner to the schoolroom/dining room
Move the easel

That's a lot.

Pathways to Healing

Ugh! I am feeling so frustrated right now.

On Christmas Eve, Michael began complaining of a sore throat. Christmas day, he had pink eye and a burst eardrum. Boxing Day, he had two pink eyes and two burst ear drums. We had been treating it homeopathically and herbally (mullein drops for the ears before they burst and eyebright compresses for the eyes) but decided to go to a doc. We came home with three prescriptions for antibiotic/steroid eyedrops, oral antibiotics, and eardrops. We filled the eyedrops and skipped the rest.

The next day Michael broke out in hives from the eyedrops.

Meanwhile, Katie Grace had one pink eye and a cough.

Nicholas has goopy eyes that never quite turned pink.

All three of them STILL have a cough.

I managed to pick up a double ear and sinus infection. I went to the doc's on Tuesday, and did end up filling the script for antibiotics. I've also been downing Vitamin C like a crazy person. But oh my goodness, I am still. so. sick. I have no voice. My ears still hurt. My throat is killing me. My head feels like it's going to explode. I have swollen glands. I lost my voice. I think I'm going to have to skip my prenatal visit today. :(

I've been reading Healing at Home: A guide to using alternative remedies and conventional medication that will change your approach to illness by Sandra Greenstone. It's interesting, because she talks about three different "paths" of care you can choose: Supporting the healing process ("caring for the whole person through proper nutrition, fluids, warmth, rest, and care of the senses..."), home therapies, such as herbs, homeopathy, aromatherapy, etc, and commonly prescribed drug therapy. I suppose where I am frustrated is that I've tried to approach this illness in a very balanced, self-honoring way. I've tried to eat healthy foods and keep hydrated, I've rested, I've kept the television off. I've take Sodium Absorbicate and Emergen-C and homeopathic losengers and showers to loosen the phlegm and drank herbal cold care teas and gargled with sea salt and put Erbaviva sniffle care aromatherapy in the diffuser. And I've taken the antibiotic and Tylenol even though I absolutely loathe taking this stuff when I'm pregnant.

And I'm still sick.

I'm starting to feel sort of depressed and like some Higher Power is out to get me. I feel guilty because this was supposed to be the week we got back into a rhythm and routine, and I can't even talk. Worst of all, I'm starting to feel very crabby.