Glue
Ear (Otitis) Research
Alternative &
Complementary Therapies
Homoeopathic
treatment for glue ear
The study was to determine whether homoeopathic treatment of children
suffering from glue ear was more effective than standard GP care at
producing a return to normal hearing (a hearing loss of less than 20 dB)
within 12 months. The trial was carried out in general practice using a
non-blind, controlled trial in two locations in southern England.:
Thirty-three children aged 18 months to 8 years with otitis media with
effusion (escape of fluid), hearing loss > 20 dB and an abnormal
tympanogram. During the trial hearing loss, tympanogram, referrals to
specialists and number of courses of antibiotics at 12 month follow-up
were all measured .
A higher proportion of
children receiving homoeopathic care had a hearing loss less then 20
dB at follow-up (64 vs 56%), though this difference did not reach
statistical significance (95% confidence interval for the difference
between means of -25 and 42%). More homoeopathy patients than
controls had a normal tympanogram (75 vs 31%, P = 0.015). Referrals
to specialists and antibiotic consumption was lower in the
homoeopathy group, though differences between groups did not reach
statistical significance.
This shows that treatment with
homoeopathy reduced the use of treatment by antibiotics and improved
hearing to the middle ear, however further research comparing
homoeopathy to standard care is warranted. Assuming recovery rates
of 50 and 30% in homoeopathy and standard care groups respectively,
270 patients would be needed for a definitive trial.
A randomized
comparison of homoeopathic and standard care for the treatment of
glue ear in childrenComplement Ther Med 1999 Sep;7(3):132-5Harrison
H, Fixsen A, Vickers A
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