Let's Talk Ear Tubes

My youngest had numerous of ear infections since he was 6 months of age, He failed his hearing test.

We went ahead and went w/the tubes at age 13 months and now he is 24 months. He has only has one ear infection which was so mild that I didn't even know he had one.

He is delayed in speech though from all the infections that caused him to have hearing loss but he has been going to speech therapy and is doing GREAT.

Good Luck, It is the best decision I have made.
M.

My daughter had to have tubes put in as well but it had to be done twice. She continued to get ear infections consistently after the first set. The second time the doctor not only put tubes in he also removed her adnoids (not sure of the spelling) which he did very simply by going through the mouth, so no incision. He explained that the adnoids were coated in this "green gunk". Since then - which was in January of this year - she has not had one ear infection. I believe that the adnoids were holding the infection the entire time and it would flare up time to time resulting in an ear infection. Adnoids don't really serve a purpose, so they are fine without them. You might ask your doctor about possibly removing them at the same time. I sure wish our doctor would have done it the first time around. Good luck!

My daughter always had ear infections her first year. We got the tubes in at 1yr and NO EAR INFECTIONS since! (she's almost 2). It was a simple procedure and she showed no signs of discomfort. I think your baby will thank you! Best of luck

Here's a different view point. I actually had to get tubes in my ears when I was 30! I had a build up of fluid behind my eardrum. It was horrible before I got the tubes. I had trouble hearing, heard strange noises inside my head, was constantly sniffing. The procedure itself was painless, waking up from it was painless. I had INSTANT relief, my hearing came back and I never felt any pain in the days afterwards or when the tube fell out a few months later. I was a Kindergarten teacher and that's where I picked up the illness that caused the fluid. I saw many children while I taught that had chronic ear infections and the result was they had to be placed in Speech Class (which is under Special Ed umbrella- FYI) to try and "catch them up" due to their hearing problems. These children lagged behind others in the class because of the problem. My point in writing is to tell you that in can cause academic issues, and that it doesn't hurt. Hope this helps.

My son that was preemie had the same problems...ear infection and ear infection...constantly on antibiotics...which just isn't good for them! He now has a list of antibiotics that just don't work at all on him!!!

We did the tubes and instantly saw a difference!!! NO MORE EAR INFECTIONS!!! I would highly recommend them for someone who has suffered as many ear infections as your son...the procedure was simple and safe and took no time at all!!! They fell out on their own a couple years later and we never had to have them replaced! We definately had excellent results with them...

I hope this helps!!!
hugs and blessings
H.

Dr Rohn is a very good ENT specialist. Both of my daughters had tubes as infants. Both had a little difficulty with combativeness as the anesthetic wore off, and one had an episode of vomiting as the anesthetic was wearing off. Once that was behind them, they did very well.

My daughter was also preemie and had tons of ear probs. We did the tubes and magiacally no more infections. She is now 4 and we may be doing them again b/c the old ones are out now and she keeps getting sick again. Its a super short procedure to have done to. My doc was out in 10 min after going back w/ her. I was amazed. She played the rest of the day as if she never went to the hosp and had it done. There are no worries!

Our five year old had tubes put in at 18 months; she'd been having ear infections every month for several months. She's not had a single ear infetion since!

The surgery itself was quick, as was her recovery.

Good luck to you!

I have six cousins and all, but one, had to have tubes...and not one had any problems with them. You're son should do fine and if he's getting so many infections then this really should help. I think the only troublesome aspect is keeping water out of their ears. However, that might've changed since my cousins had them, and now water in the ears may not be a problem...not sure. Good luck with that. I hope everything goes well.

My husband had 5 sets of tubes in his ears as a child. I beg you to do your research!! He now has scar tissue built up on his ears and talks very loudly; he also says that it constantly sounds like there is water in his ears. You do have other options! I would strongly recommend a pediatric chiropractic evaluation. Find someone in your area at www.icpa4kids.org (more research can be done on this site too). You can also check out www.blockcenter.com. Once the surgery is done you can't take it back, but if the other less invasive options don't work, you can always have the tubes pu t in later.

I went through the same thing when my son was a baby... We had the tubes put in Dec. 05 and immediatly I noticed a difference! Before he got the tubes put in the doctors were saying that he might be deaf because all of the hearing tests they were giving him. But not 2 weeks after he had his tubes put in he was starting to talk more and would respond when I spoke to him! When we went back for his checkup they did another hearing test and they said that he could hear perfectly fine now!!! That was over a year ago and he has not had another ear infection! Good luck, and I hope everything works out!!!

Hey B.!

You have made a good decision. My son had his tubes put in about 5 mo. ago and it's been great. Just like your little boy, he used to have an ear infection every month.
I bet, his hearing will get better too: because of the fluid in this ears he can only hear muffled sounds. Sometimes it can affect their speech development.

Good luck to you

My daughter had ear tubes put in when she was 13 months old, she had ear infections at least twice a month since she was about 3 months old. I was so scared for her, but it was the best thing we ever did. She is not only 15 months but has not had any infections since then. It was great, and uneventful. She cried a lot when she came out of anistesia (sp?)but the doctor said that is completely normal because waking up feels very weird to babies. Your son will do great I am sure.

Getting tubes was just about the best parenting decision we ever made. We saw Dr. Bates, who is in practice together with Dr. Rohn, and he was quite conservative in his approach. Since our daughter didn't have an ear infection and her hearing was normal when we went in for our consult, he recommended we wait and see. She ended up getting another ear infection (her fifth in six months) and then he suggested that we go ahead with tubes.

The surgery center they use and the staff there were fabulous with us and with our daughter (who was 20 mos. at the time of her surgery). Because your son is so young, he will likely be one of the first surgeries of the day. We were told to get there for registration by 6:00 for registration, our daughter's surgery was at 7:00 and we were headed home by 8:15. They used the laughing gas to sedate her so she didn't have to be intubated or to have IVs put in. Coming out of the anaesthesia, she was disoriented and upset, but she calmed down pretty quickly.

My daughter hasn't had any more ear infections since her surgery in March and her vocabulary has exponentially increased. We're very happy with the results.

Good luck to you and your son. You're welcome to message me privately if you have any questions.

Take him to the chiropractor and have him adjusted!!!! It is so good for them and I have saved many children from having ear tubes put in their ears. (I'm a chiropractor) Have the atlas adjusted (upper neck vertebra) and that does the trick.

We waited too long to get ear tubes (the ped. kept saying to wait and finally I decided we wanted to do it) and it affected my son't speech development. We are still playing catch up and he's had tubes for almost 1.5 years.

They will probably do this but make sure you get a before and after hearing test for him.

Be aware that the anesthesia they use (laughing gas) makes them feel like they are drunka and my son did not like that at all! He was very upset and inconsolable.

Have some milk for them to drink after they get out of surgery (less than 10 minutes) as they will be HUNGRY!

Good luck to you!! PM me with any other questions.