Tubes in Ears....Yes or No?????

I second the chiropractor. My nephew was about ready to have tubes put in his ears because of chronic ear infection issues and a chiropractor adjusted him once - no more ear infections or drainage problems now for 17 years.

I've known many kids who didn't need tubes after eliminating dairy and starting chiropractic care. Only one that still needed them, in fact. It had something to do with the shape of his inner ear. Good luck!

Hi P.,
I encourage you to take your children to a chiropractor first, before you decide anything. Typically, a simple adjustment will cure their problem If their neck is out of alignment, then the ears cannot drain properly, causing fluid to pool in the ears. The pooling fluid tends to get infected because it is stagnant and has nowhere to go. Once they are aligned, the fluid drains as it is supposed to do, and all is well. Sometimes, they might have a different issue, but at 22 months, my guess is this would be all they need. My daughter had 2 burst eardrums before I figured this out. She's not had a problem since.

Hi , my daughter has tubes because of fluid in her ears that were causing speech issues as she couldn't hear properly. The surgery takes 10 mins , 40 mins after we were on our way home. She is like a different child , her speech improved in leaps and bounds , and it was so nice not to have her shouting when talking to us , and being able to hear us. Swimming is no problem , she can swim (just not in lakes because of bacteria) , bath time was only an issue for a week after the surgery , we had to keep her ears dry so no hair washing , but after the week back to normal routine.

If this is what has been advised , then I would do it.

My son didn't have to get tubes after he started the chiropractor. I recently found out the chiropractor was doing his treatments for free also since he is a toddler. We were going to put tubes, but, (very skeptically), I decided to go ahead and try the treatments. They have been in blessing in so many ways. They align everything to help the drainage. Please give it a shot to at least see if it helps before doing the tubes. :)

I would not have skipped the tubes in my kids ears for anything. Put your fingers in your ears and imagine how it would be to learn to listen, hear, process information, and then produce it correctly if you were only 22 months old, and everything in the world was new. If this is the reason for the delay, you need it. If it just helps their delay be less, you still need it. The risks are huge if you don't do it too, right now, the more opportunity you give them to make progress, the better, so maximize their therapy by making sure that they hear even better than they do now. Time is the only thing you have that is free when it comes to the development of your kids (if everything is not already fine) don't waste a single second of it, you can't get it back.

M.

I hope that you are seeing the trend here, the speech issue is extreemly relevant. This is, far and away, the most important reason to get tubes. I work as an educational advocate, and not hearing well really does effect how they sound when they speak, but also, effects how they process langague at the most important developmental time in their lives. One given in looking a a child file when I am working for a family with a reading, langague and even behavioral issue that has escalated to the point of needing special education is that the child had frequent ear infections, tubes, or fluid in the ears. I can tell you, and this is not scientific, but from where I sit, the earlier the parent interviened with tubes, the better the outcome for that kid when they were having trouble with langague based disablity issues. Learning is so impacted by early langague development. Please don't wait and see with development. Fluid in your child's ears IS something you can fix. Later on, there will be no easy fix for the outcome if you skip it, trust me. It really will have long concequences to not hear well during langague development, and you already see some of the results.

take them to the chiropracter first before doing anything permenant!
My oldest.. now 14 had ear infections one after another. Was on anitbiotics as a preventive for a long time and still got them. They wanted to put tubes in his ears. My grandma told me to try the chiropracter. He went twice maybe three times tops and didn't have another ear infection until he was12. As the chiropracter told me, with active babies they fall, and their necks get out of place and it pinches the drain tube from the ears to the stomach ( where they put the tubes in) and that causes the back up of fluid and then the infection begins.
Good luck with your choice, ear infections are no fun for anyone!

Tubes were one of the best decisions we made. His speech improved and he hasn't had an ear infection in 2 yr. It's a super simple procedure. He was up and playing within a couple of hours. The Dr recommended wearing ear plugs for bath time due to the soap but oddly didn't think they were necessary for swimming. Honestly I was only good about putting them in for 2 months then I quit.

My son had tubes put in his ears at 13 months old, he had chronic ear infections that never really cleared up. It was a very stressful decision and procedure for my husband and I, however my son could have cared less. He came out of surgery and was back to normal within an hour or so. The emotional toll on us adults was really the only problem. He only averaged about 1 ear infection a year after the tubes. They stayed in place for much longer then normal, almost 5 years, and we were in the process of scheduling a removal surgery when the last one finally fell out. Yes, they have to wear ear plugs. They are not really a big deal once you get in the habit of them. I would buy the adult size clear silicone disposable ones and squish them in half to make 2. I found them much softer and more pliable then the kids ones. They can be used a few times before you have to throw them away. My son got so use to the plugs that he wanted to use them when swimming long after the tubes were out. If you are still not sure about the surgery then ask for an other consultation where you can meet with the ENT without the children and discuss any further concerns. Best of Luck :)

My 3 y/o just got tubes this summer. Here's what his ENT told me: No swimming for 2 weeks. No plugs for bath or chlorinated private pools. Public pools and all lakes/rivers/creeks he has to wear plugs (b/c of bacteria).

If they've only had 3-4 EI's in the last year, that's kinda iffy in my book if I would go for it. But if they have fluid in their ears and they're not infected, that's not a good sign, so getting tubes may be a good thing. My ODS had way more than that from 6 month-18 months, and his (old) pedi said he'd grow out of it and tubes weren't needed. Well, I think him not getting tubes sooner contributed greatly to his speech delay. That same dr also said he didn't need ST, which he did/does. He's in ST now, and has a major delay.

Since he got the tubes put in (and adenoids removed), I've noticed a difference in his speech. He's trying a lot more to say new things, which he didn't do before (he stuck to what he knew, and a lot of gestures). I'm not sure if it's directly related to the tubes, if it's the ST, him getting older, or a combination of all these (which is my guess), but I think for my ODS getting tubes was the right thing.

If you're not sure, then just wait. If they continue to get EI's, then see about it then. GL!

I want to tell you that my son had ear infections and the fluid stayed and stayed,each time we went back for a check on anything the fluid was still there well,unknown to my doctor my mom had spoke to a pharmacy gal who told her that when her kids were little she used sweet oil in their ears and that something about it somehow removed the fluid. so I did this and like I said his doctor had no knowledge that I had did this I never even spoke a word to her and can't remember how long I treated him with the oil not long at all,but anyways the fluid was gone when the next visit for this or that came around. I truly believe that it took that fluid away,you have to remember that back in the days that kind of stuff was all they had access to. I am not saying tubes are bad.....I don't know much about them....but just giving you options to think on.
you just fill the canal with a little oil and place a cotton ball or some it in to hold the oil in,and leave in i would atleast let it stay 30 mins or so.

there are a lot of posts regarding this issue, you may want to do a search on mamapedia
my daughter is on her 3rd set of tubes, but now they're a necessity. i should have said no the first time. when tubes work, they work great, but there are those few kids who develop complications. my daughter did, and now one of her ears is completely ruined. her eardrum never got healed from tubes falling out, one of her hearing bones eroded, she had a prosthetics put in, her hearing was gone completely for a year on that ear, until the titanium implant was put in and eardrum patched. hearing returned, months later eardrum got sucked in and now that is where we are at. had to put the 3rd tube to relieve the negative pressure as the eardrum was getting wrapped around the implant.
so you may get lucky and have success story with your twins, or you may turn to be us and curse the day we said yes to ear tubes.
eliminate dairy from their diet, see a chiropractor, and most importantly ask the ENT to drain the fluid. why hasn't he done that yet? fluid behind eardrum will cause major issues if left untreated for too long.
i am saying this imagining you are me 3 years ago: don't agree to ear tubes.

My daughter got the tubes at 10 months after getting an antibiotic resistant ear infection -- 5 antibiotics, anitibiotic shots, etc. and a month later, we got the tubes. She had 104 fever for 30 out of 45 days. It was a Godsend. By the afternoon after the procedure she was like a different little girl. I finally had my happy little girl back and she was crawling around and pulling up like a nut! We have been lucky -- she had only 1 infection since then in 1 ear and it went away with drops. She is 3 years and 3 months now. 1 has fallen out, the other is on its way out with no issues. She does swim lessons and does not wear an ear plug. Her ENT and ped said that they have had different cases on the ear plugs with swimmers. They have had some that wear them and some that don't. It all depends on the comfort level of the child -- they have not seen a higher incidence of ear infections in swimmers swimming in POOL water (not lake or bath water) that do not wear ear plugs so we opted to not use them. She has been AOK so far (but then again she is doing them 1 time a week not swimming everyday).

You cannot get in dirty lake or bath water without earplugs and submerge your head -- instant ear infection as the bacteria gets behind the tube and festers. We do give our daughter a bath but we do not let her dunk her head and we use a bucket of clean water and dump it on her hair to rinse shampoo. Have been AOK there too.

My daughter's ear infection period was so brief (45 days) that hearing tests determined it didn't damage her hearing or speaking development. She was a little behind on her words at her 1 year appointment but BOY has she caught up -- she's a little chatterbox!

Best wishes on whatever you decide!

A. F.
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When my son was 3 years old he had constant ear infections. It was so bad that the doctor said he didnt want him on a permanent antibiotic. ENT took 2 seconds to see him as said he needed the tubes. I choose against it.
He did enventually outgrow the ear infections shortly after that consulation. However, having a child with an ear infection is a horrible thing. He is now 13, he did have speach issues, like not clear speech and was slow to learn to read but I dont think it was because of the ear infections. He is doing well in school and has never had another ear infection. I think he just happend to "grow out of it" around that time. Did all those ear infections effect his speech and learning to read? Cant say. Would I have made another decision? NO. I just didnt like the eagerness in the surgery and the thought of having him under for an elective surgery did not appeal to me.
Good luck!

The absolute best thing I EVER did for my daughter. She was not walking or talking and honestly 2 days after tubes I could not shut her up or keep her off her feet :) I would do it again in a heart beat. It is only a 15-20 minute procedure and once my daughter woke up she was back to normal as if nothing had ever happened.

I say get the tubes :) Good luck with your decision

My son went to the chiropractor, this helped a lot! When we went to the ENT he said nothing was wrong, no fluid he was fine. I made the mistake of telling the ENT that I had taken my son to the chiropractor, he was FURIOUS! I had no idea that some "doctors" were so close-minded about chiropractic. Wow! What a wake up call.

After we moved states I no longer had a chiropractor and no longer had the money to hire one, so we went with traditional medicine. I would have continued with the chiropractor if I could, it did work and didn't require surgery (both major pluses!), but it did require many repeat appointments (about once a week). We went ahead and had the tubes put in. I could not stand to see my son in pain anymore and those ear infections are PAINFUL! The surgery went wonderfully, my doctor said not to allow him to put his whole head under water but not to worry about bath time at all. He said I should just take a towel and shake his ear a bit if I think water may have gotten in.
We have not had any problems since he got the tubes. No infections at all. I'm very happy with the outcome!

YES! Enough said.

Doc's are professionals and they would not just recommend putting a child through unnecessary surgeries. Since you have been to several docs and have actually been to an ENT I would feel very secure in having it done. Having fluid on the ears in not comfortable.

We had the surgery done in July and have been very happy. They wear earplugs when they are going into chemically treated water, such as a pool. Body oils from strangers, no telling what chemicals they treat the water with, etc...if they are bathing they don't need ear plugs. They can get the water in their ears and everything, I worried about it too but the doc said it was relatively clean water compared to the other.

Just some advice:

Have a person there for each child. J woke up totally disoriented and scared, he was upset more than in pain. He wanted to grab on to me and then my husband then back to me, it was hard but it was over in about 30 minutes. The gas is very strong smelling on their breath at first but it quickly is exhaled and they are okay as soon as it's out of their system. By the time we got to the pharmacy at Wal-Mart he was wanting to go eat.

How is their hearing? 3-4 ear infections in a year is really not that many. I would only consider tubes at this age if a. they were having multiple back to back ear infections like they finish a bottle of antibiotics and 2-3 days later are back on them again or b. the ear infections caused some hearing problems.
At 22 months old my youngest was in speech and I can tell you that around 2.5 yrs old he went from babbling to a language explosion and I don't really think that it had much to do with the speech therapy although EI was wonderful I think its about the typical time that speech really bursts. I would honestly seek another opinion from a different ENT and I would also take an extra person w/ me to the appt so that if your toddlers are fussy you have someone to go in the waiting room with them while you get all your questions answered.

I hear all these good experiences and I'm glad that they are working for them, but I want to share with you my sister's experience.
When she was 2 weeks old she was rushed to the hospital with a fever of 104. She had a horrible ear infection. She had to have an IV stuck in her forehead. The nurses were nice enough to put a styrofoam cup over it to hide it. It was really sad. Over the next 10+ years, she got tubes 6 times. She is prone to horrible ear infections and tonsilitis/strep throat. One of the last times, they didn't fall out. They had to be taken out. I was sitting in the dr.'s office when they pulled them out. She SCREAMED and cried and I started crying for her. I was 9 or 10. I got extremely pissed at my mother for making her go through this. She also had to have her tonsils out. Now when she goes to the dr. they can't tell if she has fluid behind her ear drum because of the scar tissue. She has also lost some hearing since her eardrum doesn't vibrate the way it is supposed to. She is 28 years old and still suffering from the tubes.She also still has ear infections....
When they told me that my girls would need tubes, I said NO WAY!! I was not going to put them through this. They had ear infections all the time, like once a month. They had been on every antibiotic out by the time they were 2 years old. I found a new dr. and they told me to try a dab of neosporin in the opening of the ear canal and this has worked very well. We do it any time they get an ear infection and the pain goes away in a matter of about an hour. They are now 12 and 13.

I would think and pray long and hard before doing this.

See a pediatric allergist. We found out our daughter was allergic to so many things that caused the fluid in her ears. She was such a water dog, we opted for the allergy tests rather than the tubes. She quit having ear infections once we found out what things she needed to avoid.

Do it.. it will change their speech and hearing, thus their learning..

The procedure only takes a few minutes and they will be able to swim next summer..

You probably will not need earplugs for bathing unless they are super active putting their heads down in the tub..

My younger son (who's grown now) had tubes put in his ears before he was two years old. It wasn't an infection problem (although there were some) as much as a speech problem. I was a nervous wreck before and during the surgery, but it was over quickly and we could tell the difference in his speech within hours! He had been speaking according to what he had been hearing, but he just hadn't been hearing well. So from my point of view and his, the surgery was extremely worthwhile.

Seems to me he did wear earplugs for a while when he was swimming, but he didn't think it was a big deal.

My "old standby" question with a doctor is: "If it were your child, what would you do?" Of course, it has to be your decision, but you might try that on the doctor and see what the answer turns out to be.