Earache

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Earache

An earache is often a symptom of a cold, the flu or another infection. It usually results when the eustachian tube, which leads from the back of the throat to the middle ear, gets plugged with microbes. An earache can also occur when hair and other objects get stuck in the ear. The natural remedies in this chapter—used in conjunction with medical care and with the approval of your doctor—may help prevent or relieve an earache, according to some health professionals.

See Your Medical Doctor When... Your earache lasts for more than a week or continues to hurt three days after taking antibiotics. Your ear hurts when you chew. You have sudden or severe ear pain without an accompanying cold or sore throat.

Ayurveda

Acute ear infections require professional medical attention, says David Frawley, O.M.D., director of the American Institute of Vedic Studies in Santa Fe, New Mexico. But people who have chronic problems with ear infections can try some preventive measures. First, simplify your diet, says Dr. Frawley: Cut back on sweets, fats and dairy products, and use ginger and cloves to spice foods.

The herb gotu kola reduces the likelihood of ear infections (and, as an added benefit, improves hearing), according to Dr. Frawley. You can purchase gotu kola in capsule form in most health food stores. Dr. Frawley says to take two 500-milligram capsules in the morning and two in the evening. You can also buy gotu kola powder (it’s also available in most health food stores) and take 1¼4 teaspoon, mixed with honey, twice daily, says Dr. Frawley.

Food Therapy

“Eating one or two cloves of raw garlic each day may help end chronic episodes of earache,” says Julian Whitaker, M.D., founder and president of the Whitaker Wellness Center in Newport Beach, California. “It has natural antiviral and antibiotic qualities that kill many of the germs that cause earaches.”

But be careful: Eating raw garlic can cause gastrointestinal upset, says registered pharmacist Earl Mindell, R.Ph., Ph.D., professor of nutrition at Pacific Western University in Los Angeles and author of Earl Mindell’s Food as Medicine and other books on nutrition. If you find you have trouble tolerating raw garlic, try taking garlic supplements instead. Dr. Mindell suggests taking one capsule with each meal. Garlic supplements are available in most health food stores and many drugstores.

Homeopathy

If you develop an earache accompanied by a yellowish green, creamy discharge from the ear after having had a cold for several days, you have no thirst and you desire company and sympathy, try taking a 6C or 12C dose of Pulsatilla, says Mitchell Fleisher, M.D., a family practice physician and homeopath in Colleen, Virginia. He suggests a similar dose of Mercurius if you have an earache accompanied by a high fever, thick, greenish nasal or ear discharge, salivation, foul breath and irritability. If you develop a very painful earache during the night, the ear is very sensitive to touch and to cold and you feel very chilly, Dr. Fleisher recommends a 6C or 12C dose of Hepar sulphuris. If the earache develops suddenly with a fever and a hot, red ear, he says to try a dose of Belladonna 30C. If there is no response after four doses of the indicated remedy in 24 hours, Dr. Fleisher advises that you contact your homeopath or medical doctor.

All of these remedies are available in many health food stores. To purchase the remedies by mail, refer to the resource list on page 637.

Hydrotherapy

Hot compresses on the ears, combined with a hot foot bath, are the treatment of choice for earaches, according to Charles Thomas, Ph.D., co-author of Hydrotherapy: Simple Treatments for Common Ailments and a physical therapist at the Desert Springs Therapy Center in Desert Hot Springs, California. Soak your feet in a tub of hot water for anywhere from 10 to 30 minutes, adding water as needed to keep the water comfortably hot. While you’re soaking, apply a hot compress from ear to ear, covering the throat. Leave it in place for about 5 minutes. Apply another hot compress for 5 minutes and continue with a new compress every 3 to 5 minutes until the ache is relieved or for a maximum of 30 minutes. If the pain persists, repeat the entire procedure two or three times a day.

Reflexology

Pay special attention to the ear, throat and neck reflexes on your feet, says St. Petersburg, Florida, reflexologist Dwight Byers, author of Better Health with Foot Reflexology. He also recommends working all of the points on the sides and bottoms of the toes on both feet, using whichever technique you find most comfortable.

To help you locate these points, consult the foot reflex chart on page 592. For instructions on how to work the points, see “Your Reflexology Session” on page 110.