Amoxicillan No Better than a Placebo–Wha???

Here’s something to discuss with your pediatrician at your next visit. I came across an article this morning claiming that Amoxicillin is no better than a placebo for most sinus infections.

“Our results show that antibiotics aren’t necessary for a basic sinus infection – most people get better on their own.” Dr Jay F Piccirillo

Any mom out there knows exactly what Amoxicillin is…the pink stuff that gets prescribed to your children for ear infections, sinus infections, etc. I’m not a huge fan of my child taking medication, and luckily I have a pediatrician who isn’t either. She’s sent me home with the a prescription of “if he doesn’t get better in 3 to 4 days come back” many, many times.

However, I have also been on the losing end of that deal (with an ex-pediatrician). My son, then 11-months-old, had a cold for weeks. I kept taking him to his doctor and getting sent home. I had kept him home up until two months prior, so the doctor blamed it on him being around other kids for the first time… “building up his immunities” and all that.

Long story short, it took me getting a second opinion (from my current pediatrician) to find out that his cold turned into a sinus infection, which turned into orbital cellulitis. At which point, we were prescribed a 5 night stay at Saint Francis Children’s.

Orbital cellulitis is not common and doesn’t mean that my son will be more susceptible to it in the future. So, I’m back to avoiding medication when possible. The lesson I learned from that experience was to manage an illness closely and not let it get out of control.

The article suggests:

Instead of straight away giving out antibiotics like amoxicillin, the one investigated in this study, the researchers suggest doctors and patients should just treat the symptoms, such as pain, fever, cough and congestion, and monitor the situation to see if further treatment is necessary.

I agree. Here are a couple of things I do that I think help keep my son healthy.

1) At any given time in the winter, there could be three humidifiers going at my house.

2) When I pick my son up from school, I have hand sanitizer by his car seat and immediately apply it while buckling him up. I basically have hand sanitizer everywhere and apply it as needed.

3)  At the first sign of congestion, I begin applying Organic Ah-Choo Chest Rub before bedtime.

4) I don’t do juice, except when he has a cold. During a cold, I’ll give him whatever he wants to get him to up the fluid intake (I still mix half juice, half water). That includes popsicles.

5)  My pediatrician gave me this one… Simply Saline. There’s no medication in it at all, it just moisturizes and flushes dirt, pollen, congestion, etc.

6) Finally, at 15-months-old, he got tubes put in his ears and his adenoids removed. It changed our lives for the better. Although it was a hard decision to make, I’m glad we went ahead with it and would do it again.

Here’s another link to for some tips. Please share your non-medication tips to keeping your kids healthy!