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Oct 3, 2005 6:18 pm US/Eastern
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New Way To Treat Kids With Chronic Ear Infections
NEW YORK (CBS) ―
Chronic ear infections are a common problem. Each year, more than 700,000 children undergo surgery to have tubes put in their ears. But one local doctor has come up with a simple, non-surgical way to treat many of these kids.
It's a small device, but it could keep children with chronic ear infections out of the operating room. It's called the "EarPopper." And that buzzing sound is music to Shannen Gillespie and her mom, Janet's ears.
"I believe that this really helped her," said Mrs. Gillespie.
"It made me hear better, and if I sat in the back of my room I could hear my teacher clearly," added Shannen.
Shannen had chronic ear infections. Often, they go away on their own. But if they persist, there can be significant consequences.
"There can be behavioral and emotional problems, as the child can't hear the teacher in school, and frustration on the part of the child," said ear, nose & throat surgeon Dr. Daniel Arick.
Shannen eventually had tubes surgically implanted in her ears. That's the standard treatment for chronic ear infections. But surgery costs money, there's always a risk from anesthesia, and the tubes often fall out and may have to be put back in with another operation.
Dr. Arick thinks he has a better solution. he calls it the EarPopper.
Here's how it works: the device delivers a puff of compressed air into the nostril. When the patients swallows, the air is forced into the eustachian tube -- that's the tube that connects the middle ear to the back of the nose. When air goes up the eustachian tube, the ear pops -- similar to what happens when you yawn and clear your ear during an airplane landing.
But in the case of children with chronic ear infections, Dr. Arick says repeated popping of the ear gets rid of the condition.
"If a child uses this device for twice a day for seven weeks, it resolves the problem in 85% of the cases."
The EarPopper costs around $300. Dr. Arick is a co-inventor... so he has a financial interest in its success.
But he says the studies are promising. They were published in the journal "Ear, Nose and Throat" last month.
I also spoke to one prominent Manhattan ear, nose & throat surgeon... and he told me the EarPopper is a great idea... and could help many patients.
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