Did you know that poor spine health can cause ear pain and infections? If you feel discomfort in the ear from poor ear drainage or Eustachian tube dysfunction, chiropractors treat ear pain with targeted spinal adjustments that can successfully regulate your persistent earache.
Meet Impact Chiropractic, your go-to partner for whole-body chiropractic care, including the upper respiratory function and the ear, nose, and throat (ENT) system. If your ear pain refuses to leave, we can help you treat the cause without medications or surgery.
Where Does Ear Pain Originate?
Various issues can cause ear pain. Earwax is one of the usual suspects, blocking the eardrum once it builds up enough. That brings discomfort and pain, but you might also experience inflammation and ear infections from stuffy ears.
You know the ear shares neural pathways with the sinuses, throat, and mouth. That connection is another cause of ear pain. The culprits to blame are sore throat, tonsillitis, sinus infections, toothache, gum disease, and jaw joint problems.
Eustachian tube dysfunction can also cause discomfort and pain in your ears. This lesser-known part of the ENT system links your middle ear to the back of your throat, making room for colds, allergies, and sinus infections to cause pain.
Spinal Health and Ear Function
Eustachian tubes can hurt for another reason— poor spinal health. If you frequently experience ear congestion and neck pain, you may suffer from Eustachian tube dysfunction due to imbalances in your upper spine.
When your spine hurts, the pain can sometimes spread to your ears. Why? Because nerves that transmit pain connect your ear canal and spine. They send signals from spinal misalignments, temporomandibular joint dysfunction, neck injuries, and muscle tension.
Spinal misalignments are the usual culprits. Spondylosis, scoliosis, and other types of wear and tear or deformities of the spine and posture put a lot of pressure on nerves and cause unexpected symptoms like headaches, dizziness, and ear pain.
How Chiropractic Care Can Help
Just because you wouldn’t usually go to chiropractors to treat ear pain doesn’t mean you shouldn’t. Chiropractic care can successfully treat chronic ear conditions by addressing the root cause of spinal misalignment and nerve function.
Chiropractic adjustments at our clinic can help you:
- Unclog Eustachian tubes: Ear infections occur due to fluid buildup from poor ear drainage. Eustachian tube dysfunction due to misalignment in the upper cervical spine may be why you have clogged ears. Chiropractic care can realign your spine and improve your Eustachian tube function, helping your ears drain properly.
- Boost immune function: Chiropractic treatments positively impact the nervous system function, which is crucial for your immune health. They reduce pressure on your nerves, especially in the neck and upper spine, boosting immune function and allowing your body to fight infections more efficiently.
- Alleviate nerve pressure: Spine misalignments can make your back and neck hurt and sometimes bring headaches and ear discomfort. That happens because spine misalignments irritate nerves connected to your ear, resulting in chronic pain. Chiropractic treatments can help relieve this pressure and ear discomfort.
- Reduce muscle tension: You can also blame spinal misalignments for your tense neck, jaw muscles, and head, especially if you have poor posture. Unfortunately, that can contribute to chronic earaches, too. A capable chiropractor will recognize these symptoms and use special techniques to fix your spine misalignment and ease muscle and ear tension.
Chiropractors can manage the symptoms and the root cause of chronic ear pain. You can seek treatment for momentary relief, but you can also talk to your chiropractor and commit to ongoing therapies to eliminate the root cause.
Chiropractic Treatments That Alleviate Ear Pain
If you’re suffering from ear inflammation or tension pain caused by poor drainage, our team at Impact Chiropractic can help ease discomfort. We use the following techniques.
Manual Therapy
Manual chiropractic therapy includes hands-on treatments to address spinal issues and restore proper alignment. Our skilled professionals use their hands to perform spinal adjustments that help enhance mobility and alleviate discomfort in the ear.
The Muncie Technique
Our chiropractors use the Muncie technique to improve Eustachian tube function and encourage drainage of fluid buildup from the middle ear. They achieve that by gently manipulating your ear and neck muscles, which helps reduce nerve pressure.
Relieving Pressure
Stuffy ears and subsequent chronic pain in this area often result from sinus inflammation and upper respiratory infections. Chiropractic treatments at our clinic can ease the pressure in the head and neck and give your body a much-needed chance to recover.
Chiropractic Techniques That Promote Drainage
Your body functions optimally when your spine is in alignment. The following techniques allow our team at Impact Chiropractic, chiropractors to treat ear infections and pain holistically.
Upper Cervical Adjustments
Our clinic’s chiropractors treat stuffy ears with upper cervical adjustments, which help them drain properly. Temporomandibular joint adjustments and techniques for realigning the neck and upper spine reduce pressure and stimulate fluid drainage.
Spinal Adjustments
Regular spinal adjustment is critical for your body’s function and overall health. A strong spine prevents complications from misalignments and nerve pressure, such as blocked nasal passages, sinus pain, and congested ears.
Cranial Sacral Techniques
The human skull is made of cranial bones capable of sustaining significant pressure. However, when this pressure is long-lasting or recurring, you may feel tension pain in the head, neck, and ear. We can treat your ear pain by calming the cranium using the cranial sacral technique.
Postural Correction
Poor posture can strain your neck and jaw, causing headaches and ear pain. Our chiropractors may recommend postural exercises and corrections to help realign your spine and reduce tension on the muscles and nerves connected to your ears.
When to Call a Chiropractor for Ear Pain
If you’re experiencing consistent ear pain or if your ears feel stuffy all the time, don’t put off a visit to the chiropractor for too long. Schedule a chiropractic adjustment if traditional ways of treating ear infections don’t work, especially in these situations:
- Multiple ear infections: Recurring ear infections can lower your quality of life and cause permanent damage to the ear and nearby bones, so don’t leave them untreated. If symptoms of your ear infection last more than three months and keep returning, contact us to schedule an appointment and address the problem.
- Chronic ear congestion: Stuffy ears are unpleasant, especially if they last for weeks. This sensation is trying to warn you that your ears are clogged before the buildup develops an ear infection. A simple chiropractic ear adjustment can help unblock your stuffy ears and prevent the problem from worsening.
- Persistent sinus issues: The right kind of chiropractic treatment plan can reduce sinus inflammation, but not only that. By minimizing the nasal pressure, a chiropractor’s carefully studied movements can also reduce swelling, clean up your inner ear, and allow your ears to drain more easily.
What to Expect at Impact Chiropractic
What happens the first time you visit Impact Chiropractic for an ear-related treatment? After you tell us about your symptoms and health history, our team will address your concerns and employ cutting-edge technology to evaluate your spinal health. Then, our experienced chiropractors will recommend the best treatment plan for your needs according to your overall condition.
Every treatment plan at Impact Chiropractic is tailored to specific symptoms and unique, just like every patient. As chiropractors, we aim to help our patients achieve optimal health through natural, drug-free treatments. We work to improve the function of your nervous system and promote better ear health, relieving your pain symptomatically and in the long term.
Conclusion
Chiropractic care provides a natural solution for stubborn ear pain and discomfort due to poor drainage or recurring ear infections. At Impact Chiropractic, chiropractors treat ear pain using specialized techniques and spinal adjustments that help your body and immune function holistically. Our personalized ear treatment plans suit every ear problem and spinal condition.
Contact Impact Chiropractic today to schedule an appointment with our skilled team in Fort Collins or Loveland and return home pain-free or start healing as soon as possible.
