Middle Ear Trouble

Hi, M.! My name is A.. My daughters 5 years old and she's had the same problems. She had tubes at 21/2 years old and tonscils and adnoids removed at 31/2. This is the best thing that we've ever done for her! However, she has a ruptred ear drum and has lost all of her hearing in her left ear.We had a hearing and speech test done about 3 weeks ago. Don't stress out yet! Be glade that you caught it soon enough. My E.N.T. told me that children can always regain their hearing as they get older. write me back if you have any questions.

My daughter was 8 months old when she had to have tubes put in her ears. I was scared to death for her to have to have surgery that young, but honestly, it was the easiest thing I have went through thus far and she is 3 years old. The doctor and anesthesiologist came in and got her, we walked to the door of the operating room, my husband, mother, and I walked outside to smoke, smoked probably half a cigarette, walked back up and the doctor was coming out to say she was done. It was soo fast and thank goodness the infections stopped. Don't worry! That's one of the easy things.

I know it is hard not to worry, and doctors tend not to be the best at making you feel better, they give you what they would do in the worse case and most people are not in the worse case category. Generally they don't put tubes in children's ear after 4 anyway because ear infections and problems tend to get a lot better after 3. I don't know why they would offer to put tubes in the ears, they are put in to drain fluid off the ear drum so that infections don't happen, if there is fluid in the ear then that may be the reason for the tubes, and that could be the thing that is causing the blockage they were talking about. I would make sure to get all the facts from the ENT doctor and all the options, I think that doctors are too quick to remove tonsils and most of the time they didn't need to do the surgery. So definitely get all the answers. Also if you want to know more information before the 3 weeks check online at http://www.hsdc.org, they might be able to offer some useful information to help calm your nerves and help prepare you for what could be the problem. Just remember they are not sure what is causing the problem and it could be something as simple as ear wax, and that is easily taken care of, so try not to stress about it. Let us know what the doctors say.

My son had tubes put in twice. Both times were becuase of infection and that he had fluid even when he didn't have infections. They are also quicker to put tubes in my son because he has a speech delay and they don't want him to lose any time becuase he isn't hearing right.

My oldest son (now 8 yrs old) didn't have his first ear infection until he was 16 months old and had very few in the years following that. However, about 18 months ago or so, he started having repeat ear infections. Sometimes, he would be fine one minute and screaming with his ear hurting the next. Both eardrums ruptured at least once and I think one of them did at least twice. He even had a blister on his eardrum one time -- our pediatrician had never seen that and he's been in practice for several years. We finally consulted an ENT and they did xrays which revealed hugely enlarged tonsils and adenoids. His throat was almost completely blocked by his tonsils. He also had other problems like excessive snoring and a nasally pronunciation of some of his letters. The ENT suggested removing his tonsils and adenoids and while he was in there, putting in tubes. I was very much against tubes because of what they "represent" to me. But, he needed the surgery badly and has been so much better since. He probably could have done without the tubes because his tonsils were so enlarged they were actually blocking his tubes from draining properly. But, the ENT said that it could still take weeks after the surgery for his tubes to open up the way they should and completely drain. He had so much fluid on his ears that he wasn't hearing well and that with the repeat ruptured eardrums were risking permanent hearing damage. So, we went with the tubes. He didn't have any problems with the surgery and never complained about his ears hurting, just the usual soreness from the tonsilectomy. I hope this helps!

i would say you probably are stressing things like this are so common in children. definately see a doctor but as a child i had my tonsils removed and had tubes numerous times i still have ear problems to this day due to sinus infections. yes you are right tubes are generally used when kids have bad inner ear infections but they might be doing this before they do anything else more drastic. just stay calm and see your doctor like i said things like this are so common. dont stress if possible and let us know how things go for you

M.,

It is not uncommon for older ones to get tubes in their ears even if they only have one ear infection. It is to help make sure that the flow is going thru correctly. It does not take long for them to put the tubes in. If they do decide to put them in he will be fine and it is not a major surgery so you have no worries there. My sons kept ear infections til they were 2 and my oldest one got two a year when he was 10 and 11. So stop worring mom he is ok and you will be just fine too.

I feel your pain. My daughter failed her hearing test in one ear and barely passed the other when she was 5yrs old. I was totally surprised to find that out because none in our families has any hearing loss.
Well, about 6 months later and she's at her doctors office with her 2nd earache. The doctor shines the little flashlight and looks in her ear and says, "Oh that lump in there is unusual. Well, if it were white, it would be cancer. (It was reddish) Because she has her earache, I cannot figure out what it is. You will have to come back after the earache has cleared up - in about two weeks."
Talk about freaking me out!!!
Thankfully, it ended up being nothing.
I'm sure things will turn out okay . . . wish you well

This is too drastic...I'm always so unnerved when MD's want to "cut" something out...I suggest seeing a homeopathic Doctor & trying some natural remedies...my choice is VEMMA, a MANGOSTEEN based Liquid supplement, has done wonder for my 6 kids, even putting a dropper ful directly ibnto the ear! It is a natrural anti-bacterial/anti-fungal...it is simply amazing & I would try using ir for ANY ailment...we ingest it of course, but it also heals topically!!

My daughter (14 now) suffered from horrible inner ear troubles until she was 3. The problem was caused by her Adnoids, which were unusually large and blocking her Eustatian Tubes causing fluid build-up. Fluid in the ear does not always cause infection but can affect hearing. Once her adnoids & tonscils were removed her hearing went back to normal and she no longer had ear infections (she's had one in all the years since caused by water in her ear from swimming). Just keep in mind too that the tonscils are filters for germs and such, once removed your daughter will be more prone to upper respiratory infections. After my daughters tonscils & adnoid were removed she ended up with respiratory infections every winter (pnemonia, rsv). Once we moved South (to Fl & now NC) where the winters are non existent (less severe in NC) the troubles stopped. She's 14 now and very healthy. Hope this info helps you out!

My youngest son is 21 months and he's had tubes now for about 6 months. They put them in b/c he had alot of ear infections but the dr did say that tubes are put in to clear any kind of blockage so that sounds like your case. Dont worry it's a very easy and quick procedure and since he's older he'll be able to understand whats going on (unlike mine who woke up from it and puked all over me from crying:) he's not good with strange places. Those are the 2 most common surgeries in america now and people are actually saying that having a childs tonsils out is a good move (check out the november issue of parents). Good luck!!!

Hi M.,

I wouldnt worry too much. My newphew is 10 and has tubes in both his ears and has had them replaced several times. It's a simple procedure and it does make a big improvement. First of all for your son though, he's having his tonsils removed and after that's done the tubes may not even be necessary. It's not so much the ear infections anymore, it's also the breathing pattern. The tonsils sometimes make it a problem for kids because their so big and when they remove them that clears up alot of other problems because the ears, nose and throat are all connected and they work together.

I hope this helps ease some of your fears. Let me know how it goes. and good luck!

I have a 1 year old godson who went throught this, he had to have tubes and has not had that many ear infections. He had fluid built up in hi ears, where the tubes that all that drain out of were not connected on either ear, so he heard thing as if he had ear plugs in. well at 6 months old they put in the tubes and he hears fine now. tubes is not a big deal to frant over they are small and he wont feel them. the only way he will feel them is if one starts to come out, which some will do, and then it will just itch or tickle. I hope this information puts you more at ease.