Summer is a wonderful time to be outdoors and enjoy the sun. Many of us splash around in swimming pools for fun and exercise. Children take swim classes and compete. Swimming is a wonderful whole-body workout and learning to swim is vital for water safety. However, many children end up getting swimmer’s ear, ear infections and/or colds because they are in the water so much. Why does Jimmy get swimmer’s ear or an infection but Johnny practicing next to him does not? This is directly related to a child’s constitution and daily dietary habits.
Cold-Damp Environment and Ear Problems
Children who are prone to swimmer’s ear and ear infections from swimming tend to have a weak constitution, “Cold” constitution, or their diets promote these ear problems. (There are children that always run hot, no matter what, even in the dead of winter, and then there are children who always tend to run cool or cold. There are also children who are in the middle. When I say “Cold” constitution, I am talking about those children who easily run cold – cold hands, cold feet – in particular.) In Chinese Medicine, we consider water to have a Cold, and in particular, Damp quality. Be in a cold, wet, damp environment long enough and the body’s immune system begins to slow down because that environment, in this case, the pool or ocean, is so overwhelmingly stronger and bigger than a child. So that Cold, Damp, wet energy literally seeps into the body, slowing down the child’s metabolic activity. This creates a “Damp” condition in the ear, like a mold or mildew growing in a unventilated, damp environment. Though the body tries to fight this Cold-Damp pathogen, if a child’s immune system is Cold or weakened from swimming, its attempts at fighting off the pathogen is weak. Instead of being able to properly discharge and eliminate the Cold-Damp pathogen through natural means of lymphatic drainage and heated metabolic activity of dissipating fluids, this weak response turns the Cold-Damp pathogen into a lodged ear infection instead.
Diet and Ear Problems
The way diet plays into ear problems is similar to the above-mentioned Cold-Damp environment. The food children consume on a daily basis promotes, from a Chinese Medicine perspective, a cold, damp environment within their bodies. Foods that are Cold and Damp in Chinese medicine are sweets, juices, carbohydrates, iced drinks, ice cream, nuts and nut butters, processed meats, and dairy products. Isn’t this what most American children eat and drink on a regular basis? A child who eats these foods regularly already has a Cold-Damp environment in their system. This will manifest in the child as cold, clammy hands and/or feet, runny nose, tummy aches, irregular bowel movements, frequent colds and ear infections, phlegmy cough, and/or asthma. These Cold-Damp prone children then enter the pool, and after repeated exposure to a cold, wet, environment–BAM–the double whammy of Cold-Damp from outside and inside the body turns into ear problems. The ears are affected by swimming because there is constant assault of water entering the ears, which is not a normal occurrence. Again, liken it to mold or mildew, i.e., improper water metabolism, happening in a dark, damp, unventilated environment.
Air Conditioners are Cold, Too
Don’t forget air conditioners! The temperature rises and many of us naturally turn on the A/C to cool down. This is another Cold environment a child walks into, often right after playing in water. When a child enters an air conditioned car or house and his/her pores are open from swimming and sweating, this unnatural cold air penetrates into the skin and attacks the body further, festering into an ear infection. A/C in particular is very damaging to children, and especially to a child with a Cold constitution, because of the unnatural bone-seeping cold air it creates.
Summer Colds
If you’ve gotten my gist of Cold-Damp and children, you probably already know what I’m going to say about summer colds. Children who catch summer colds often have this interplay of a weak or Cold constitution and Cold-Damp-heavy diet, plus playing, sleeping or sitting in an unnaturally cold (i.e., air conditioned) environment.
Chinese Medicine to the Rescue!
Chinese Medicine is extremely effective in combating ear infections, swimmer’s ear and summer colds. To treat these kinds of conditions stemming from Cold-Damp, we practitioners of Chinese Medicine look to the Law of Nature first. What in nature combats coldness and damp? Heat. Heat warms and counteracts coldness. Dry, warm air purges moisture and dampness. Therefore, in treating children, we will often use Warm/Hot medicinals that contain Cinnamon and Ginger, and techniques that use moxa to treat a child with these conditions. Shonishin and/or acupuncture will also help to dispel Cold-Damp as well as improve fluid and blood circulation, and strengthen the constitution of the child so that the child’s own body can fight these infections. Depending on the severity of the condition, or the chronicity of the condition, one to five treatments often resolves these conditions, along with administration of herbs and changes to the child’s diet. But before you come in to see me, try the home remedies below to prevent these summer ailments.
Home Remedies
Here are some very effective strategies available at home to help combat swimmer’s ear, ear infections and summer colds:
- Dry off children immediately (including their hair) after they’re done swimming and change them out of wet, cold swimsuits into dry clothes. If they tend to be Cold, I suggest dressing them in long pants and long sleeve shirts or a light summer jacket or sweater as well to help conserve body heat. Use a blow dryer to dry them completely if you’re going to an air conditioned environment right after swimming or the sun is not out that day — or let them dry and warm up completely in the hot sun before going into a cold car or house. The sun is a powerful tool to help Cold or Weak children really warm up from the core of the body.
- In addition to drying their hair, use a blow dryer (on low heat setting) to warm the back of their ears where they attach to the head, the back of their necks, their bellies, their lower backs, and their wrists and ankles. Do this right after swimming and before they go to bed. Blow drying these body points has a wonderfully warming effect on the whole body and helps to maintain proper fluid drainage and keep their immune system strong.
- Have children sip warm honey water (babies should be one or older), cinnamon water, or ginger water from their sippy cups after swimming. Seep a cinnamon stick and/or pieces of ginger in hot water for 5 -10 minutes, let it cool down a bit, remove the cinnamon or ginger, and then fill a Thermos sippy cup for the child to drink from after swimming.
- Avoid dairy, ice cream, sugary foods and iced drinks surrounding the days that your children swim. Instead, feed them hot porridge, oatmeal, soups, warm drinks, beef and lamb. Cook often with warming ingredients like garlic, ginger, and onion to warm up the foods they are consuming.
- Employ topical Swimmer’s Ear drops right after swimming. One or two drops in each ear.
- Dress children protectively at night: have them wear socks to sleep in and tuck their shirts into their pants to protect tummies from Cold and Wind (i.e., fans, A/C, open windows) while they’re sleeping. Ideally, don’t turn on fans or A/C while sleeping and if you must have a window open, don’t place a child’s feet or head right by the window.
- Keep the A/C to a minimum. Keep it at a temperature just enough to get rid of the oppressive heat or humidity, but don’t make it Arctic cold. If your child’s hands, feet or nose are cold to the touch while in the car or house, you know you’ve got the A/C on too cold. Reduce the A/C and warm up your child in the sun or the blow dryer to prevent the Cold from seeping deeper into the body.
- Consider using a fan instead of the A/C, or combine a fan and the A/C. Use the A/C just to rid the environment of humidity or oppressive heat, and use the fan to keep the air circulating and cool. Fans are a more natural alternative to cooling the body, so if at all possible, employ just natural air, letting the fan cool you and your child.
- Let kids play a lot in the sun to really collect the wonderfully nature-derived warming energy of the sun. Modern kids don’t get enough sun and nature time.
Our bodies are highly attuned to nature. In summer, our pores naturally open to help keep our bodies cool by allowing us to sweat more easily. And summer is when our bodies are supposed to detoxify naturally. It is important to sweat during the summer because this allows us to also expel toxicity and gunk that has built up over the previous winter and spring, cleaning us out to prepare us for the fall and coming winter again. We can collect and harness the warming energy of the sun to detox unwanted elements and effectively strengthen the body. Children who are prone to allergies and asthma in the fall and winter will really do well to play in the sun and sweat during the summer. This helps them strengthen their constitution during the abundant warm energy of the summer while dispelling toxic heat, inflammation, and mucus/phlegm build up through sweating. (But of course, do utilize smart sun strategies for your child!)