Ear Infection Help Portland ME

Housecalls - Ear Infection Help, Furniture Fumes, and Getting Enough Vitamin D

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To Tube or Not to Tube

Q My child keeps getting ear infections and our doctor wants to insert ear tubes. Can any alternative therapies help?
 
A You’ve got a good shot. Though most mainstream doctors haven’t yet turned a friendly ear, research suggests that recurrent ear infections can be caused by intolerance to certain foods and treated by eliminating those foods.

“It’s virtually malpractice that every pediatrician isn’t trying this approach,” says physician Bill Manahan of the University of Minnesota Medical School in Minneapolis. “It’s such an easy first step.”

One of the best studies tested 104 kids with recurrent ear infections and found that 81 of them had at least one food allergy. Cutting the offending foods from their diet for four months helped 86 percent of those kids—and when the foods were reintroduced, 94 percent had a new bout of illness.

Typical culprits are dairy products, wheat, chocolate, and soy, says Manahan. He suggests identifying foods your child eats a lot of and eliminating each completely—one at a time—for two to three weeks. If that helps, enforce the taboo for a few months, then reintroduce the foods one by one every four days or so.

Eight to 10 grams per day of the natural sweetener xylitol, in the form of gum or syrup, may also help; shop for it at xylitolstore.com. And some kids have gotten good results from craniosacral therapy or homeopathy.

New-Furniture Freeloaders

Q What’s the best way to get rid of the chemicals new furniture gives off?

A Just about every component of furniture can emit low doses of gases known as volatile organic compounds or VOCs. Such exposures can irritate the eyes, nose, and throat, cause headaches, and exacerbate asthma. The most common is formaldehyde, found in composite wood products such as pressboard, particleboard, and medium-density fiberboard.

To avoid VOCs, choose solid wood pieces whenever possible, and select upholstered items with removable covers you can wash before use. Air new furniture outside for as long as you can, and keep windows open for at least 48 hours after you move it in. “The more air you can get circulated around it, the better,” says Marilyn Black, chief scientist of Air Quality Sciences in Atlanta.

If nothing else, you could always cultivate a taste for antiques.

Sun or Supplements?

Q I take TUMS for calcium; if I get a little sun every day, do I need to take vitamin D, too?

A TUMS are an inexpensive and convenient source of calcium, but they don’t include vitamin D, which is crucial for absorption.

In theory, you can get the D you need from sunlight; all it takes is 10 to 15 minutes of sunscreen-free sun exposure at least two times a week. But for many people this isn’t simple: If you live in a northern region, or even in an area with lots of air pollution, you may not be exposed to enough of the UV light that’s required, especially in winter. People with dark skin, the elderly, and those with celiac disease have an...

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