Child’s Ear Infection and Migraine Headaches
Answered by: Susan Eagles
Question from: Kathleen
Posted on: April 29, 2003

My 9 1/2 year old son is prone to ear infection. I want to try to use more herbal and plants to help his ear infections instead of the harsh chemicals that he has been taking. He has suffered from these for the past 5 years and has tubes put in his ears twice. We are waiting to go for the third set now. I was told that Black-Eyed Susan can help with ear infections. I wanted to know if this is true and if so what part and how do I use them?

We have previously answered questions on migraine headaches and on children’s ear infections. . Please go to our website at http://www.richters.com, choose "Q&A" from the main menu, then choose enter the word "migraine" or "ear infection" for the search.

I have no experience in using black-eyed Susan (Rudbeckia hirta). James Duke in "The Green Pharmacy" (available at Richters) notes that a study has shown that root extracts of black-eyed Susan stimulate the immune system better than Echinacea extracts. "Eastern/Central Medicinal Plants", by Steven Foster and James Duke states that the root juice of black-eyed Susan was used by the American Indians for earaches.

Also, I suffer from migraines and was told that Belladonna is a good thing to help with the pain and it is also very dangerous to use, so if it’s not too much trouble could you please tell me how I might use this as well?

Atropa belladonna, or deadly nightshade, is used for spasmodic pain, but must be used only by a health practitioner. The effective dose is very close to a toxic dose and there are many side effects and many contraindications. You may be able to find a homeopathic preparation of belladonna that would be helpful. I recommend that you look at our website for possible causes of your migraine. It’s better to remove the cause than treat the symptom.

I live in Canada so I don’t know if this makes a difference for growing the plants or not.

Black-eyed susan is very hardy and will thrive in most southern areas of Canada. Belladonna is hardy to zone 6, though we have wintered it on our zone 5 farm. Belladonna can be grown successfully in the milder parts of the Canadian east coast, southern Ontario, and the west coast.

Ever since I received my first catalogue about the products at Richters I have been very interested in changing how my children and myself eat and what we grow in our garden. I would like to learn as much as possible so that I may start to use more organic and herbal products.

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