A short medical video segment on WNBC, the New York affiliate of the NBC network, touted the benefits of “osteopathic manipulation” for treating chronic ear infections in children. The video report aired September 24.

The anchor news reporter on the broadcast introduced the segment as a “ground-breaking way” for parents to take care of their children’s chronic ear infection. No mention was made of chiropractic research on ear infection. (Recent research on the effects of chiropractic on ear infection is available from the Children's Chiropractic Research Foundation, part of the International Chiropractic Pediatric Association.

In the news clip, Dr. David Marks, WNBC’s medical reporter, said, “Many of us think of chiropractic manipulation as cracking bones. But osteopathic manipulation is much more gentle. It focuses on the muscles and ligaments that connect the skull to the spine.”

The research referenced in the segment, “The use of osteopathic manipulative treatment as adjuvant therapy in children with recurrent acute otitis media,” was published in the Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine.

The authors of the research study write: “Osteopathic manipulative treatment was provided to the intervention group at each visit, as indicated by the osteopathic examination results and the child’s cooperation. Treatments lasted 15 to 25 minutes, which is usual in most practices.

Treatments were gentle techniques on areas of restriction consisting of articulation, myofascial release, balanced membranous tension (according to teachings of William Garner Sutherland, DO, and others), balanced ligmentous tension, facilitated positional release, and/or counterstrain treatments. These techniques are familiar to most recently trained osteopathic physicians. … No high-velocity (popping) techniques were used.”

In the study, two groups of patients, six months to six years old, received care. One group received routine pediatric and the other received routine care plus osteopathic manipulative treatment.

The study concluded that osteopathic manipulative treatment as adjuvant therapy in children with recurrent provided “a potential benefit” and may decrease surgical intervention or antibiotic overuse.

In the video segment, Dr. Karen Ericson performed a manipulation on a male child. "What we're really doing is using the ligamentous systems that surround the cranial bones to help stretch and open the Eustachian tubes and help them drain," she said.

Marks told Chiropractic Economics that Ericson is a chiropractor. Her credentials were not provided in the online video clip nor on the online print story. Marks also said that the video segment may be released to affiliate TV stations.