Ear Infection - Grove City, OH

I went throught this for 9 months with my son before they decided to put tubes in his ears. Within days of having the tubes put in he was fine. Don't put it off.

I would take her to see an Ear, Nose, & Throat doctor. (ENT) If you're in the Massillon area, Dr. Barat is a wonderful doctor. I recently started seeing him, myself.

L. i am so sorry you are having such a rough time with your baby girl, i have battled with the same problems with my son when he turn one, we had to keep trying antibiotics to find the one that would finally work, keeps your hopes up, it does get better.

L.,
I have not had this problem, but if I were you I would get a new doctor. Antibiotics are going to become resisted by you r daughter. If I were you I would find a pediatric Ear nose and throat specialist myself, call them and see what they say about the situation. The infections could be damaging her hearing. I would jump on this asap!!!!!Good luck

Yes I have been through this and my son did not get better until he had tubes in his ears. I insisted since he had lost part of his hearing (it came back thankfully!) He was sick too and the doctor said he had to have so many infections to see a specialist, I suggested he revise his diagnosis criteria because this was starting to affect my son's developmental process. He had been picking up words like crazy and he stopped and his words started sounding slurred because that was how he was hearing them. I informed my son's doctor what he was going to do and once he heard how his speech was being affected he agreeded and Jaden got his tubes and got better! Sometimes you just gotta advocate for your kids :)

Good Luck,

B.

My son (16 mos.) just had tubes put in his ears and had his adenoids taken out. Before seeing the ENT we went through something similar to your story. With each infection, the antobiotics became less effective. By the end he had to have a shot each time. I would say don't wait, my ENT explained that persistant ear infections and fluid can cause a hearing loss of 30 decibles. If your insurance doesn't require a referral you can call the ENT yourself. There are few good ones mentioned on this site. We went to ExcellENT. I hope everything works out for you.

Your doctor sounds like he is putting it off. If she has been sick for 2 months the baby needs to be seen by an ear specialist. My son was the same way when he was little to the point where I finally told the doctor that (I demanded) him to be seen by an ear specialist. Which my son had to get tubes in his ears. That was when he was about a year old. Since then, I haven't had any ear infections. Be demanding to your doctor and tell him/her what you want. That is what needs to be done. Hope this helps.

M.

Yes, the doctor is just trying the different antibiotics to see if any of them will take care of the problem before resulting to tubes. The ear specialist will most likely put tubes in her ears that will allow her ears to drain better. This will cure and prevent future ear infections (most of them anyway). My daughter was almost two when she had this done. The tubes eventually fall out when she gets bigger. The operation is very simple, fast, and she'll feel much better! My daughter is seven now, and both tubes have fallen out. She still gets ear infections, but not nearly as often, and not nearly as bad. Good luck :)

I had the exact same problem with my now 10 month old daughter. The only thing that finally got rid of the infection was the antibiotic shots. My pediatrician reccomended an ENT surgeon who did put tubes in her ears. The surgery is VERY short and simple. I would just ask your doctor to refer you or take her on your own. If you are in my area I can give you the name of our doctor. I love the whole office and staff. They are very friendly and quick too. Good luck and let me know if I can help any more!

Hi L.,

My daughter dragged a ear infection in one ear around for almost two months and they tried af ew different antibitiocs, until I asked them, couldn't it be that she ahs her ear infection, because her nose is stuffy. Oh, maybe was the answer. Because what happens is there is a tube between ears and nose/throat called eustachian tube and this tube gives pressure and fluid balance to the whole nose throat area, or soemthing like that. When the nose stuffs up, the ears fill with liquid. This is very normal, but if the liquid stays around to long the ears can get infected and if they nose keeps being stuffed up, then the ears won't clear up either.

I would try to ask my doctor about that, just look the issue up on the internet and ask him, if this could be the cause. It is not very good to give them that many antibitotics, they can get immune to them. Also, it is better to fight the real cause than the infection most of the time.

If you doctor doesn't care about what you have to say or doesn't respond to you being worried about her stuffyness and fever I would seriously think about switching doctors.

Hope she feels better soon.
T..

When my daughter was 19 months old. I took her to the ER with an ear infection. She had had 12 ear infections before this time. Her Doctor had her on antibiotics practically all her life. At the hospital they found that she seriously needed tubes in her ears. She is 3 now and we haven't had any since we got the tubes. Maybe ask your DR. about tubes or switch Drs

My son also went through that and we just had tubes put in his ears last week. Our pedi told us the threshold is either more than 5 ear infections in 6 months or more than 2 infections in 2 months. My son had 6 infections in 8 months, so we went to an ENT and got tubes. He seems to be doing well so far! Good luck!

Happy Birthday! I went through the exact same thing with my son right around 10 months as well. He went through 14 days of the first antibiotic, was off for about a week and then went through 10 days of another. We were lucky enough that the 2nd dose cured him but my doctor said if it didn't they would try a third and if that didn't help they would contact a specialist. She said that most ear infections are just a bi-product of kids being in daycare and passing so many colds around that the sinus drainage is what causes them, not really a problem with the ear canals. My son is still sick, they checked him for pneumonia last week and is back on anti-biotics although he didn't get the ear infections back. He hasn't really grown in the last 3 months (went from the 75 percentile to the 25) so they are also checking him for anemia although we all think it is just from him being sick and a diminished appetite.

I agree with the other posters... see an ENT and soon! Don't let the pediatrician intimidate you into thinking you don't know your child. He doesn't have to stay up all night with a crying baby in pain. You know your child better than anyone else in the world. Fight to see a specialist.
We went through the same thing with both of our boys, several times. They both had ear tubes on 3 separate occasions, along with having thier tonsils and adenoids removed. Life was sooooo much better after the surgeries! They resumed normal growth and developement after that.
Be strong and God Bless.
S.

we had the same issues with my grandson. We were not going to let him suffer anymore so we called the pediatrician and insisted on a specialist for a second opinion. We saw the specialist on Tuesday and he put in tubes on Thursday. The specialist said we should have been referred months ago.

This is your child. Be pushy and insist on a second opinion by a specialist. A second opinion is your right.

This does not detract from your pediatrician's capabilities (we like ours). But, pediatricians deal with a broader span of things and sometimes a specialist is required to focus on the issue and get resolution.

Good luck.

I would call your pediatrician and get him to refer you to a specialist. My son faught and ear infection for a month on 3 antiboitics and finally i decided to take him to a specialist and he had to have tubes put in his ear. I was worried at first but it has been the greatest thing to happen to us. My son's speech and hearing have both inproved greatly. His sense of balance is better and he is not running into things anymore. I don't know how your inusrance works but the inusrance we have does not require a referal to any specialists so i took it upon myself to get my son to ENT. Check with your insurance and if you don't need a referal make an appt with an ENT and if you need a referal tell your peds to send you to one or get a second opinion. The ears and your eyes in my opinion are nothing to mess with. Good luck and let me know how things go

Hi L.,
I feel for you and your baby for dealing with this for so long. If you want to cure her ear infections once and for all without prescriptions, let me know. Ear infections are a sign of yeast overgrowth and antibiotics are making it worse.

First of all, I would take her to another pediatrician. If you feel like he's not taking care of the problem and It's been going on for that long, it's time to take action. You may actually get better diagnostic treatment if you take her to an urgent care or the emergency room. (I prefer the urgent care because they are more likely to see her more quickly.) You don't need to feel guilty about stepping put on your pediatrician either. When it comes to your child's health, You are her only advocate and it's up to you to speak for her. Good luck.

hi L.
I know how you feel, my son has gone and still ging throught the same deal as your daughter. i have changed his Dr because of the ear infection and the old Dr not agressively treating the ear infection. i suggest you take her to a periatric ENT. i will tell you what the cincinnati children's hospital has a great team that will tell you what your options are and what to do. My son has had 3 ear infection in the past 2 months,he's going to get tubes put in his ear next week because he continues to have fluid in one ear after the infection cleared out. Best of luck.

Hi L.,

My son had a double ear infection when he turned 1. I had him on an antibiotic for 1 1/2 days...then I took him to my Chiropractor...no more ear infection! The vertibrae can become subluxated from the birthing process and the neck muscles are tight, which will not allow the eustation tubes to drain properly. I learned during my Massage classes that massaging the neck muscles can relieve that tension. Adjusting the spine and neck will also help you & your child's immune system. Here is a website to check out a little more about chiropractic & pediatrics:

http://www.icpa4kids.org/why/function.htm

Taking my children to the Chiropractor has been the best thing I could do for their health. I hope you will find out for yourself.

L.

L.,
I have to agree with Sharon that that the antibiotics are not working; It doesn't sound like her little body is responding to them anymore. This could be because they have been overused. I would suggest that you seek a homeopathic remedy. I have heard (never tried because I didn't know about it until recently) that colloidal silver is an effective way to treat ear infections. I use a brand called Sovereign Silver. I have used it to treat cold and flu symptoms but apparently it can also be applied directly inside the ear. I would first visit your local health food store (you will be amazed at how much information you will come away with). Olympia health food store in Kettering is great and so is the Healthy Alternatives in Englewood on Rt. 48 main street. These ladies really know their stuff and will be able to refer you to a homeopathic doctor. Remember that doctors are not gods and do not have all the answers; Sometimes conventional medicine works great, other times it does not. I would also suggest that you get your daughter on probiotics, as M mentioned. I wish you the best.

J. F.

L.,
First off sorry to hear that your little one is having so many problems! I just went through that myself with my 3yr old son. We had 5 ear infections in 4 months! The dr just kept giving him different antibiotics but 5 days after we would stop them the infection would come back! Finaly I told him I had had enough and asked to be referred to an ENT dr! We had tubes put in 1 week after our first appointment with the ENT and we are so glad that we did!

Hi,

I totally feel you on this. My daughter who is 2 1/2 now has an ear infection everytime she has a cold but two month ear infection is seriously long time to stick on Antibiotics. Did you complete the dosage everytime she had antibiotics? 'coz when you take antibiotics that is very very important.

Please check with your doctor if tubes can help your daughter to get back to her normal life. I know how when kids are sick our whole world is messed up.

Hope she feels better.

Hi L.,

My son went through the same thing with ear infections. He was on an antibiotic for at least 3 months before we finally took him to see an ENT for the ear infections. We ended up having tubes put in his ears to help with the infections. He's 17 months old now and is on his second set of tubes. It has been a frustrating process but I think we finally found a treatment that works best for him. Any time that he starts to get congested we give him drops in his ears to prevent an infection.
Be sure to mention your frustrations and concerns to your daughter's doctor and talk about what the best options are to get your daughter some releif from being sick all of the time. If he brushes you off and doesn't answer your questions, it may be time to find a different doctor.

I would take her to an Ear nose and throat specialist. Too long with infections could cause scar tissue and hearing loss. Not to mention the pain she is in. My daughter had to have ear tubes placed in her ears to relieve the infections. It is fairly common now a days and it can help them alot. I would tell your doctor to give you a name of a specialist now or find one yourself. I would not wait another 3 weeks, that is silly to put her through all that. God Bless