Water-based fun for children this time of year can sometimes lead to infections in young ears, which have smaller Eustachian tubes for draining moisture from the ear canal. Combined with summer’s heat and humidity, plus frequent immersions in aquatic settings, a child’s moist, warm inner ear environment is ideal for symbiotic growth of fungus and bacteria, according to Dr. Neil K. Kaneshiro, a clinical assistant professor of pediatrics at the University of Washington School of Medicine, in Seattle. Together, these factors can result in blockages and earaches.

Gently cleaning the ears during the summer with a wax-dissolving solution, followed by a careful rinsing, is excellent preventative action. If an oral antibiotic is taken for an existing infection, note that it will only kill the bacteria, possibly leaving fungus to foster a recurrence.

Dr. K.O. Paulose, a world-class expert in ear, nose and throat procedures at the Jubilee Memorial Hospital, in India, advises that the proper treatment of an earache requires killing both fungus and bacteria. Un-like oral antibiotics, it is administered only into the affected ear so it doesn’t upset the entire body and immunity system.

An easy, natural way to wholly treat the condition is by administering a couple of drops of an enhanced aqueous silver colloid such as Super Neti Juice, from Nature’s Rite, into the ear and then remaining still to let it settle for 10 minutes; this will kill both the fungal and bacterial pathogens. In Book of Silver Testing, co-authors S.R. Frank, G. Clark and A. Cornelious concur that this treatment may be repeated every hour and can eliminate the infection within one day with no adverse consequences to the child.

Steven Frank is the founder of Nature’s Rite. For more information, email [email protected] or visit MyNaturesRite.com.