May 12, 2004

ACA Applauds New Ear Infection Guidelines, But Recommends Manual Therapy Before 
Drugs Or Surgery 

The American Chiropractic Association (ACA) praised the American Academy of Pediatrics 
(AAP) for releasing new, conservative guidelines for treating children with ear 
inflammation this week, but added that chiropractic care is a good first option to treat the 
condition without the use of drugs or surgery. The AAP guidelines indicate that, because at 
least 75 percent of "silent" ear infections clear up on their own within three months, 
"watchful waiting" is the preferred method of handling the condition, with medical 
intervention only recommended for those cases that persist for more than three months.

"Particularly when dealing with young children, drugs and surgery should be an absolute 
last resort," said ACA President Donald Krippendorf, DC. "Doctors of chiropractic have 
been treating children for decades with great success - helping them avoid painful ear 
infections, antibiotic overuse and resistance, and ear tube surgery."

The second most frequent childhood illness after the common cold, ear infections account 
for more than 30 million doctor visits each year, according to the federal Centers for 
Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Even more startling, the CDC estimates at least 6 
million courses of unnecessary antibiotics are prescribed each year for the condition, and 
that a third of all antibiotics taken on an outpatient basis in the United States are 
unnecessary.

According to Dr. Krippendorf, "The ACA is pleased that a medical organization such as the 
American Academy of Pediatrics is advocating restraint against unnecessary drugs and 
surgeries, especially for our nation's children. Not only are antibiotics and other drugs 
often prescribed unnecessarily, but they often carry side effects not involved with 
chiropractic adjustments."

Among other supportive research that has come forth, a 1996 study published in the 
Journal of Manipulative and Physiological Therapeutics indicates that limitation of medical 
intervention and the addition of chiropractic care may decrease the symptoms of ear 
infections in young children, noting a 93 percent rate of improvement in cases of childhood 
ear infection/discomfort as a result of chiropractic care. The study also determined that 
those patients who had not previously used antibiotics required even fewer chiropractic 
treatments to relieve their symptoms.