Ear Tubes, or No Ear Tubes??

I would try every other possibility before getting tubes. Tubes can also be a pain just as much as the infections. Consider cleaning her ears regularly with peroxide first. See if that helps. Also, contrary to popular opinion, not all ear infections have to be treated with antibiotics. I avoid antibiotics at all costs unless I know it is absolutely the best decision at that time. My kids get ear infections, and I first treat it at home. I rarely have had to go to the doctor for it. Peroxide for cleaning. Homeopathic drops of oil for pain (you can buy them at HEB) as well as tylenol or ibuprofen. Hot compresses can ease pain too - but I don't use them. If it doesn't begin easing in a few days, but actually gets worse like swimmers' ear, then head to the doctor. Or if you think there is a foreign matter in the ear, then head to the doctor to remove it only.

If the ENT (not the pediatrician) is recommending tubes, then do it. Putting it off will only result in possible hearing loss and (likely only short term) speech issues which may require therapy to overcome. IMHO, clogged tubes (which I've frankly never heard of before) were not causative of the other child's speech delay - there must have been other factors involved.

Try a cranial sacral therapist that specializes in kids. It's a noninvasive way to gently realign the bones in the head. I've read that it can do wonders for this problem.
My boyfriend had tubes put in his ears and he has had permanent tinnites since(a ringing in the ears)when he goes to sleep he has to have the tv on to block out the ring. Try everything else before the tubes.

I highly suggest taking her to a chiropractor before any more antibiotics or tubes. I don't know where you're at, but Dr. Krugman at Island Chiropractic on Padre Island (Corpus Christi) is wonderful. Good luck & God bless. H. B

Has she ever been adjusted by a chiropractor or an osteopath? The success rate is EXTREMELY high with kids and ear infections - and it's all natural. No side effects or drugs, or long term complications. And kids usually respond with just a couple of treatments. Go to www.icpa4kids.org and you can have your questions answered and concerns addressed - you can also find a local doc there. My motto: natural first, drugs second, surgery last.

If you want to avoid the surgery route then try the chiropractor or an Osteopath (dr with a DO instead of an MD, my husband is one)I had tubes put in 2 of my 4 children and it helped so much. Neither one of them had an ear infection for the first year after that. My son is 4 and has speech problems I believe are due to hearing loss becuase he always had fluid in his ears the first year of his life.

If you want to go drug-free and surgery-free, I highly recommend a chiropractor trained in pediatrics. My 2 year old started off life w/ severe allergies and ear infections. After just a few adjustments, every single cold or allergy-related congestion episode STOPPED turning into an ear infection. When he first shows signs of congestion and/or ear pain, I take him for an adjustment, including an ear adjustment. It does wonders!!! The amount of mucous that comes out of his body after an adjustment is unbelievable. He has NEVER been given antibiotics, either. If a doctor tells you she has to be given an antibiotic to clear it up, that is simply NOT TRUE, although most doctors have no clue. Besides the chiro, I also use an herbal expectorant, Naturade's Kid's Expec. It's herbs with guaifenesen, the ingredient in Mucinex. This thins the mucous so that it can drain more easily. I have more luck w/ that than plain guaifenesen. Since my son's issues are allergy related, we have also done NAET treatments and have had great success with them. Google it...sounds weird at first but works so unbelievably well that we are now doing them for the rest of our family. Also, eliminate protein from her diet until the congestion goes away, usually 3 to 10 days. The proteins in our diets contribute to the histamine response in our bodies. There's more I can tell you, but I don't want to make this longer if you're not interested, so email me if you want more.

Best of luck to you, whatever you choose!

I don't know if you're near the Woodlands, but Gayle LeBon is a GREAT chiropractor and she uses an actuator (not certain I spelled that correctly) but she doesn't actually manipulate you physically, she adjusts the bones with a little "thumper" that works GREAT. I've been to 3 different kinds of Chiropractors and this method would work best for a child. She does a wonderful job letting the child know what she's going to do first so it isn't scary and it doesn't hurt. If you need a good ENT, Jeff Chimenti is the BEST!!! Also in The Woodlands. Good luck!

Hi H., my son had 5 ear infections between 5 and 9 months of age so we had the tubes put in (when he was 9 months). He is now 3 and has only had two minor ear infections since the tubes. Both tubes have fallen out in the last 6 months and so far no problems so it is unlikely he would need them again. Of course there is a risk because even though it's outpatient, it's still surgery and there are always risks. Just make sure you get a good ENT (check references, experience, etc) and make sure you do follow up visits every 6-12 months and have your pediatrician check them whenever you take your daughter in. It seems like the other girl must not have been to the doctor for quite awhile to have them clogged long enough to cause speech delay. But speech delays can be caused by extensive infections also because the fluid buildup prevents proper hearing. The other thing to consider is overuse of antibiotics causes them to be less effective and your daughter has already had numerous rounds of them in her short life. Consider the pros/cons of both sides, discuss with your pedi, maybe meet with an ENT for a consult and make the best decision for your child based on the info available. Goodluck and Godbless!

I agree with Melinda below...get your information from a good ENT (preferably a pediatric ENT)and then make the best decision that you can as parents. My son had 5 ear infections in 6 months from 13 months to 19 months. We got ear tubes with Dr. Newton Duncan here in Houston at Texas Children's Hospital. He is now 3 and has only had 2 ear infections since then--both treated with ear drops rather than oral antibiotics. Miraculously enough, both original tubes are still in place.

As a teacher I can tell you that you can have a speech/learning delay from constant ear infections also. If they spend a large amount of their time with their ears blocked for any reason it can affect their speech and learning. No matter what you do you have to stay on top of it and make sure that your child is healthy and hearing.

On Jan 9, 2009 another mom had a similar question. This was my response.

What will happen is that eventually they will have to give her an extremely strong antibiotic to knock this infection out and then they will go in and place the tubes. Sometimes they will go ahead and remove her adenoids also.

My husband is so freaky about hospitals he would not let us go for the surgery. Finally our poor daughter lost enough hearing that my husband realized we had to get the surgery. We gave my husband a Valium and our daughter did great. She never had another ear problem again and regained all of her hearing. Thank goodness.

Hi H..

I opted for tubes with my now 7yo son. He had just as many ear infections with the tubes. It's a tough call. You are doing the right thing by asking for advice. What finally helped us, at the recommendation of our Pediatrician, was a long-term antibiotic, low-dose. I'm not sure of the dosage, but I do know we were on it for 2 weeks. Since this protocol, we've been nearly infection free, except maybe a minor one here or there that remedied itself in a couple of days. Do your research and if you decide on plugs, choose a Pediatric EENT to do it.
HTH

Here is the link to a similar question that Laurie is refuring to. There are many veiws and only you know your child, her doctor, this situation, and her needs. I have personally never heard of a case where the tubes havegotten clogged, and they are not kept in as long as they used to be. I had mine in for over a year, but I don't think this is the case anymore. If the ear infections continue, so will the pain and speech delays will follow certainly. Hope this helps. Good luck.
http://www.mamasource.com/request/13761320407476994049/82...

I completely understand. My 9 month old son is on his 6th ear infection in 3 months. Needless to say, he will be getting tubes next week. One thing that the ENT doctor said to me really stuck, that I had never thought about. Just by him having so many ear infections, his ears have been pretty clogged with fluid most of the time. Just by that fluid buildup, he isn't hearing as well as he should and that will cause speech delays, since he isn't hearing the words that are spoken very well.

All of the mothers that I talked to said they loved tubes and their children were much more comfortable and happy.

Good luck with your decision.

My son got tubes at age 10 months. one fell out so he had to get another at 11 months. he is now 14 months and is doing fine. no infections. as far as them being soooo wonderful helping with allergies this is not the case for us. we have to be extra careful about water, and any other ear drops. the drops we use cost 100.00 per itty bitty bottle. ask you insurance about it so you can be forwarned. if she does get infected you have to use only that type of drop. this dosent cause her not to get infections only lets the infection drain before the eardrum ruptures. although our son has only had one infection after the first set. none after the second tube was replaced. I would think she got her clogged tubes due to lack of daily inspection of her ears. You have to watch them like a hawk.

My daughter had tubes put in last summer, at age 26 mos. We are SO happy we did it! We haven't had a single problem and the tubes are intact. The problem with continually treating with antibiotics is that your daughter could grow and immunity against them and if she was to get really sick, the antibiotics might not work as well. Our ENT is Dr. Yasmeen Jalal and I would highly recommend her. She has twin daughters and understands the "mommy" viewpoint of ear tube surgery as well. Her number is ###-###-####.

Why is everyone so quick to have an invasive procedure that usually will need to be repeated done to your children. Stop the antibiotics change your cleaning products and personal care products adjust their diet(wheat, corn syrup dairy) If the problem starts because of allergies use homeopathic meds, because they are safe for use for little ones.Remember Dr. make money off you being sick,do you really think they want you to get well? Yes their are some that truly want to help, find the ones that incorporate conventional and non conventional(herbs, homeopathic aromatherapy chiropractor massage) I know that I sound harsh but I am really sick of children being sick (ear infections allergies asthma ADHD autistic hyperactive) Most of the things can be prevented. Please take your time and research you can even contact me and I Would love to share what I have found. A little history on me, my 20yr suffered from major allergies went to many Drs when she was 3 wanted to give her a series of allergy shots. I refused because I could not see hurting my child,so I found Homeopathic meds and herbs. My 6yr old also has been treated with homeopathic meds and I changed my cleaning products and personal care products.This saved us from costly meds and Dr visits and we didn't have to pull up the carpet or get rid of the curtain like the DR's wanted. My 7 who most likely would have been diagnosed as ADHD if I didn't discover early that she had an intolerance to corn syrup. By eliminating wheat from my diet I have eliminated my ear infections. Yes I Eat wheat but if I Consume to much then my left ear starts to hurt if I don't stop eating the wheat then I do get a full blown ear infection.

Oh please try something else before tubes. So many times they don't really work as well as they should. They actually break the eardrum in order to do it. My husband is a chiropractor and works with children. He does this technique that is painless and then shows you how to do it. It allows the fluid to drain and relieve the pressure causing the pain. It works really well. Let me know if you would like to give it a try.

I love love love the ear tubes. We were very worried with our 1st child. She had to have them by 9 months. She had had 8 infections and almost never was off of antibiotics. She was also losing part of her hearing and would stop babbling and responding to us due to the ear infections and constant clogging. That was our 'red flag' to GET the tubes.

She had wonderful luck with the surgery and had not one problem with the tubes. Not even after surgery.
It took 5 mins to have the tubes placed in and we went home that day. She was up the next day.

My son we were sure would need them too, but after the 1st year and only 1 infection we thought we were past that stage. Nope. At 14 months he had 2 ear infections and we just opted to have the tubes. He had the same outcome... very good and no infections. We almost had to have the adenoids removed due to sinus infections after that, but we had 3 bad ones and not one since. He is 28 months now.

Good luck. We have had VERY good luck with them and really like not having to give antibiotics. We have a nephew that didn't have tubes and was given too many antibiotics and now has a VERY hard time getting rid of infections because he is immune to most antibiotics. Another reason we opted for this. (my H lost part of his hearing from so many ear infections as a child... no tubes.)

L.

We just got ear tubes 2 months ago for our son who is now 13 months old. The reason we did it was because he was having too many antibiodics. Too many so young aren't good for a baby. I was concerned about getting tubes too. Be sure you go to a top ENT who spcilizes in tubes for babies. If you go to a reputable doctor, you should have no problems. Since then our son has gotten sick, but didn't get an ear infection which was amazing.
Good luck!

My son had an average of one ear infection a month since birth. So, sometime around 10 or 11 months old we had tubes put in. While it did not completely eliminate the ear infections, it significantly reduced them. One tube fell out when he was around 2 years. After a few months, the writing was on the wall and we had to get another set of tubes. Having the tubes has made a big difference in his life. At one point he was getting 2-3 ear infections a month, now he gets them every 3 or 4 months. There are many things to consider, but I would say to talk to your pediatrician and if you trust him/her, then go with their recommendation. Also, you had mentioned the little girl with the speech delay, my nephew had constant fluid in his ears and was speech delayed and ended up having tubes to help him. So, there can be problems either way. I know its a tough decision.

Get the tubes. I dealt with ear infections as a child and things were much better for me once I had them. You don't want your daughter building a resistance to antibiotics to where they don't work for any kind of bacterial infection. My best friends' daughter had tubes and it made a huge difference for her too.
As for the child who tubes clogged and now has a speech delay, I would say that is pretty rare. If you want a second opinion, I know a great ear, nose, and throat doctor. He is my brother in law, but I have met tons of his patients who absolutely love him.

Hi H.,
Two of my 4 children had horrible ear/nose/throat infections. My DS was on antibiotics so long they didn't work any longer. He was profoundly deaf. When the MD finally put in the tubes, he said the fluid was like tar and would never have resorbed. After DS had the tubes put in he no longer had ear infections and began to walk/run and speak for the first time at 18mo. It took years for him to catch up and learn to take directions verbally since he had learned only through imitating action for his first year and a half of life. He still had difficulty through high school unless the instructions were written. He was always very bright, but that skill was supposed to be learned during the age he was deaf.

My DD had multiple ear infections and burst ear drums. She had tubes placed at 9 mo. and within the week had more ear infections. I learned that she was allergic to the corn syrup solids in her formula. Isomil SF(sugarfree, no aspartame, no corn syrup) was the answer for her. She was also allergic to cows milk. She did not have the ear infections after I eliminated the allergen.

You didn't ask about tonsils but it is the same story. She repeatedly had strep throat as an older child. She had her tonsils removed. Within a few months, again she had strep. Moral of the story is if your baby speaks and hears, perhaps finding out the allergen and removing it would be enough. Don't expect that tubes will prevent future ear infections if allergens are the cause. HTH
Peace,
C.

You have some greaat advice in your responses. I would check on alergies first before the tubes, but be open to them-you do not want your childs eardrum to burst! Which brings out a caution...do not use the peroxide in your childs ears without first consulting your doctor.If there is any chance at all that there is a tear in the drum, there will be more problems than you could imagine.

Kids get ear infections. It's just a fact of life.

Tubes (common practice, simple procedure or not) should only be considered if there is a very good reason.

For instance, your child's ear drums are bursting from the infections (scar tissue build-up can cause partial to full deafness, the constant build up of fluid behind the ear drum is causing a speech delay in your child, or other serious condition of these natures. Otherwise there really is no reason to put a young child through this procedure.

I completely understand that ear infections are annoying and sick children can be frustrating and tiring to deal with. But it is better to do so than to put your child through an uneccessary procedure.

Having said that. Keep in mind that this is MY opinion on the subject at hand and that you need to decide what is best for your child and your family.

Good Luck and best wishes... ;-)

You've gotten lots of responses and I may be saying the same as some of them....because I didn't read any of them. I just wanted to let you know that my daughter got ear tubes and it was the BEST thing I could have done for her. We were both sick and tired of the antibiotics and for her it made all the difference in the world. One of her ear tubes recently fell out (they only last a year give or take) and we have already had 2 more ear infections in that ear again.....so I'm considering getting another tube put in. All that medicine can't be good for her and the surgery literally took 10 minutes at the most......we barely sat down in the waiting room and they came out to get us. The worst part was her coming out of the gas they gave her.

Good luck!!

Hello there I am wanting to send you some information cause I see alot of people on here always talking about ear tubes and ear infection for there kids and my kids never have those thank GOD but I would like to share with you information that others have done and found that it turned thier kids life around if you like the information send me a message with you email address and I will send it to you

Oh by the way... I'm not tell you not to get the ear tubes but this may help in addition to or try before the ear tubes

Take care & best of luck

Both of my kids had tubes in at age 3. They also had tonsils and adnoids out at the same time. Thata helps the tubes work better. My kids had no complications from the tubes or having tonsilsand adnoids removed. Talk to your ENT about it. It's much better to do it all at once, than for your chi;d to have to have another surgery for the removal of the tonsils and adnoids.
Good Luck.

H.,

My oldest son had the same problem at that age. It seemed as soon as he fully recovered from one ear infection he had another. We opted for tubes and it was the best thing we could have ever done! I would HIGHLY recommend that you get them if your doctor suggests it. I know a lot of the time it depends on your doctor and whether or not they feel like the child needs them. My son had them put in when he was 15 months old. He is now 8 years old and has NEVER had another ear infection! I believe the damage could be more severe if you opt to not have the tubes than if you got them and she got an infection. Good luck to you and I hope that you find some relief for your little one!

Make sure the ENT check for enlarged adnoids first. You may need both to really fix the problem and they can be done at the same time and only have one anasethsia. If it is due to the adnoids tubes won't help enough by themselves. Dr. Nowlin ###-###-#### did both of my kids adnoids, one of them got tubes and we have yet to have another infection in over a year. I really like him and really trust him, the only thing I would say is he may underestimate the need for pain medication after, he told me a couple of days probably, and I think it was more like 10 days that it was needed at times throughout the day.

Good luck whatever you do, but constant ear infections are pretty hard on them too.

With out the tubes your child can also loose hearing because of the repeated infections. Been there, I opted for the tubes and have not been sorry.

My now 22-month old has had the ear tube surgery twice now. She started getting ear infections when she was about 6 months old, and went through 6 rounds of antibiotiocs by her first birthday. We had a referral to an ENT, and he recommended tubes. The way he put: she's been in pain for half her life; let's get her feeling better. I was also reassured because that same ENT had recommended to two other parents I know to wait and see, and they didn't end up having to do the surgery. It may be that their children's cases were more like yours, where it seems like the ear infections were more spread out than close together, if you're looking for a reason to hold off on the surgery.
My daughter was great with the tubes until one fell out when she was about 18 months old. In the two months after it fell out, she had 3 rounds of antibiotics (augmentin--nasty stuff), and we decided to do the surgery to put that tube back in. The doctor looked at the other tube, too, but it still looked really secure. I can tell such a huge difference in her once she gets the tubes put in--she's much, much happier, and she sleeps much better, too--so we have felt good about our decision to have the procedure done. Good luck with your decision--it's rarely easy trying to decide what's best for our children.

I vote for ear tubes. Our son has had 4 sets, and has had no serious risks. It is not good for a small child to always be on antibiotics. The body will eventually become immune to them.