Treatment for Eustachian Tube

For years, doctors have relied on drugs to cure ear infections, but now, there's a new alternative for ear pain that is just a quick "pop" away.

Grady Dessert needs to see his family doctor. He may have an ear infection, and to Dr. Sarah Sams, it's a familiar story. "That's probably the biggest reason they come in is the child wakes up during the night or can't get to sleep because of the ear pain," says Dr. Sams.

Ear infections are so common nearly every child in the world gets one by age ten. Treating them costs families four billion dollars a year. Doctors routinely prescribe antibiotics. Dr. Sams says, "The more you use antibiotics, the more chance the bacteria have to develop a resistance, and then it makes it less effective next time."

For many kids, it's an endless round of ear infections and medicines that don't quite work. For some, it means permanent hearing loss. Dr. Daniel Arick helped invent the EarPopper, a device which blows pressurized air to clear out the Eustachian tubes. In kids, the tube to the middle ear is short and nearly flat, so fluid is unable to drain. That triggers infections.

With the EarPopper, once the child swallows, then squirts in the air, the fluid drains and the pain goes away. "Over a seven week period of time, when used twice a day it restores hearing to normal in the majority of children without the use of surgery and antibiotics," says Dr. Arick.

Lauren Gillespie says, "I could use it like for anything, for when I go to the pool, when I go on planes, just whenever my ear is clogged." Dr. Sams sees it as a welcome alternative to drugs, saying, "Anything that's effective in resolving the infection and the symptoms is a great option."

After a six year study by the National Institutes of Health, the EarPopper was approved by the FDA. The device is just now coming on the market. If you're interested, talk to your doctor.

Source: RefillPill.com Editors' Choice