Ear Tubes
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Ear Tubes
Sept 2011
This is a follow up to my post a week ago in the Advice
Digest. Most people who responded said we should do the
surgery rather than compromise her ear and hearing. We
agree, but I guess I didn't elaborate enough.
Due to insurance and our experience with Kaiser, since they
are our current health insurance company, we would rather
not go with Kaiser and wait until next year when we can
change insurance companies in open enrollment. My husband
is not a fan of Kaiser since his Mom died there, but we
cannot change insurance until next year. Husband's Mom
received poor treatment, mis-diagnosis, nurse lacked
experience, etc. I know doctors are not perfect, people do
not live forever, etc.
So as a follow up to my earlier advice post, those of you
who are urging us to get the ear tubes, my only questions
now are which KAISER DOCTOR AND FACILITY should we go to for
my 2 year old daughter? Most of the advice on the BPN web
site are for Children's Hospital, which we don't have access to.
jk
My son got tubes at Kaiser, at age 17 months, and it went
perfectly fine. The surgery was at 9 a.m., we went home at
10:30 a.m., and by noon he was dragging me out for a walk
around the block. Within days, there was a noticeable
improvement in his hearing. He also has not gotten an ear
infection in the five months since he's gotten the tubes,
despite one or two colds.
This was at the Kaiser Hospital in Oakland -- not a
children's hospital, but a regular hospital. The referral
for the hearing test and surgeon all came from our
pediatrician, who is in the pediatrics group at the Kaiser
Medical Center in Oakland. I was perfectly happy with the
treatment my son received, particularly the good
communication between all the doctors and surgeons and
specialists (due to the computerized records). Becky
Our now 10 year old daughter had fluid filled ears for many months between
birth and 18 months that was not caught by the pediatrician.
She started talking and then stopped. She had milk protein allergy as a baby
and had to be fed hydrolyzed protein formula via an NG tube. Despite being
taken completely off dairy products, she still developed fluid behind her
ears that impaired her ability to hear and learn to talk. The ENT at Kaiser
scheduled her for ear tube insertion. A few weeks after the ear tubes were
placed, she started babbling again. She had been hearing ''underwater''.
Eventually she outgrew the tubes. They were removed and she has not had the
problem with the fluid returning. In addition she has developed a very
eloquen vocabulary for a 10 year old - so we are happy that we had them
inserted.
happy about ear tubes
My son had his adenoids out at Oakland Kaiser. We saw Dr. Joshua Gottschall,
who was really fantastic. Warm, easy going manner, great with kids. Our son
was 2 at the time and we had never dealt with surgery. He eased our fears. A
friend of mine is a doctor and her young son also saw Dr. Gottschall for a
palate- related issue. She absolutely loved him as well. I'm sure he does
ear tubes since he is the pediatric head and neck surgeon at Kaiser Oakland.
I recommend him highly. Anon
June 2011
Our 4 year old has mild hearing loss (varying between mild 40db, and
almost normal 10-20db at different times) and fluid behind the ear
drums on and off. He has never had an ear infection, that we know of,
just the fluid. He is very bright but he was late to start talking and
his speech is not very clear especially compared to his peers. He also
tends to be shy, though he eventually warms up, it just takes a very
long time, and he rarely speaks up or participates much in group
activities at preschool. This might be his natural disposition, but we
can't help but wonder if it's related to not hearing well and feeling
a little lost.
We could keep up the 'wait and see' or be a little more aggressive and
do the tubes now to insure he is hearing clearly 100% of the time in
the year before he starts kindergarten. This would be an easier choice
if the hearing loss were worse... Any insight or advise that could
help us decide? Thank you!
Anon
If it were my child, I would probably have the ear tubes done. My son had them,
twice, a very easy procedure, and it made life much easier. I would also talk to
someone like Dr. Wesman at Children's Hospital to hear what he has to say.
Karen
I would do it, as soon as you can. It doesn't seem to me
like a good idea to allow any kind of hearing loss to go
uncorrected if it is easily correctable as in this case.
Particularly since you have concerns about his social
engagement, and you have ''real'' school coming up shortly.
Give your son a chance to catch up to his peers in all these
areas before the new, challenging social and academic
environments to come.
I was in your boat a couple of years ago (only my son was
2). It was very scary to take the leap to surgery - I was
terrified - but it went smoothly and was not uncomfortable
for him. Most important, he was a different child after
that, and we are so glad we did it.
Ear tubes from the other side
Our son had tubes put in at about 22 months (after MANY ear infections). We
should have done them sooner, but were scared to death of the anestesia (sp?).
Turned out to be the best thing we ever did...he had been hearing ''under water''
for so long that his speech was blurred (because that is what he heard). We
could not believe how quickly everything (including his cranky disposition)
improved.
I know that this is not exactly ''on point'' to your question...but it really did help A
LOT. We had the operation done at Oakland Children's. At first we were worried
as the doctor seemed over confident (''I have done over 10,000 of these
operations), but that is because we thought he was younger than he was...when
we found out how long he'd been doing them and how many per week...he was
right and right to be confident. Originally, he told us that he was on the fence
about whether we should do it or not...but 6 months later, we decided we
needed to and he was super!
Glad we did tubes
I would recommend getting the fluid out if that is indeed
the cause of the hearing loss. The sooner, the better! If
there is hearing loss detected after the fluid is gone,
better to know that earlier so a hearing aid or other
solution can be found as soon as possible.
Why wait?
Do it!!! I got my first set of tubes (I had 6 sets) in
kindergarten, and I remember how hard it was to understand
what was going on around me before the tubes. I loved
getting tubes! It felt like being part of the world again,
instead of an observer. My nephew, who is 4, just went
through the same thing. It's a quick outpatient surgery,
very low risk.
loved tubes
I had drainage holes in my ears when I was young, and it
helped with my chronic ear infections and they healed just
fine. (I know that is not your son's issue, but it was
mine.) My younger sister later had tubes put in, and I'm not
sure if she had any hearing loss before that. But we didn't
know at the time she scars very easily, and she is now deaf
in her right ear because of the remaining hole and scarring
from the procedure. She is considering surgery (at age 30)
to try and graft some tissue onto the eardrum but it still
may not work. So I'd probably be cautious if it were my own
child?
just my family's experience
I don't understand why you are waffling on this. In my
opinion if getting the tubes will provide your son with a
health benefit then you should do it. It also sounds like a
developmental benefit will result as well. Is your conern
cost, effects of anesthesia, or some other? In my family,
health issues rule supreme. If there is a health benefit of
any sort, do it. As a youth I had tubes inserted in my ear
drums almost annually for many years. It was not a big deal
(and my parents gave me presents every time - I built up my
Barbie doll wardrobe this way!). And it helped me a lot
with fluid buildup (I had a severely deviated septum, so
breathing through my nose, which helps the ears, wasn't
happening). I recommend doing it.
Amy
My son had the same issue at about the same age. He did
also sometimes get ear infections, but the fluid in his ears
was apparently a constant. We did not know until we noticed
changes in his speech. He never said anything to us about
not being able to hear but it seemed that his once quite
clear speech for his age was all of a sudden not so clear
and he seemed frustrated with the fact that his friends and
teachers did not understand him as well. There were some
other behavior which we did not at the time recognize as
symptoms - waking frequently at night, being cranky about
things that in the past did not seem to be an issue, etc.
Sensing that something was not right, we asked his
pediatrician to refer him for a hearing test and low and
behold he had low level hearing loss attributable to
perpetual fluid in his ears. Having seen his cousin go
undiagnosed with the same issue for too long - requiring a
couple years of speech therapy to correct his speech
patterns caused by not hearing well when he was younger - we
opted for the tubes (and in my son's case removal of his
tonsils etc as well - as they were huge and impacting his
sleep/breathing at night). Procedure was quick (in early in
the morning and home by early afternoon), the folks at
Oakland Children's Hospital were great and we saw immediate
improvement in his speech, sleep, mood etc. As we were told
would happen, the tubes fell out on their own and the
problem was solved. Good luck.
Ear Tube Fan
Hi, I haven't see your original post, but here's my
experience with tubes and middle ear effusion (aka liquid
in ears or ear glue). And here are a couple of links on
the subject:
http://parents.berkeley.edu/advice/health/tubes.html
http://www.entkent.com/glue-ear-grommets-adenoidsmod.html
There are many more websites, and maybe it would help you
to google a few more to decide how to proceed.
I would have gotten tubes for my son, but he hasn't been
diagnosed until he got older and his eustachian tubes
started to drain on their own when he turned 4. You may
want to consider that there may be a chance that the ears
will clear themselves on their own, or with some help
other than surgical procedure.
I still think the doctors who failed to diagnose my son
for a year were incompetent, but I am glad in a way he
didn't have to go through a procedure thanks to that. We
even had a surgery date set, right after coming back from
a vacation in Mexico. By the time we came back, I made one
more appointment to check hi ears, and found out they
finally drained after two weeks on a warm beach.He didn't
need tubes any more.
Still, there was so much to deal with because of the
issues caused by the liquid in my son's ears: speech
delay, balance issues, irritability (no pain though),
tension between my husband and I because he thought the
delays were due to my teaching our son another language (I
am a foreigner).Oh, and my son had to have almost two
years of speech therapy from the Berkeley School
District.
I would have done the tubes to avoid all of the above.
Then again, maybe it was best that I didn't know. In the
end, there is no difference in language skills of children
who had the middle ear effusion and had the tubes put in,
and those who just grew out of it. And the speech
therapist was amazing, and got my son ready for
kindergarten bettter any preschool could.
Think through your son's situation, consider the
alternatives, get a second (third and fourth?) medical
opinion and make a decision. Either way, it'll all work
out.
good luck
Hi. Our daughter had fluid behind her ears at almost every
doctor visit for the first two years of her life. We had
tried antibiotics right off the bat. When the doctor
started talking about tubes in the ears at age 6 months
(which of course means general anesthesia), we started
looking elsewhere. We tried homeopathy and eastern
medicine, neither of which worked very well, though they may
have helped some. Finally, we were referred to someone who
diagnosed her with candida and allergies, put her on a very
strict diet, and within 1-2 weeks she was clearly much
better. Just to prove the point, about 6 weeks later, there
was a special visitor who gave her 1 piece of candy per day
for 6 days - and our daughter developed a bad ear infection.
Meg
Sorry for the late response, but I noticed that no one responded who has
experience with ear tubes. We have done it twice for our 2 year old after the
first
set fell out after about a year. Both times were with Dr Wesman at CHO and he is
amazing. The anesthesia is no big deal, they don't place a tube in their throat,
just use a mask with an inhalant similar to what the dentist uses. They have an
anesthesiologist with your child at all times. Some kids wake up upset, mine
didn't and was her normal self immediately. The operation takes literally 15
minutes from when they put them under to when you can see them after they
wake up.
Good luck!
May 2010
My daughter just had tonsils/adenoids out with placement
of ear tubes. She was 3 at the time and just turned 4. I
have tried foam and silicon ear plugs that say they are
made for kids, but they all fall out within seconds. Does
anyone have any advice for either the best kind of
earplugs to use or how to get them to stay in? Also, is
it possible for her to actually go swimming in a pool?
The few people I have talked to whose kids are older and
had ear tubes just gave up swimming for the duration. But
my girl loves to swim and we put so much time and energy
into getting her independent in a pool. She is on the
brink of being able to swim without flotation. I hate to
lose that! And, we are going to a friend's house for the
weekend where there is a hot tub on a deck overlooking the
ocean and she loves it! There is no way I will be able to
keep her out of it, so I need to figure out how to make it
as safe as possible for her ears. So, if anyone has any
experience with this that they could pass on to me, I
would greatly appreciate it! Please e-mail me your advice
since I'm not consistent about checking BPN postings.
Thanks!
Michele
My son had ear tubes at 8 months and our ENT gave him fitted
ear plugs to wear for swimming (which we were told was
completely fine).They are not foam but silicon and they are
contoured.
Our ENT mentioned the biggest risk is with dirty water (like
swimming in the ocean or a lake). Pool water she said not
as big of a risk, but wear the ear plugs if possible.
So I'd check with your ENT on the fitted ones. They don't
seem to bother my son.
Laura
Feb 2010
My daughter had ear tubes inserted when she was 3.5 years
old after a string of ear infections and more different
types of antibiotics than I can count. It was like a
miracle and her hearing improved absolutely instantly,
plus no more ear infections.
They stayed in a long time and now it is almost 2 years
later -- in fact one is still in. She has been getting
the infections again, and they flare up just 2 days after
she finishes a round of antibiotics. We got back in to
see her ear doc (Dr. Barber at Kaiser) and he is
recommending ear tubes again. I am relieved to do this
again because she has been in so much pain. He mentioned
that some doctors would recommend removal of the adenoids
at this point, but that unless we are seeing greenish or
pussy fluid draining out of her nose/throat/ears, that he
sees no point.
I decided to do my due diligence with a web search about
adenoids and ear tubes... The thing that disturbs me is
that if the tubes don't come out on their own in a timely
fashion, they are recommend removing them surgically or
else the hole in the eardrum may be permanent and have to
be repaired later.
The tubes he suggested putting in are a ''longer lasting''
type... so can I expect she will need to have her ear
drums repaired later? I still definitely want to put the
tubes in because she has been in excruciating pain, but I
want to know what to expect down the road. Anyone been
through TWO rounds of ear tubes? T.
I'm not sure about whether my son had ''longer-lasting'' ear
tubes, but he had his adenoids removed at age 2 and has had
at least three sets of ear tubes. His ears are now fine, and
the tubes came out on their own each time. His doctor
checked the tubes every six months or so and if your
daughter's doctor does the same it would seem any potential
problems would be caught in time. And, not having the ear
tubes might mean ruptured ear drums, which can also cause
damage. It's nerve-wracking to go through the procedure and
then to hear that your child needs ear tubes again, but
thankfully children do grow out of it. Good luck.
Jodi
Our son had tubes at 15 months, and then again at age 3. I
am 100% for it! The minute one of his tubes fell out
(around the age of 2.5), he began getting ear infections
again, ruptured ear drums, and so on. Those tubes changed
my life as his parent (I think I spent every week at the
doctor's office until he finally got the tubes). From the
time they were inserted, he did not have ear infections at
all.
Now he is 7, and the ear infections have stopped, and the
tubes have fallen out.
Hope this helps!
Love those tubes!
My son had two rounds of ear tubes (at 2.5 and 4), as well as having his
adenoids removed the second time. One of his (2nd round) ear tubes did last a
long time. He does not seem to have suffered any ill effects; his eardrums are
fine and so is his hearing. I think there is a very good chance your child will be
fine.
Karen
I had tubes as a child and have only the fondest memories of them. Like your
child I was in extreme pain and was having constant earaches. One of the tubes
did leave a small hole in my eardrum. I have to tell you as an adult I am so
appreciative that my parents got the tubes, even knowing the outcome would
be this small hole. It has not affected my hearing at all, in fact my hearing was
worse when I had all those ear infections. Further I can say that the hole has not
affected my life much at all. I have to be careful not to get water in that ear, so
I wear an earplug while swimming, but it really isn't a big deal. In the shower I
never get water in either ear. I am not much of a swimmer though. Maybe
because I associate water with all those hellish ear infections from my pre-tube
days (I got tubes as an older kid).
Meredith
May 2009
I'm wondering if anyone has experience with ''ear tubes'' for
older children. My 6 year old daughter has mild to profound
unilateral sensory neural hearing loss in her left ear(this is
NOT caused by fluid, and cannot be surgically repaired.
Recently (the last 10 to 12 weeks) she's also developed
increased conductive hearing loss in both ears due to chronic
fluid in her middle ear. Now she's having a really difficult
time hearing.
There's a possibility that ear tubes would help. She's a
trooper, but she'd really, really like to hear better. We're
looking into a hearing aid for the permanent sensory neural
hearing loss, but wondering if tubes would help for the
conductive hearing loss (fluid in the ears).
All of the older posts and info. online I find refer to younger
children... anyone know of/have older kids with ear tubes?
My 5 and a half year old daughter had ''t tubes'' (just a more
permanent version of regular ear tubes) put in last year. She'd
had two sets of regular ear tubes fall out because she'd get a
cold and the fluid would build up in her ears and push them out.
Between ear tubes we tried homeopathy, dietary changes and
osteopathy to see if we could figure out the cause of the fluid
buildup. Nothing seemed to make a difference, so we think that
for her it must be a purely physiological issue.
It was really hard for us to decide to do these surgeries, but
she was not hearing well at all and it was affecting her in many
ways. Having ear tubes and being able to hear everything she
needs to has been wonderful.
I would say that if there's a strong case for the tubes helping
her hearing, go for it.
BTW, we love our ENT Bernard Drury. He is so warm and patient and
informative. And very very sweet with kids.
kht
I have a 5yr old almost 6yr old with ear tubes. he just got
them in march of this year and this is his second set. he had
to get them because he had fluid in the ears and it also was
effecting his hearing and also effecting his speach because he
could not hear the words right. ever since he got the ear tubes
his teachers say that he is understanding more and finaly keep
up with his class. he had a hearing test before he got them and
failed that now that he has them he has another hearing test
coming up so we could just confirm that they did help him, even
though i know they did. i could only imagine how it feels to
have that pressure in your ears and not being able to hear
right. I am happy he got his ear tubes. i know its different
for every kid but after his surgery he had little pain which
they gave him medicine for and did not need it after 2 days and
was back to his self when we got home. you do need to take care
of them though like when they are in the shower using ear plugs
or swimming using a ear protector I bought one from ear
bandit.com they have both there. well i hope this has been
helpful and good luck with your little girl...
R_B
My now seven year old son had ear tubes placed when he was five.
It was a difficult decision and we initially tried other means to
get the fluid to move. When the holistic approach failed, we
opted for surgery and we're really happy. It was a simple
surgery, he didn't have any pain afterwards, and when his ear
anatomy matured, the tubes just fell out.
What?
My son had ear infections and fluid in his ears on and off until
we finally put tubes in his years at age 6. I am very glad we
did it (and wonder why they didn't recommend it before). His
speech was affected by all the infections and fluid, and it did
take years for him to work back his articulation. We had no
problem while the tubes were in (he kept them in for 3 years!),
no more ear infections, and added bonus: no ear pain during
plane flights. They did put him out under general anesthesia for
the procedure, which was very quick. You probably know this --
when kids can't hear well, they aren't as able to learn and pick
up on social cues, so it has big implications for their social
development as well as their speech, and I think my son's
spelling was also affected, since he couldn't make out all the
sounds. He is now 14 and doing great; spelling is erratic but
he is great at spell-check!
Julie
July 2008
I am sure this topic has been raised before so thanks in
advance for possibly repeating your information. Our 14 month
old has had 8+ ear infections in the last 10 months and we hate
the amount of antibiotics she has had in her short life. We
have been encouraged to get the tube surgery but of course we
are terrified about putting her through the surgery. We have
been told that the risks are minimal but would like to hear
first hand experience. Also, has anyone had the surgery done by
Dr Wessman at Children's Hospital? If so, please let us know
your experience with him. Thanks so much!
cautious mom & dad
My advice is, do it. My son's ear infections totally stopped (and his hearing improved
immensely) when we got the tubes done. The surgery is minimal -- the worst part for
the child is actually just waking up from the anesthetic (they are confused and don't
feel good). Only lasts about 15 minutes, and the child is fine after that.
And Dr. Wesman is great. He's kept tabs on our son since the surgery, and is very
careful and conservative. He really knows what he is doing.
Karen
Dear cautious mom & dad, My son had the ear tubes surgery at
age 2 1/2 after a similar history of ear infections. Like you,
we were really concerned about putting such a little person
through surgery but in the end we were very glad we did it. He
has had only 1 ear infection in the subsequent year and a half.
His hearing improved dramatically (as indicated by testing).
And, perhaps most important, his everyday quality of life (and
therefore ours too!) went waaay up after the surgery. He had
started getting ear infections pretty young, and I think we
didn't even pick up on all of them. So I now think he must have
been in pain and discomfort a lot of the time. His personality
really did change after the surgery, especially our ability to
soothe him.
That said, it is surgery and there are risks. Most of the risk
comes from the general anesthesia. You can hear from me and
other posters about instances where it went well, but in the
end, no one can guarantee you that your child won't be the one
who suffers an adverse reaction. So it is a risk and you have
to decide if you're comfortable with that. Then again, losing
hearing in one or both ears - especially during language
development - is a risk, too.
We had our surgery at UCSF so I can't speak to your specific
surgeon. However, I can say that our son experienced virtually
no discomfort or suffering that I could tell. Truly, the
hardest part was that he couldn't eat breakfast the morning of!
He was soooo mad about that! (So try to schedule an early
surgery if you can!) I went in the OR with him while they put
him under (via mask), and my husband and I were both there when
he woke up, groggy but not unhappy. (And not in pain.) I think
we gave him Tylenol later in the day but that was about it.
There was virtually NO ''recovery time.''
So, again, you have to weigh the surgical risks against the
risks of repeated ear infections, but we are very happy with
the choice we made.
ear infections no more
Our daughter had the surgery w/Dr. Wessman when she was 19 mo.
Dr. Wessman is fantastic, as are all of his staff. The surgery
is done at Children's Hospital, again, everyone there is
amazing. The fluid in my daughter's ears disappeared completely
for the first time in a year and she slept better immediately.
She had bad reactions to antibiotics so this was really our
best solution. The surgery is 5 min long and the hardest part
is when they put them under. It is weird to watch but very
quick and painless and it is over before you know it. The only
other issue is making sure your kid doesn't run around the rest
of the day b/c they are a bit wobbly. Our daughter had no pain
and no side effects and we are so happy we made this decision.
If you haven't met Dr. Wessman yet, go see him. Within 5
minutes of meeting him, your fears will be put to rest. No
surgery is ever easy but compared to having your kid on
antibiotics forever, this was a breeze.
Good luck
Hi, our 4 year old son had ear tubes put in when he was ~16
months old. He had 11 ear infections from 6 months of age on
(after he started day care). It was miserable, lots of night
crying, and the antibiotics started becoming ineffective (he had
to have antibiotic injections for 3 days in a row at one point).
We were not happy about developing resistance to antibiotics.
We also were nervous about the procedure, but ended up having it
done, at Lucille Packard. There are certainly risks with any
procedure requiring general anesthetic, but, our procedure and
recovery went very quickly and smoothly and he hasn't had a
single ear infection since then, and the tubes fell out normally
about a year later. We also had lots of pre- and post-procedure
hearing tests to track his hearing loss (which went away eventually).
You can search the web, I believe there are some studies showing
rarely long-term health problems tied to multiple ear infections
in infants (other than hearing loss and related speech
development delay, which is usually temporary). You have to make
your own decision, but in our case after it was done we never
doubted that it was the right thing. Good luck!
Oh, one last interesting thing, I also had ear tubes when I was a
baby, so it seems that being prone to ear infections runs in our
family.
Matt
my son also had chronic ear infections; we were considering tubes
as well until a friend recommended garlic oil ear drops (i got
them at elephant pharmacy). amazing!!!!!! no ear or sinus
infections since. at the first sign of any ear/sinus issue, i
put drops in at bedtime (my son did not like it so i waited until
he was asleep). the garlic oil can stain and it does smell the
next day but it was so worth it!!!!!
ADELINA
Our family has worked w/ Dr Robert Wesman quite a bit. Both my
sons had ear tubes put in at around 14 months. They are now 2
1/2 and 5 years old, and the result was great. The procedure
itself took minutes, and, although gen anesthesia is always
scary, my kids had no problems. My youngest did continue to
get ear infections through that second winter, but they were
much less frequent and the PT tubes drained the infected fluid
immediately so my son was not in much discomfort. The tubes
also alerted me to the problem immediately, w/o having to guess
if he was experiencing another ear infection. The staff at CHO
was also wonderful and we all felt very well taken care of
there. Dr Wesman has somewhat of a cool professional demeanor,
but in our experience, his professional services are
excellent. Good luck! email us if you'd like more details of
our experience.
toej
One of our twins (2.5 YO) just recently got ear tubes because
of hearing problems due to chronic ear infections. We also
waited at first but after no improvement deceided to go ahead
with the surgery. The procedure does not take very long. Her
hearing seems better after the surgery because she talks a lot
more and so far we had no problems with ear infections. You
just have to make sure that no water gets into the ears
Mom of girl with ear tubes
I had Dr Wesman place ear tubes in my daughter's ears when she
was 20 months old. I wish we had done it earlier but I was
scared and nervous about the surgery. My daughter had
persistent ear infections. Her language development was also
effected because of the constant water in the ear. Plus we were
taking sooooooooooo much time off of work staying home with her
when she was sick and in pain. My husband and I had so many
days with unpaid leave form work because we were using all of
our PTO. The infections were really painful and we tried
everything else. We have had the tubes in for 5 months now and
have done plenty of swimming with no problems. She has had a
couple colds, etc, but they are easily cleared now that her
ears can drain. I work at Children's Hospital and Dr Wesman is
a well respected physician throughout our community in the
hospital.
Wesman Fan
Our daughter had ear tubes placed at 25 months old after 8 ear
infections in 1 year. I, too, was concerned about the
frequency and ever-increasing strength of antibiotics required
to treat the infections. We opted to proceed with the surgery
with Dr. Moyce (out of Orinda) at Children's Hospital and
thankfully she has had great results. The outpatient surgery
was completed in less than 15 minutes with the wonderful,
special anesthesiologist and nurses at Children's providing
excellent loving care. She returned to play that afternoon and
was free to return to normal activities the next day. She had
one ear infection the next month which was a huge
disappointment, though not uncommon and did not mean that the
surgery wasn't successful. She did not have another until
exactly 3 years later! She experienced the usual colds and
viruses that come with childhood and pre-school but no fluid
built up in her ears resulting in fewer courses of antibiotics.
The most remarkable improvement was with her speech. Since she
did not have to hear through the honey-like substance in her
ears any more her enunciation improved and she became able to
communicate clearly with everyone. Previously, her grandma,
her babysitter and I could only clearly understand everything
she said - we didn't recognize a speech impairment, rather
thought that her dad and Grandpa were hard of hearing. :-)
While her vocabulary has always been expansive, her speech was
somewhat delayed but caught up completely by the age of 4 and a
half, largely attributable to having the surgery. Please
discuss the potential for long-term speech implications with
her doctors.
I add that her dad had the same issue (small tubes) and
experienced repeated ear problems as an adult until he did a
similar procedure with Dr. Moyce as well. Tiny tubes run in
the family. He, too, is pleased with the results.
Glad We Opted for The Procedure
As far as I can tell, we are the only people who have had a bad
experience with Dr. Wesman - so maybe it is anomaly, but I would
be remiss for not posting this response. We took our 2 year old
to Wesman for chronic sinus infections. She was a
stubborn/difficult 2 year old and would not let him look in her
ears that day. Rather than try creative Dr. techniques (looking
for an animal in her ear, etc.) he strapped her down to a board
and had a nurse and my husband hold her so he could look in her
ears. Obviously this was quite traumatic for my daughter. She was
hysterical the entire time and for hours after the experience,
which triggered a terrible stutter that lasted for over 6 months.
After that we worked very hard to get her used to having anyone
look in her ears. About 6 months later we took her back to
Wesman. At this point we knew she had sleep apnea and her hearing
was compromised - surgery was what we wanted so she could get
some relief. Well, she took one look at Wesman and crawled under
the chair in his examining room. Wesman told us he was going to
leave the room for a while and if she did not cooperate then we
would have to ''muscle'' her. We promptly told him that there would
be no muscling (apparently he did not remember her or the trauma
she experienced from her last visit).
We started over with Dr. Drury. My daughter LOVED him from the
minute he entered the room. He is smiley and pleasant and a
competent surgeon. She had her tonsils, adenoids and tubes taken
care all at once. It took forever to get the appointment but
Children's Hospital was a fantastic facility. Our daughter
finally breathes through her nose. She finally sleeps through the
night. She has not had another sinus infection. She has a
follow-up hearing test next month and I would guess that her
hearing is no longer compromised. She is a completely different
person. No doubt I would recommend you and anyone else who has
noticed that their toddler is not sleeping well and suffering
from ear, nose or throat problems take steps to help them feel
better. We went from having a ''difficult'' child to a fun, happy,
loving little girl.
been there
Our son just had ear tube and adenoids removal surgery with Dr.
Wessman and it went very well. Dr. Wessman is a wonderful doctor
with years of experience. Our son is doing dramatically better
now. We just had his hearing tested again and he can now hear
everything. We are so pleased we went with Dr. Wessman's
recommendation.
Kimberly
July 2007
For the past 8 months, my 19-month-old son has had a perennial
(on again, off again) stuffy nose, generally not connected with a
cold. He's often so stuffy he can't nurse and breathe at the same
time, and he snores a lot. He is speech delayed as well, so he
got a hearing test, which he didn't do so well on. Today we saw a
pediatric ENT (Dr. Gottschall at Kaiser) who said my son has
fluid behind his eardrums, even though he has had no ear
infections that we know of. He said my son's adenoids are
probably enlarged as well, and recommended ear tubes and an
adenoidectomy.
I've looked up past postings about ear tubes, but they all seem
to be about children who have had a string of ear infections. I'd
love to hear some advice from other parents whose children have
had ear fluid in the absence of infections. Did you go with
tubes, and if so, were they a good thing? What are the pros and
cons? How big a procedure is it and how hard is the recovery from
tube insertion and adenoidectomy?
I'd also love to hear about alternative therapies. I feel
suspicious that there's an allergic component to my son's stuffy
nose, since he was perfectly healthy until about 1 year and then
got these problems just as solid foods started playing a larger
role in his diet. Should I be trying an elimination approach to
try to figure out if he has a food sensitivity? Are there other
approaches that could be valuable? I'd like to get his stuffy
nose and hearing problems resolved, especially as he's in such a
sensitive period for language development, but I'm leery of
poking holes in his poor little ears.
Thanks!
fluid behind the eardrums can really cause a mild to moderate
hearing loss which accounts for your child's speech delays. My
daughter had that problem and the tubes helped but by the time
we had it done there was already scaring and permanent loss of
hearing. If we had Dr. Gotchall, he would have caught the
problem earlier. (he has only been at Kaiser for the last year
and our prior ENT was terrible) I trust him and he is the only
ENT I will let work on my daughter. He is generally
conservative with treatment and has given us options and time
to decide. Tubes are no big deal and they usually fall out in
6 to 8 months. You need to take care to use earplugs when
bathing but other than that it is worth it. Even if allergies
cause the problem (and my child has lots of allergies) it
doesn't account for the fluid building up behind the ear
drums. Some times the eustation tube is not well developed for
drainage or the adenoids are too large. You could ask Dr.
Hillsinger for a second opinion (he is the heard of the
department) But I have checked out Dr. Gotchall's credentials
and they are impeccable.
juliet
Hi,
I am scheduling my 2 year old daugthers ear tube surgery this
week. She has had only one ear infection, but is speech
delayed so we did a hearing test. Though her speech was within
range she flat lined the tympogram. The ENT said often there
is fluid (it can be thick) so far back it can't be seen. In
talking with the ENT and her speech therapist at length i am
totally pro the ear tubes for my daughter. Yes, it's surgery,
but a very short one (15mins) with easy recovery with almost no
pain afterward. I have talked to parents who said they noticed
their child vocalizing more almost immediately after the
surgery. I have heard it being compared to hearing like you
are underwater before the tubes are in. Sorry i don't know
anything about the adenoidectomy, but i feel the more research
you do on the ear tubes the less anxious you'll be aobut that
part.
EAB
My five year old son just went through this procedure in February
'07 for the same problem. We put it off for about 1 1/2 years to
try other approaches (homeopathy, addressing the allergies,
medication). We also got a second opinion and did lots of
research. Like your son, my son never had an issue with ear
infections. My son's language was never delayed but he was
having problems with peer interactions (and following adult's
instructions) because he couldn't hear. The only thing I wish we
tried prior to surgery is craniosacral therapy which is very
gentle and I've heard it may help with this kind of congestion.
As stressed and questioning as I was about the procedure, I am SO
happy we did it. I too was worried about the recovery but it
went extremely well, no pain at all. The only tiny problem was
with some drops the surgeon gave us for his ears after the
procedure. My son said they were very painful so the surgeon
said we could discontinue them. My son can hear perfectly now
and his peer interactions have greatly improved. If only he'd
listen to ME!
I wish you luck and strength! Please email me with any other
questions.
amanda
Dr Gottschall just put ear tubes into my 11 mos old son. He has had
chronic fluid in his
ears since birth. We put the ear tubes in to avoid hearing problems and
speech delays.
My son recovered very quickly. All we had to do was put some ear drops
in for the first
week after the surgery. My sister's children had ear tubes as well and
did well with
procedure. I think it is a relatively minor intervention with a big
result -your son;s
hearing and speech! -
Pro-Ear Tubes
I would get an xray for the adenoids--our son was severely
congested for 9 months and misdiagnosed and prescribed
antibiotics too many times--in the end, we confirmed with two
ears nose and throat specialists that it was his adenoids. He
had them removed (age 5) out patient and he was overwhelmed that
he could finally breath through his nose--if it is adenoids, I
would do that first and wait and see on the tubes. Our son
recovered in just a few days. Also keep in mind that he may be
suffering with sleep issues b/c of the breathing as well. good luck.
m
Hi,
I had both my adenoids and tonsils taken out when I was a few
years older for hearing loss and it was fine if a bit painful.
I don't about adenoids getting better, but I know it can be very
problematic for children who are just learning to speak to have
hearing problems.
anon
My then 4 year old had fluid on one side, even when whe did not
have a cold. She was not complaining of pain. But her hearing
was being impacted by the fluid's continued presence. My
friend's child had had permanent hearing loss from prolonged
fluid in their ear that was mis-diagnosed. I definitely wanted
to avoiid that. Also, earlier in her life when she had more ear
infections, I think she began to get a yeast infection form the
antibiotics. So for 2 reasons we elected to get her tubes put
in, and it worked well for her. It was done at Children's
Hospital, with a doctor who does not push ear tube surgeries.
It went very quickly. She recovered well. (It still is not fun
to have your kid go through it - but we focused on the
improtance of her hearing, and our wish to get her off of the
antibiotics). So my advice is, if the child's hearing is being
impacted, get it taken care of. It may very well be a mixture
of things causing the problem. And one of those things may be
the physical structure of your particular child's ear. Don't
wait for the sometimes long-term allergy analysis to work out,
and they don't always. Time is too precious for those rapidly
growing ears and brains.
Anon Mom
Hi there,
My daughter was in a similar situation to your son, though for
her it started when she was about 2.5. I think she had maybe
two ear infections that winter/spring, but the larger issue was
that the fluid behind her eardrums was just not draining. It
definitely affected her hearing and thus her ability to follow
conversations and interact with others. After trying homeopathy
and eliminating dairy to no avail, we went ahead with ear tubes
because we felt that the hearing loss, while not permanent, was
really affecting her socially (and it would have affected her
developmentally if it had gone on for longer). She'd been an
early talker and an avid conversationalist, so it was sad to
see her missing parts of stories and not understanding teachers
and other kids were telling her.
The ear tubes definitely worked -- within days she'd stopped
saying ''what?'' every time we told her something. Her teachers
at preschool said they noticed a huge difference in how she
interacted at school. It was totally worth it.
Then they fell out after just three months, which was really
early. She'd had a bad cold and I think the congestion was
enough to push them out. The fluid buildup began again and her
hearing issues returned almost immediately. At that point her
ENT said we should consider the adenoidectomy -- he told us
that there wasn't any way to see for sure if her adenoids were
enlarged until she was under anesthesia to replace her ear
tubes. So we went ahead with the ear tubes and he found her
adenoids were huge and went ahead with the adenoidectomy as
well.
That was about 3 months ago and so far so good.
If you'd like to know any more about our experience, feel free
to email me. Good luck with your decision!
Keri
My daughter had a very similar situation. She had fluid in the
middle ears which caused her speech delay. She only had one
minor ear infection. We saw Dr. Wesman at Oakland Children's
Hospital and had ear tubes put in and also had adenoids
removed. The recovery was quick and she was back at her
preschool the next day or so. Her speech picked up right after
she's got the ear tubes. The first set came out after 9 months
or so and the fluid started to build up again. We opted for
another set of ear tubes. One of them has come out again now,
but the fluid is not accumulating this time. She is 4 years
old now and her speech has caught up. All is well now and we
are happy with the results.
anonymous
i'd be leery to!!!
i was thinking ''allergies'' as i read your post, and then laughed
as i got to the bottom paragraph. i think it's negligent that
your ped didn't explore this first, rather than jumping to surgery.
dairy dairy dairy! cut it out for a month. look carefully at
ingredients of processed foods, as it hides as casein, whey, etc,
soy, wheat and corn are other culprits. if you are nursing, you
should eliminate it, too. supplement with vit A cod liver oil and
vit C, mineral supplements to boost the immune system. for fats,
olive oil and coconut oil are great. give him probiotics.
go to mothering.com, and check out their allergy forum:
http://www.mothering.com/discussions/forumdisplay.php?f=307
good luck!
signed: stuffy mama of mama of stuffy girls
Oct 2006
Hi,
My good friend has a 4 yr old son that has been having inner ear
trouble/fluid/ear infections since he was 2. His hearing is so
bad that when you speak to him he doesn't hear you. He is
starting to lip read. His pediatrician sent him to an
audiologist: no movement at all in right ear, very little in
left. Ear tubes are recommended. She has heard pro and con for
the tubes, but it seems like in his case, it is necessary. Have
any of you gone through this, taken your child to a good ENT,
successful surgeries, horror stories, etc?
thanks for any info
rachel
My son had tubes put in his ears when he was 2. There were no
complications and they eventually fell out a couple of years later. Ear
drums healed fine. Now he is 17 with normal hearing. We had this done
in Kaiser. It's apparently a very routine procedure.
Best wishes on your decision
ProTube Mama
Ear tubes was a great thing for our 4 yr old (who is now 10).
We did not want her to lose movement in her eardrum and wanted her to be
able to hear 100% - what parent wouldn't? We also didn't want her on
repeated doses of antibiotics. For us and our daughter, ear tubes were
an easy choice. We had to be brave and get over our own fears of
surgery and do the right thing for our child's life long ability to hear
other people speak, hear music, hear cars driving towards them, etc.
etc. Getting tubes in ears is surgery BUT is truly minor on the
spectrum AND it is such a quick procedure that it is over within a few
minutes. I encourage you to ask you friend to go talk with an ENT DOc
ASAP for the sake of her child's hearing. Sometimes as parents we have
to be brave and do scary things. Also 9as the moderator
said) ther is a whole bunch of stuff on this in the archieves Grateful
Mom of Hearing Child
You'll hear many referrals for Robert Wesman at Children's Hospital, but
here's another one. Took my son when he was two and lip-reading, had
the tube surgery done. It went beautifully, no problems, and was well
worth it. The surgery itself takes 5 minutes, and the child is up and
running around by the next day. Hearing at this age is absolutely
critical. If the child can't hear properly, have the tubes put in Karen
Ear tubes were recommended for my son about a year ago when he was four.
We decided to try other methods--such as try to clear up his allergies
which seemed to be the reason for constant congestion and stuffy ears.
He's had a little relief from the allergies/hearing loss with the help
of homeopathy but it's not a dramatic change. I began to reconsider ear
tubes when I recently saw an article regarding research that found that
kids that get ear tubes are more likely to suffer hearing loss later in
life due to the ear tubes. Go figure. Anyway, I obviously don't have
an answer but it's another piece of information for your friend to
consider --Huh? What?
I can't imagine why anyone would NOT get ear tubes in this case.
Not hearing can have long-term effects on speech, language, and reading
development. Of course, my child got ear tubes at 4 years, for chronic
ear infections, and we've been pleased. No horror stories. We are
Kaiser members, we didn't shop around for a different ENT Heather
Oct 2006
Our 4 year old son had tubes put in his ears last spring after a
string of ear infections. Overall he seems to be doing fine. We
used wax plugs for baths for the first month or so and then
stopped. He did a lot of swimming over the summer without plugs
and we never heard a complaint.
Lately, when we are giving him a shower, he screams the moment
we get his hair wet, complaining that we have hurt his ears. We
are very careful about not spraying water directly in his ears,
but he still gets very upset every night.
We doubt that his ears are really hurting, but I was wondering
if anyone else has had a similar experience with their child,
and/or has some good ideas on how to deal with it. I am thinking
that I will go back to the ear plugs for shower time just to
keep him from screaming!
Concerned Mommy
I am surprised that your child's ENT didn't tell you not to get water in
his ears until the tubes fell out. swimming and showering and bathing
are ways water gets into the ear and causes infections. Your child
should see a pediatric ENT to see why it is hurting.
mom of another ear
tube child
Oct 2005
Our 2 1/2 year-old daughter had ear tubes put in both ears a
year and a half ago after having 8 ear infections in 6 months.
My understanding is that typically, tubes fall out and the ear
drum closes up on its own. We have been told that if they
don't fall out, they need to be removed after two years. This
is a surgical procedure. The risk in not removing them and
leaving them in is that when they do eventually fall out, the
ear drum would not heal itself and a surgery would need to be
done to patch the ear drum.
Does anyone have more information about this? Could anyone
share their experience with this matter? It seems to me that
we either have a surgical procedure to have them removed with
the risk that they would need to be reinserted if she begins
chronic ear infections again. Or we leave them in and she may
need a the patching surgery at a later time. I'm leaning
towards leaving them in. Are there risks to this? I'd love
any input people have.
Thanks!
My daughter had ear tubes put in when she was 15 months old. One of
them finally fell out when she was 4 1/2; the other one didn't. I'd had
conversations with her pediatrician from when she was three about
removing them -- first we put it off to get through another cold season
with them in; then I just wound up busy and didn't deal with it.
Shortly after she turned five I got a referral to a pediatric ENT who
looked at it, said it was part way out on its own, but kind of stuck (so
it wouldn't just fall out). He said we could 1) have him just yank it
then and there, which would hurt or 2) set up a time to have her put
under for a removal procedure.
I went with 1. He used a long tweezer like thing, it was over in
seconds, she cried and then she was fine.
Anyhow, to get back to your question, it's not a big deal to have them
in there for a few years, so long as you're checking in with your
pediatrician to make sure everything's okay; at least in our case
waiting to have them removed meant a much easier removal in the end. I
worried over this for the longest time and in the end, it was not a big
deal that we waited.
Kathy
Gosh, we sort of had the opposite problem. Our son's ear tubes fell out
within a few months (they were put in when he was about 2 and a half),
and we had to have them redone a year later. So leaving them in might
be useful, especially since you mention your child had a lot of trouble
with ear infections (ours did too -- he was on a course of antibiotics
every few weeks for awhile!). In our case, both parents have ear
troubles as well, so our son's inner ear workings are probably
genetically inefficient.
However, you don't mention what your ENT recommends (or who he/ she is,
for that matter). I would tend to follow this person's advice. Our
ENT, Dr. Wesman, is extremely competent, and very conservative when it
comes to surgery -- he has been spot on with his recommendations, and I
would completely trust him.
Karen
Jan 2004
Wondering about peoples current experiences dealing with reoccurring
( 3-4x per year) ear infections in toddlers. Thanks
My daughter had 5 ear infections in her first year and we went
to a specialist to discuss tubes shortly after her first
birthday. From what we understood from our meeting, the surgery
would only give us around a 50% chance of eliminating the ear
infections and came with the concern about general anesthesia.
We decided to try alternative methods for one year and see if we
could minimize infections on our own. With help and suggestions
from family and friends, we did the following: switched from
cows milk to enriched rice beverage (my daughter is intolerant
of soy), made a 'rule' that bottles were to be consumed in a
chair, and when she had a cold we: eliminated dairy, put
lavendar oil (3-4drops) in her vaporizer, gave alternating doses
of pulsatilla 30x and kali bichromic! um 30c, kept her well-
hydrated and gave dimetapp elixir at naptime and bedtime. She
had 6 or 7 colds in her 2nd year and no ear infections. I'm
sorry to say that I can't tell you which of the above
suggestions might have been the secret, because with each
successful avoidance of infection I became less willing to mess
with a good thing, if you know what I mean. Good luck!
diana
After a relatively ear infection-free first three years, my
daughter began to develop ear infection after ear infection to
the degree that her hearing was not coming back up to normal in
one ear, but she wasn't in pain. She also began to develop
yeast infections as an antibiotic side effect. We began to
notice her hearing in one ear was off because at bed time when
her good ear was on her pillow, she had to lift her head to hear
us speak. Also, in a loud room if we whispered in that ear, she
couldn't hear us. Soooooo, we felt we needed to take care of
her hearing and that physical intervention (tubes) was safe
enough to go for. Also, I, and at least one of my sibs-in-law
had them when we were youg, so it wasn't a totally new
experience for us. For our daughter, we used an ENT surgeon at
children's who had a lot of experience (Wesman) (He has a great
audiologist on staff). The hardest part for us was being with
her when she went under anaesthetic. But it all went very
quickly. We were in the waiting room for a very brief time
before we were called in to her. She was cranky as she woke up,
but okay soon after. Her hearing has been great ever since.
She has had no more yeast infections. She is in elementary
school now. My advice in brief?...do what feels best for you,
but make s! ure you get your child's hearing checked (by a truly
qualified person in a quiet environment) periodically.
anonymous
April 2003
It is looking like we might get ear tubes for my son. He's two, has had
multiple ear infections, and currently has some hearing impairment due
to fluid in his ears (the auditory nerve is fine), even though he hasn't had
an ear infection for months. Although he is talking lots! -- including
complete sentences -- his pronunciation is not great, and he very often
mishears me, especially when I'm not talking and looking right at him
(e.g. I say cook and he hears book).
What have been people's good and bad experiences with ear tubes?
Were they worth it, or did they create more problems than they solved?
Karen
My daughter has a hearing loss due to nerve damage, but on top
of that she has had ear infections and fluid build-up in her
ears. She has had tubes 2 times now (they fall out within 9-12
months) and both times her hearing has greatly improved. Her
vocabulary increased, she understands what I'm saying better,
and she speaks clearer.And she has only had one minor ear
infection since she got them in January. This last time they put
tubes in I was amazed at her progress and she doesn't even
really need her hearing aid anymore. I highly recommend getting
tubes for your your son, especially since he is at a critical
age and he needs his hearing to be at an optimum for learning,
and speech and language development.I wasskeptical at first
about the need for tubes but I've seen what a difference it
makes. Like I said, they fall out after 9-12 months, which is
kind of a bummer because then he might have to have another set
put in, but to me it's worth it.If you have any more questions,
feel free to email me. I do consider myself an expert on this
since my daughter has had so many ear problems, and I did too
when I was young.
Rachelle
My daughter had 11 ear infections in one year. She had ear
tubes put in at 20 months of age. To date, she has not had
another ear infection (she's 3 1/2 now). For me, the benefit of
the tubes far outweighed being off and on antibiotics for a
year. I have many other friends who have had only positive
results from ear tubes for their children. Good luck with your
decision!
Patty
For our daughter, the ear tubes were definitely worth it, but
that's not to diminish that the ''it'' -- inserting them under
general anesthesia -- is pretty scary with a very small child.
Our daughter got the tubes at age 13 months, after several
months of many ear infections. More importantly, like your son
it seems, she constantly had fluid in her ears that did not
drain even when her ears were not infected. We did go to an
audiologist, who felt that her hearing was affected.
The surgery was really hard on us, her parents; probably not so
much on her. Maybe I will sound oversensitive since the actual
surgery was very brief. She was not allowed to eat for twelve
hours before, and at that age she was still accustomed to nurse
during the night. At the hospital in the morning, they put us
in a room and the anesthesiologist gave her an oral sedative,
which made her very sleepy and smiley. After it took effect,
the anesthesiologist took her away wrapped in a blanket. They
used gas to put her under, put the tubes in, and brought her out
again in under ten minutes. She was already starting to wake up
when they brought her out, so I think the anesthesia must have
been quite light. However, she had monitors taped to her and a
kind of a tube blowing oxygen under her nose, which was scary
for me. Actually when they first brought me into the recovery
room with her, they had told us that only one parent could come
in, but I looked so bad that they went and got my partner. Our
daughter perked up really quickly though, drank a bottle of
sugar-water that they gave her, and we left in an hour or so. I
think we gave her some Tylenol but there was no indication she
was in any pain.
The tubes helped our daughter enormously. They did not stop her
from getting ear infections, although she got a lot fewer. The
main benefit was that her ears could drain. You would not
believe what has drained out of our daughter's ears -- sticky
yellow mucus, a couple of times blood, and once some stuff that
looked like pea soup. The only thing grosser than seeing this
stuff come out of the ears is thinking about it building up in
there with no way to get out.
Because the ears can drain, the ear infections are really
different. The kid starts acting really sick and miserable for
a few hours as the pressure builds up, but there's nothing
visibly wrong. Then the level of fluid gets high enough to
start the draining, the pressure goes away, and the kid is
running around again, happy as a clam, with some really
disgusting goop coming out of her ears. It is such a relief to
see her feel so much better so quickly, but it's kind of comical
because she's oblivious to the stuff draining out that to an
adult looks horrifying.
We always get the doctor to check the ears out when this
happens, and they prescribe antibiotic ear drops. Once the ENT
cleaned her ear out with a tiny suction device. One thing I
wish we had followed up more on is that before we got the tubes,
we were told that one advantage of getting them was the ability
to treat ear infections topically rather than with systemic
antibiotics. However, with the few ear infections she has
gotten, the doctors have usually prescribed both antibiotic ear
drops and systemic antibiotics. In retrospect I wonder if this
is overkill but at the times we've been too concerned about the
obviously yucky state of her ears to question whether the
systemic antibiotics are necessary.
One of our daughter's tubes just fell out after being in there
about two years; the other is still in as far as we know. She
hasn't had an ear infection in at least a year. Back when she
was still getting ear infections we stopped taking her in the
swimming pool, but she is crazy about swimming now, we've made
little effort to keep her ears dry, and she hasn't had any
infections. We did not worry about her ears in the bath.
There's no indication the tubes have affected her hearing
adversely.
So, in sum, I would not do it lightly, but I would definitely do
it again in my daughter's situation. In fact, since her ears
were more or less blocked up from about 7 to 13 months, in
retrospect we probably should have agreed to have it done
sooner.
I hope this helps you with your decision.
Teresa
My daughter got tubes at age 2 after a year of infections and
fluid in her ears. Her speech and intelligibility improved
dramatically and quickly.
We had absolutely no problems with the tubes. At her final
checkup with the ENT the tubes had fallen out and the ears had
healed completely with no scarring.
A couple things to consider first, our ENT told us that
prolonged fluid that never drains can cause permanent scarring
in the ear tubes. Second, hearing impairment due to fluid can
also cause some kids a certain level of social isolation.
The tubes changed all of our lives.
Huge fan of our ENT
My son, now one year old, has had fluid behind his ear drums for nearly
two months now. We've been to a pediatric ENT (Wesman) who told us he had
"Severe Otitis" and recommended antibiotics with possible tubes in the future.
Our family doctor is willing to be patient and recommended an acupuncturist
(who we are now seeing). My son definitely has some hearing loss, but is gaining
a few words, so we feel we can afford to spend the time to wait and see if
alternative methods work.
Question #1: if alternative methods are not successful, has anyone had success
with antibiotics for this condition? It's not clear to me that an infection
is the root of the problem. I'm not eager to have tubes put in, but I've heard
so many stories about "multiple rounds of antibiotics" that I'm not eager
to go through that if we'll end up getting tubes put inanyway.
Question #2: I'd also be interested in hearing about people's experience with
tubes - how big a deal was it to have them put in, are they hard to care for
once they are in, and did they make a difference?
Question #3: Has anyone had experience with Dr. Wesman (the pediatric ENT)
they care to share? He would probably be the one to do the surgery if its
needed.
We found that my son had hearing loss when he was in kindergarten - he had fluid
behind the ears due to enlarged tonsils and adenoids. We went to Dr. Wesman
who eventually did surgery - adenoidectomy and tonsillectomy. We found Dr Wesman
to be very personable, easy to talk to, and forthright. He was great the day
of the surgery (as were all the staff there - very caring, parents themselves,
most of them, empathetic, etc.) Our story ended happy - our son's hearing was
restored. Good luck.
Dr. Wesman put tubes in my daughters ears in August when she was 27 mos old.
The operation took 5 minutes, and she recovered from the anesthesia within 2
hours. When these tubes fall out, I will not hesitate to replace them if needed.
Being able to hear better made a big difference to her. She became more physically
active, more talkative, more social. I suggest that you talk loudly and keep
the TV, stereo, radio off while your child's hearing is even slightly impaired.
Our daughter with "mild/moderate hearing loss" could understand speech only
when there was NO background noise. So, although she could and did learn words,
she didn't get the opportunity very often. Good Luck!
My daughter went through the usual rounds of toddler ear infections, which diminished
as she got older. Then last spring at age six, she had several rounds of ear
infections and developed a severe hearing loss in both ears, which we were slow
to recognize because of problems at school. We were referred to Dr. Wesman,
who confirmed fliud behind both ear drums, accompanied by a severe hearing loss
in both ears, which was not permanent. He could not tell us the cause of the
continuing problem, nor did he seem to care. He was definite that the solution
was to put tubes in the ears, under a general anesthetic. He also mentioned
that sometimes the tubes fall out, and they have to repeat the operation. I
was hesitant, partly because of earlier mails on the parents list questioning
the efficacy of tubes, but mostly because there is always a small risk of death
with a general anesthetic. In my opinion, it takes a lot to justify general
anesthetic. Dr. Wesman tried a prescription decongestant, which didn't help.
I suggested testing for allergies, which came up negative. In the meantime,
she continued to get ear infections, which her family doctor would treat and
proclaim cured, only to be followed by another. And the hearing loss persisted.
I finally concluded, contrary to my doctor's opinion, that rather than having
a series of ear infections, she had a single persistent ear infection that was
being declared "cured" by the doctors whenever it subsided down to a certain
level, then kept popping up again. I persuaded one of the doctors to put her
on a three-month low- intensity regimen of antibiotics. We finished the three
months about a month ago, and, according to the normal family-doctor-style hearing
test, her hearing in both ears has returned to normal. We'll be following up
again with the family doctor in another two months, and I plan to follow up
with Dr. Wesman to test her hearing more precisely. I have been very torn throughout
this time. My own sister has a permanent hearing loss, and in fact a permanent
inner ear infection, stemming from when she was seven or eight years old. So
I don't want to avoid treatment if it's necessary. But I had to trust my own
judgement over the judgement of the doctors, who had no idea what her problem
was, but were nonetheless extremely sure of the solution. Dr. Wesman seems to
be extremely competent, following standard medical practices, but was impatient
with my desire to explore alternatives. I have since explored some medical databases:
http://www.icondata.com/health/pedbase/
http://www.med.jhu.edu/peds/neonatology/poi.html
http://search.info.nih.gov/
I learned the following by reading medical studies:
1. Prescribing decongestants for otitis, as Dr. Wesman did, has been
shown by research to be ineffective.
2. The tubes themselves tend to be effective, in statistical terms.
Although Dr. Wesman did not admit to any risks, there are some.
3. Removing tonsils is ineffective.
4. Removing adenoids sometimes helps, but only if the adenoids are
inflamed.
5. I can no longer find the reference, but I saw a study on treatment
of otitis using the non-sugar sweetener, xlylitol (sp?). The study
divided a large group of children with otitis into 4 groups and
treated them with 1) ordinary syrup, 2) ordinary chewing gum (I don't
remember if it was sugar-sweetened or not), 3) syrup with xylitol,
and 4) chewing gum with xylitol, and the study compared the results.
Both the syrup with xylitol and the chewing gum with xylitol were
each statistically effective -- that is, they helped in some cases. I
think maybe as many as 40% of the cases. It also mentioned that
xylitol was already known to be effective in reducing detal cavities.
I went looking for gum sweetened with xylitol myself for my daughter,
but I couldn't find any.
I had tubes in my ears from ages 4 (I think) through about 7 (in the '60's).
My recollection is that they were a MAJOR pain for everyone. I remember endless
rounds of vaseline and lamb's wool in my ears every time I wanted to go in the
family pool. And if I forgot, and put my head underwater, it was a huge deal,
as well. I didn't get to learn to swim till I had the tubes out, which was definitely
a problem with a pool in the backyard! On the other hand, I also had fewer ear
infections after that, so I suppose they helped. And I apparently experienced
no hearing loss from any of the infections, nor from the tubes themselves. Notably,
I *don't* remember the surgeries, either to put them in or take them out (usually
they "grow out" by themselves, but for some reason they did not for me, so I
had them in much longer than is common, and then had to have them removed).
In addition to antibiotics and tubes, I also had allergy shots till I was about
10 or 12 years old, which did seem to help as well. BTW: to this day I am REALLY
twitchy about getting water in my ears! Good luck!
My son had fluid in his ears, hearing loss, etc. At about 18 months he had tubes
put in, by Dr. Moyce. It was about as easy as surgery with general anesthesia
can be -- definitely a big deal in our family, but not as surgeries go. Unfortunately,
both tubes fell out within a couple months. We continued with ear infections,
antibiotics, etc. until he was about 2.5, and then had Dr. Wesman put in new
ones. These lasted much longer, until those little ear canals grew bigger on
their own and the infections stopped happening. Dr. Wesman was fine to deal
with throughout. The tubes require no maintenance or special care, except that
swimming and other head-immersing activities were off-limits. We had ear checks
with the pediatrician, but no more often than we had already been seeing him
with all the infections before surgery. The tubes stopped the infections, and
made a dramatic, obvious difference in my son's ability to hear.
I recently read in Child (or was it Parent??) magazine about a new procedure
using lasers to make a tiny--well I hate to say it, but--a tiny hole in the
ear drum to let the fluid drain out, instead of having to put in tubes. The
article said the procedure was much easier than the tubes, did not involve general
anaesthesia, and did not have to be repeated as tubes sometimes do. Might be
something to look into. Also, since you feel you are not in an emergency situation,
I would definitely look into homeopathy--I like Christine Ciavarella at Hahnemann
Clinic on San Pablo in Albany a lot. It might work, and can't hurt.
I have a boy of the same age with persistent and recurrent ear infections, so
your request hit home with me. Why would you want to risk his language development?
I am not an authority on tubes, but I know several people whose kids had them
with no ill effects (except one had to have them inserted again when they fell
out, which is common). Years of speech therapy to correct the delay caused by
not hearing certain sounds as language develops at this crucial time will be
more costly and potentially more damaging (to self esteem and lost opportunities
for your child) than antibiotics and a minor surgical procedure.
I had ear problem after ear problem as a child and wanted to second the person
who said you can pierce the eardrum to let the fluid drain. Tubes were horrible
as a child for me although maybe they are improved now. I missed out on all
water related events. To this day I have a full-blown phobia of getting water
in my ears after so many years of "being careful." I would also check into all
non-surgical means (I eventually had both my eardrums surgically replaced after
years and years of damage from ruptured eardrums and, yes, scarring on the eardrum
from the tubes). Try eliminating the fluid through the lengthy antibiotic run
or natural means, have you looked into flaxseed oil? I know it sounds strange,
but it can help with some ear problems/fluid if you can gag it down. Eventually,
I simply grew out of the ear infections (eustacian tube growslarger and the
fluid begins to drain). I was about 8 or 9. My hearing was affected when there
was fluid, but there was enough time when it wasn;t that my speech development
was not affected. Eventually, I'll bet your kid grows out of it. Just my 2 cents.
I heard about the same study detailing the effectiveness of xylitol chewing
gum. I found the gum at the health food store -- General Nutrition Center or
GNC -- next to the Berkeley Games store at the corner of Shattuck and Center
in downtown Berkeley. My 4-year-old son has had a series of ear infections.
I encourage him to chew the gum as often as possible. It doesn't taste very
good so he spits it out after a while... The gum is called Ford Xtreme Xylitol
Gum. 12 pieces cost 99 cents.
April 2002
My 2 year old son has been diagnosed with fluid in his ears as a
result of an ear infection. We were told that he needs to get tubes
in his ears as soon as possible. Has anyone had any experience with
this? While I am open to getting tubes in his ears, I am also looking
for information on alternative treatments, such as chiropractic and
homeopathic methods. At this point, as soon as possible to the ENT our
HMO referred us to means two months away. My little boy seems ok
during the day, only pulling on his ears occasionally, but cries at
night when he is lying down. Is there anything I can do for this? I
gave him a big pillow to lie on so that his head is more vertical, but
it doesn't seem to help.
emily
Give Garlic mullin ear drops when the nose starts running
(to prevent ear infections. If I didn't pay attention and
an ear infection crept up unrelated to a cold (i.e.
bathwater got into ear), I have treated it with Goldenseal,
which I put into the infected ear. It reduced pain and
helped the ear drain and cured the infection. However, it
won't stop me from taking my daughter to the doctor to get
a clear diagnosis of the degree of infection. At the age
of 5 she has only had 3 ear infections in her life that I
decided to treat with prescribed antibiotics. You can also
cut down the risk of ear infection by not serving cold
liquids at fridge temperature (I add a dash of hot water or
heat drinks up to room temperature when she has a cold).
Avoid drafts around the ear when your kid has a cold. Put
that hood on, roll that car window up higher or skip the
Marina afternoon winds. I read most of this advice in
books at the herb store Llasa Karnak in Berkeley. Maybe, a
bit inconvenient to follow these things, but it sure works!
My daughter only got an ear infection when I slipped
following these guidelines.
A Mom
If this is his first time with fluid in his ear I wouldn't
put tubes in his ears. Last year my daughter had 6 ear
infections ( 3 of which were double) in 5 months (Dec-
April) and only then did the whole tube thing come up. She
also had fluid in her ears most of that time ( all but about
2 weeks of it). We had her hearing tested in April and it
was perfect. We had the choice in April on tubes or no
tubes and we decided (with guidance from our pediatrician)
to wait and see since it was the end of cold season and she
didn't have another ear infection until Oct and just now in
April. So we feel the worst is over and I am glad we didn't
do tubes. With tubes they can not get there ears wet
without a lot of caution. there is also a great place to go
and ask other moms who have been in this position it is at
http://www.parentsplace.com/messageboards/ Then scroll down
tothe heading kids health and click on earaches. Good luck
Melinda
Concerning having tubes...I would like to respond to a point
made in previous advice concerning getting your child's ears
wet if they have tubes... My daughter has had tubes in her
ears for about one year. Her ENT doc (Wesman) said that she
could get her ears wet and could go swimming as long as she
does not submerge her head more than 3 feet below the water
's surface. She continued her swimming lessons and baths
and showers during the year without additional precautions
and she has had no problems from getting her ears wet.
mom of kid with tubes
Hi,
I went through 8 months of ear infections with my son when he
was about 1.5 yrs old. During the last six months he was on
constant antibiotics of all sorts, but it never went away.
He had also, at that point, never slept through the night
without waking. After very reluctantly scheduling ear tube
surgery, I was pointed by a chiropractor to the book ''Healing
Childhood Ear Infections'' by Schmidt. I was up to that point
very leery of alternative treatments. Boy did I make a
turnaround! I don't know which of the recommendations fixed
my son's problem. But that very first night after beginning
treatment (including homeopathic remedy, removal of dairy
products, and a particular method of massage), he slept clear
through the night. His ear infection cleared up
immmediately, never to return. I will be happy to loan you
the book if you like, but strongly encourage you to avoid
surgery until after you try this alternative.
Michelle
After 16 ear infections, tons of antibicodics and a bit of speech delay our 3
year old is about to have tubes put in her ears. Have others dealt with this?
We've been told no swimming for the next 6 months to a year and to keep her
ears dry while shampooing. O.K. the swimming part I can handle but how about
some tips on hair washing? She already doesn't like it so I'm hoping to get
to some fun and easy shampooing experiences.
CorViele
My daughter got ear tubes when she was 3. The experience
was more tramatic for us parents then it was for her. We
had it done at Childrens Hospital by a doctor whose
name I forget but he's the one who does most of the
ear tube work there. He does many of these so they
have a very nice procedure for telling your
kid what's going to happen ahead of time in
a kid friendly way. The actual work didn't take
long but they have to put the kids under so they
don't move around. It did take an hour or so
for my daughter to come out of it.
We did have to be careful at bathtime but it wasn't
too hard. The tubes did seem to do the trick for
stopping ear infections. I've heard all kinds of stories
about ear tubes but based on my experience I would
give them a try.
Jon
My son just got ear tubes put in by Dr. Wesman at Children's Hospital.
Wesman allows swimming (going no deeper than 3 feet under)
and hair washing without ear plugs. He says he hasn't had any
complications from this. You my want to ask your doctor about it.
Benson
I remember having my hair washed in the sink when I was a child with tubes in my ears.
It's easier to do if you tip the head back into the sink, the way they do at the hairdresser's.
The other thing to do, of course, is to pack the ears with vaseline and lamb's wool, but
I don't recall that we did that for hairwashing, just for swimming. And the good news is
that kids just don't need their hair washed as often as adults. Once a week is plenty for
most kids (unless they just put their dinner in their hair or something!).
Good luck!
Dawn
My friend's son has been recommended to have tubes placed in his ear
because of continuous ear infections. Although many children who
bottle feed suffer from ear infections, this child's situation is
worsen because of his allergies to all antibiotics. Unfortunately,
there are not many medications he can take that will not cause any
negative side affects. My friend is very concerned about this
operation. She has been warned of the possible consequences in having
this surgery, and is fearful that her son will have some
complications. Can parents whose children have gone through this
experience share some thoughts. She has consulted several physicians
and they all have recommended the surgery, but she is still not
comfortable with the idea.
I've known many kids who had tubes including my nephew and namesake.
All did fine. If you are concerned or reluctant, however, you might
want to consider homeopathic treatment first.
When considering ear tubes for our older child's chronic infections
and hearing impairment, my wife and I were reluctant due to the need
for anaesthesia. As a last resort we tried homeopathy at the
Hahnemann Clinic -- over, I must say, my own grave doubsts and
skepticism about its scientific basis (or lack thereof.) We say
Christine, a nurse practitioner.
My son was treated with a "constitutional" (you take it once or
twice), and then with pulsatilla each time he showed symptoms of an
ear infection. I was truly impressed by the results and have
recommended homeopathy with a trained professional ever since (though
by no means to the exclusion of traditional medicine.)
On the first occasion we used the treatment my son's ear pain left
after 12 hours, rather than the previous 2 or 3 days when on
antibiotics. Each time we used pulsatilla after that, in response to
earache/infection symptoms, it worked progressively more quickly,
until he would go from screaming pain to fine in about an hour.
Whatever you decide, I wish you and your child good health.
For the parents of the child recommended ear surgery: Before you
decide to go through with the surgery talk with my homeopathic
practitioner Christine Ciavarella in Albany. phone 510 524-3117. She
has been treating my family including my three children for the last 9
years and I couldn't be happier about it. My youngest two due to her
care have never been on antibiotics in their life, not that Christine
wouldn't recommend them if needed. We have only treated one ear
infection but I know of children who were tremendously helped with
allergies, asthma and saved from ear tubes! Please give it a try. It
will take some time and money but it is long term health of a little
child that will be improved.
Good luck and feel free to contact me for more info. or personal
experience with homeopathy.
I have not had experience with ear tubes although my nephew (now 14)
had them and was Ok with them. I understand your friend's hesitation
and I would want to try other methods first. So here goes.
Has your friend tried homeopathy? If she is not interested, I would
suggest she confer with a nutrition consultant who knows herbs. S/he
can offer suggestions appropriate to your friend's lifestyle. Some
suggestions that can make a difference NOW are to have her give her
child Lactobacillus acidophilus or Bifidus for one month (add powder
to liquid). With all those antibiotics, the healthy flora of the
intestine needs to be restored. Remove all mucus-forming foods: milk
and wheat are the biggest culprits although any food that provokes an
immune response (i.e., an allergic response) can produce mucus. When
he has another earache/infection, use mullein oil warmed to 99 degrees
F and put 1-2 drops in the affected ear. Otherwise, use a warm
compress if that feels good to him. Administer alcohol-free tinctures
of echinacea and goldenseal every two hours until symptoms subside and
3 doses/day for one week.
One last suggestion, have her contact a Jin Shin Jyutsu practitioner.
This type body work can be easily shown (it has been taught to
Japanese children) to parents and children. My son has had a few ear
aches and they last, at most, 1/2 hour or less using Jin Shin. Plus I
use fresh squeezed ginger juice with warmed sesame oil in, and a warm
compress on the affected ear.
On advice of our extremely thorough, competent pediatrician we had
tubes put in my daughter's ears when she was 12 months old. I've read
stories of negative experiences on the parents' line, but we had
absolutely no problems. She did get fewer ear infections and the
tubes stayed in until she was 3 or 4. We never noticed them come out
but the doctor observed that they had. The surgery itself was quick
and smooth. It's scary to see you child go under general anesthesia
and to see her carried away through a set of metal swinging doors that
say "Surgery--Medical Staff Only." Nothing changes that, so you might
as well prepare yourself. But the one strong piece of advice I have
is, if at all possible get the surgery done at Childrens' Hospital.
Our daughter actually had three surgeries in her first 18 months, the
other two at a regular hospital. I felt enormously better about our
Childrens' experience--had complete confidence that the
anesthesiologist knew what he was doing with such a small baby and the
place is really set up to let parents be with their kids in a warm,
comforting way before and after the surgery.
I would greatly recommend tubes for a childs ears especially if
they are having repeated ear infections. My son had tubes in his
ears when he was three because all of the antibiotics they put him
on were not working. He did great with them and has not had
another ear infection since. Of course as parents we tend to
worry about the procedure as a whole but lay aside the worry and
do it for your child because it will save you and the child from
many, many nights of pain and fever and trips to the emergency
room.
I am not familiar with the exact procedure you asked about, but I
would suggest a consultation with an osteopath or cranial sacral
bodyworker to see what is going on physically and address the
chronic ear infections though direct physical touch. Cranial
sacral therapy has helped my son and many of my friends children
to either avoid or heal more quickly from ear infections. As a
bodyworker myself, I trust hands-on healing work and have seen how
powerful a tool it can be. One of my friends' sons had constant
ear infections, lots of antiobiotics, etc. Now after a few
treatments, he doesn't get them anymore. It's worth a try. I
have recently heard of an osteopath in Berkeley, Catherine
Henderson, who works with kids. She's booked for months at a
time, but I hear she's good. Good Luck.
My son had chronic ear infections from 8 months until he was 3. We tried
everything--chiropractic, acupuncture, homeopathy, herbs--as well as antibiotics and an intubation operation. The operation was temporarily successful. For the months the tubes were in place, my son had no infections. The rest of the time, the only thing that kept infection at bay was maintenance doses of antibiotics.
One of the first things I asked his pediatrician was whether allergies
might be causing this, and she said it was highly unlikely. Eventually, my chiropractor persuaded me to do weekly elimination trials of common food allergens. As soon as we took wheat out of his diet, his constantly runny nose cleared up. We stopped the antibiotics a few days later, and he did not have another ear infection for 18 months, and has had them rarely ever since (and not for at least 6 years now; he's 12). I think he had a mild wheat allergy, and some kind of congenital narrowing of the ear drainage.
It's worth noting that it took his doctor a year or so to acknowledge
that the change in diet may have helped. However, when I took a child
development class, I read in my text that allergies are the most common cause of chronic ear infections in children.
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