Tubes in the Ears. Pros/Cons??

I had tubes put in my ears at 18months. I have had maybe 6 ear infections in the 22 years that they have been out.

My son got a TON of ear infections until I took him off dairy. I know it sounds weird but there is a lot of newer research into ear infections and milk. After the removal of Milk (2 years ago) my son is ear infection free. I saw that you have decided for tubes, but you might try dairy free for the time until they are put in.

:)T

Both of my sons age 4 and 7 now had tubes put in their ears. With my first child I had a not so good Dr. that allowed him to have 20 ear infections in one year!!! After he finally got his tubes in, he had to be in speach class for 18 months because he never heard the words properly. My youngest had infections, and he got his tubes right away, and has not had any speech problems. I am all for tubes, it is a quick and simple procedure, and will make your life so much easier with out the antibiotics!!

me and my husband both had the tubes when we were small they are wonderful and they will come out on there on both our parents said it helped so much and these were done in the late seventies early eightys. hope thses helps a little

Hi L.- I had tubes put into my sons ears on Valentines Day right before his second birthday...bad timing, eh? Anyways, after a year plus of constant ear infections and non response to antibiotics, and being up during several screaming nights it was a godsend. It allowed his ears to drain and stay that way and now he is seven and has only had one ear infection since then...It is hard to see them be put in a situation they don't like, but I think it was for my son's own good, especially since I was getting to the point that I was really worried he was going to have hearing loss.
Good Luck!
M.

Hello L.,

My name is H. Johnson. My son at the age of 1years old had tubes put in both of his ears. He is now 2 years old and talking alot more then what he was. It will help alot.

L.,
6 kids, 5 have had tubes. it was a lifesaver for me.

My son is having simalar problems. He is always getting ear infections. I know that when I was younger I had alot of problems with my ears and I got tubes put in and now that I am older my ears are fine. Its scares me to think that my son may have to get them, but when I think about how they helped me I think its a good decision.

L.,
My 4 year old daughter went through the same thing when she was 6 months old. She had a constant ear infection for almost 2 months. She was put on almost every antibiotic available and wasn't responding to any of them. I took her to another doctor for a second opinion and they took one look and said that without a doubt she needed to be seen by a specialist and more than likely have tubes put in. We had her first set of tubes put in at about 9 months. She is now on her second set. The specialist told me that when he put my daughter's first set in there was so much junk behind her ear drums that she was probably close to deaf. Also in the couple months after her first set fell out and before we had a new set put in there was a substantial build up of junk. During the periods that she's had the tubes in her ears she has only had a max of 3 infections, and they don't last long if treated with antibiotic ear drops. I'm all for tubes. There are not many cons to tubes that I have seen. For young children I would highly suggest it, they aren't able to say if their ears are hurting then and with tubes you will be able to tell when they have an infection because the ears are able to drain. I hope this has been of help to you.

I agree with the tubes and all that has already been said.

We did it with one son- the others were fine.

Ask alot of questions.
Good Luck
M.

My sister went through two sets of tubes in her ears, and a set of T-tubes. They all kept falling out. Turns out that the tubes were completely unnecessary, because she had a cyst in her ear.

If you do get the tubes, and they don't stay put, I'd suggest asking for a referral to a specialist up at the U of U. That is who finally caught my sister's problem.

Great advice in this post. I have a nephew that has had tubes two times and both times they fell out. This is what they are supposed to do. The child will outgrow the tubes and they naturally fall out.
Ultimately, tubes alleviate the pain and discomfort associated with the pressure and infection. It is a simple procedure where they inset a tiny tube into the eardrum to allow for drainage. They also make it so the child can hear and start speaking better in the longrun.
With my son, I wish I would have gotton tubes in his ears. He had a series of infections from about 7 months to 11 months and then we moved. The infections went away on their own due to climate and elevation change (Utah to Oregon).
Good luck and hang in there,

A.
Mom of four munchkins.
www.PerfectForMom.com

HI L.,
My daughter is 22 months and just got tubes put in her ears 6 weeks ago and the surgery only takes about 5 minutes and later on that same night she was feeling fine running around laughing. She is much happier since the tubes were put in (actually EVERYONE that is around her is much happier). The only thing that I have a hard time with is keeping the ear plugs in her ears while I'm washing her hair because soapy water cannot go in the ear canal or it will hurt them very bad but you can have the doctor make a mold that fits your babies ear.

Don't hesitate to do it!
Our son needed tubes just before his first birthday. He was a totally different baby within an hour of his surgury. It was fast, easy, and did not phase him at all! Having been on antibiotics for so long, like your child, caused the enamel to not form correctly on his teeth. The down side of antibiotics!

We did miss out on early swimming lessons, but have made up for it now.
Best of luck!

My children personally haven't had tubes..but I am a preschool teacher and have seen tons of children go through it. The procedure itself is quite simple..just an outpatient type of surgery and the children recover very quickly. All the parents I have asked have said it was totally worth it...it eliminated the ear infections completly. Good Luck!

Hi L.,

I have to agree with everything the other paarents have said about the pro's of getting tubes put in the ears. I am 35 years old now and had tubes in my ears as a child. So, you can only immagine how long this typical operation has been going on. Or as my 8 year old would say" in the olden days"

To this day I have fears about ear infections. I have two children and one suffered her first ear infection at 3 1/2 weeks old. I was devistated. That was her only ear infection until she forced air and water in her ears from a jaccuzzi jet, but that a whole other story. My second child was 2 years old before she ever recieved her first infection. (one week after weaning her ffrom breastmilk) Her infections lasted almost for 5 months. Either they were both infected, or one was infected or they had fluid build up. The surgery was more difficult for me than her. I felt like I was going to throw up, cry, basically I had a panic attack after she went into surgery. When we saw the ear, nose and throat doctor, he asked me if her hearing had been effected. At the time , All I could think of was no, she speaks great! But after the surgery, all she said for one week was.... too loud! too loud!!! ok, another reason for a parental guilt trip.

I would hole heartenly recommend the surgery. She has already been on some heavy duty antibiotics. If these infections continue and stronger antibiotics are needed.... eventually , the medicine won't work anymore. That called antibiotic resistance. This was my biggest fear with continued antibiotic use. The possible staining of the teath and yeast infections, thrush, upset stomach and diareeah, all really fun side effects of antibiotic use were not as concerning for me but did cause my little one to suffer while healing from ear infections.

Good Luck! Just remember you know your child the best, take everybodies advice, smile, then decide what you want to do with the advice. I would definatly recommend an ears, nose and throat doctor to talk with if you have further concerns.

H. B.

Tubes in the ears have been pretty common in my family. My sister's daughter (Kalesy) got tubes most recently.

Kalesy was a little bit scared at first, because she could finally hear the world and wasn't used to it. The doctor explained to my sister that Kalesy had been hearing the world like she was underwater. Kalesy's vocabulary started to develop immediately following surgery. And she was a much happier little girl too.

You'll need to keep water out of the ears, no laying back in the tub to wash the hair. I remember when I was little and got tubes I was custom fitted for earplugs, so that I could go swimming. This will be the most long term thing you will need to do. Eventually the tubes will fall out (don't quote me, but I think its around a year) and if ear infections don't reaccure then all is well.

Good Luck!
Hope I've helped.
TRUDI

You know what I was terrified to have my kids get tubes in their ears. My son had surgery on his foot and had an allergic reation to the medicine when they were waking him up and he stopped breathing on his own. I didn't want that to happen again. My daughter got tubes first though and the surgery was so quick and was only like 15 minutes. I was very relieved and then my son got them and it as just as quick and no reactions. The tubes have been nice I haven't taken my kids to the Dr as often and I'm not as worried about them being sick all the time.

Hi L.,

We went through this with our oldest who is now 4 yrs old. He had ear infections from the time he was three months old, having 6 in less than 6 months. We had spoken with our pediatrician about this (at the time in NC) and they said to wait until he was 2, stating often kids outgrow ear infections. Well we got to Cheyenne and it got a little better. But he was still having 2 to 3 a year and always had fluid. So this past June he was 3 1/2 and we had tubes put in and his adnoids removed. I felt the same way as you, tired of him being on antibiotics, they obviously were no longer working. He has not had one ear infection since June. He says he no longer hears water in ears either and he thanked the doctor for fixing his ears!

I hope this works out for your family. You sound like me, I had two in 15 1/2 months! Good luck to you!

I am sorry to hear that your child is having so many problems with ear infections.

Two of my three children had to have tubes put in their ears. I was so scared the when my first had to done but it was amazing! The surgery is very minor and takes only about a half hour. He work up from it a little groggy but by the time we got home a that afternoon he was running around playing and perfectly fine. He had tubes put in at a little over 2 years old.

My daughter had constant infections and had them put in at 6 months old. She did amazing and you could tell that even right after she felt so much better because all the presure was gone from her ears. She has not had an infection since and is now about to turn 3 in a few months.

No matter what the surgery when it comes to your child it is always a scary thing. But I think that tubes at least for my family have been so great and very worth it.

Best of luck to you and your family!

L. -
My son has had 2 sets of tubes due to chronic ear infections. He is now 4 and has the 2nd set still in his ears. The tubes have been the best thing to stop the ear infections. Also, my son was tested 2 years ago for a condition called C Diff. It is caused from repeated doses of antibotics. He ended up not having the C Diff, but it can be a serious condition. He had such horrible ear infections for two years and since the tubes have been in he has not had one infection. Also, his speeh is delayed from all the infections so we are currenly in speech thearapy. If you ped recommends the tubes, I would have it done as soon as possible. A great ENT is Dr. Goll adjacent to St. Rose Hospital if you are on the East side of town. The surgery is very minor and he was up jumping around by the evening of the surgery. Good Luck...

Dear L. K.
Congratulations. I too am due in March. This baby cannot come fast enough. I don't know if I would be any help.
When my two oldest girls were little they always had ear infections. The doctor found that they both had oversized tonsils and adnoids. Once they were taken out we had no more problems. Just a thought. A.

There are few cons to this. It's a simple procedure and it will likely stop the ear infections entirely. The infection is bad enough, but it is usually accompanied by fluid in the middle ear which can last several months. During this time they can experience conductive hearing loss as sound does not travel easily thru fluid. It is critical that children hear clearly during this critical speech development window. Antibiotics wipe out the good flora in the gut and can cause a lot of other problems. With this many infections already I would insist on tubes no matter the outcome with the current antibiotic. Children must hear to deveop language. My 3 1/2 year old daughter has had tubes for 1 year without one infection. I wish we had had them inserted sooner. Best of luck!

B.

Hi L.,
I would really recommend consulting with a naturopathic physician. They can be so helpful in dealing with the root cause of what is happening for your child and helping them heal. I could possibly recommend someone in your area if you need further recommendations.
L.