Ear infections How salt Therapy can help with Ear Infections

What causes ear infections?

To understand how ear infections begin, it is useful to understand how the ear is connected to the throat. The connection is through one tube called the Eustachian tube. When we suffer from colds this tube may swell. If it swells too much, nothing can pass through it and therefore fluid (what we recognise as mucus) can get trapped in the ear. This can be a perfect place for germs and bacteria to propagate.

When the middle ear is actually infected with bacteria rather than just inflamed, it can be more serious. A chronic ear infection may be the result of an acute ear infection that does not clear completely, or the result of recurrent ear infections. If the infection spreads into the mastoid bone behind the ear, pressure from mucus build-up may rupture the eardrum or damage the bones of the middle ear.

What are the symptoms of ear infections?

Young children with otitis media may be irritable, fussy, or have problems feeding or sleeping and there may also be symptoms of fever. Older children may complain about pain and fullness in the ear. These symptoms are often associated with signs of upper respiratory infection such as a runny or stuffy nose or a cough. The build up of pus within the middle ear causes pain and dampens the vibrations of the eardrum. Severe ear infections may cause the eardrum to rupture. The pus then drains from the middle ear into the ear canal.

What are the treatments for ear infections?

Children who have recurring bouts of otitis media may have an ear tube placed into the ear during surgery to permit fluid to drain from the middle ear. If a child has a bulging eardrum and is experiencing severe pain, a surgical incision of the eardrum may be done to release the pus. Ear infections happen mostly to young children because their tubes are smaller and get blocked more easily.

Can salt therapy help ear infections?

Salt therapy has been used in eastern European countries as a complimentary medicine and alternative therapy for skin problems and lung and respiratory illnesses for many centuries. Now the benefits this ancient natural therapy is becoming known in the western world and here in the United Kingdom.

Salt therapy has a beneficial effect by reducing the inflammation of the Eustachian tube which causes ear infection. Aerosolized salt particles acting on the ear lead to widening of the airway passages, better drainage and better aeration behind the tympanic membrane. As many children who suffer from ear infection are victims of colds as well, Salt therapy treatment will also provide relief from nasal congestion by opening the nasal passages.