If you’ve ever taken your child to the pediatrician because her ears weren’t draining and she’s getting ear infections, you’ve likely been told that kids have horizontal eustachian tubes and that’s why they’re prone to ear infections. But gravity is not required to help ears drain.
It’s the same kind of process as your stomach. You can stand on your head, take a bite of an apple and the food is still going to get down there. There are processes and little muscles that milk the food down into your stomach. The same process happens in your head that milks the fluid down your ears, nose and throat so fluid can drain. In your head, it’s called the tensor veli palatini. That’s the name of the muscle that connects the eustachian tube to the roof of your mouth. If you’ve ever flown, and you’ve chewed gum to make your ears pop, that’s why it works! The muscle connects to the roof of your mouth and tugs on your eustachian tube to help work things along.
But there’s also a neurological connection to that muscle and the top part of your neck. That’s why, when pediatric chiropractors give these gentle specific adjustments to this top area of their spine, the ears drain so well, and all of sudden we break this cycle, and they stop getting these chronic recurring ear infections. Here at Hanson Family Chiropractic we aim to help with. Please reach out if you’d like to learn more about how we can help!