The connection between earaches and nerves

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, earaches are one of the most common conditions in young children, with more than 70 percent experiencing at least one earache before the age of 3. In most cases, doctors treat this condition with antibiotics; however, new research has shown that the cause of many earaches is actually irritation of the small nerves in the spine. As described by Chiropractic America, “When these nerve endings are irritated, an abnormal tension is produced in the small muscles of the neck. This muscle tension can place pressure on the lymphatic drainage ducts resulting in inadequate drainage from inside the ear, thus preventing the body from being able to naturally correct the problem.”

A chiropractor will look for increased tension in the neck and any misalignment of the vertebrae. Often, these issues are caused by the normal wear-and-tear a child experiences during play. Through simple adjustments to the child’s neck muscles and spinal vertebrae, a chiropractor can help lymph drainage return to normal and remove the cause of the earache. This way, by visiting a chiropractor on their True Dental Discounts hearing plan instead of filling a prescription, parents can avoid overmedicating their children and wasting money on ineffective antibiotics.

Have you heard? Some Hearing Loss Resources

People aren’t the only ones with interesting hearing mechanisms and facts. Check out these random tidbits about animal hearing from the Better Hearing Institute, Teachers Domain, and the University of Washington:

• Snakes do not have ears, but their tongues are sensitive to sound vibrations.
• Owls distinguish sound directions partly by measuring the difference in time it takes the sound to reach each ear. This difference is typically less than 200 millionths of a second!
• Cicadas have hearing organs in their stomachs
• Crickets have hearing organs in their knees; sound waves cause a thin membrane on the cricket’s legs to vibrate
• It is thought that owls can create an image of the world around them based only on sound, much like humans do with their eyes... (read more)

Turn down the background noise

While hearing aids are an excellent solution to hearing loss, they can sometimes make it difficult for a person to ignore the background noise in busy restaurants and other crowded places. To improve people’s hearing in such circumstances, the Better Hearing Institute developed several strategies that people with hearing loss can employ while out to eat. BHI suggests... (read more)