anyone have a child with tubes in ears - chronic ear infections

b&bsmom wrote: I am aving trouble deciding about tubes for my childrens ears. I have a daughter who will be 6 in jun and a son he will be 3 in sept. My dd has had ear infections since she was little. I had her at an ent before and we decided to wait it out. Her hearing was fine and she has been good for awhile but she just had 2 back to back ear infrections. Then my son has not had quite as many as he did when she was little but he had recently one in nov one in jan and then a realy bad one a few weeks ago and i went back today and there is still alot of fluid. So I am going to make him an appt for the ent. I just don't want to do tubes I had heard so many horror stories when i worked in day care. Any suggestions would be helpful thanks

amymom replied: I have no experiance with tubes. I always suggest allergy testing first. I know it is a pain but..... my story is: My son had chronic ear infections for a long time then for an entire 6 months he was two days off the antibiotic and new ear infection would begin. We were about to do tubes and doc suggested allergy testing first, He showed huge allergy to cats, baby sitter had cats, took him out of daycare and immediate relief He was 2 1/2 and has only had three ear infections since then, two with cat exposure, one unexplained source. (oh he is 14 years old now)

JAYMESMOM replied: We just put tubes in my daughters ears two months ago when she was 14 months. For the first time since she was a month old - we haven't had an ear infection, cold, runny nose, etc.

They have worked wonders. My sister and brother both had tubes in their ears when they were younger. They both have their hearing now and there is very few side effects.

Children with tubes are now allowed to go in the water and get their head wet when they have tubes. The only thing they are not allowed to do is diving or prolonged time under water.

I think it is worth doing for the child. If left to get ear infections they can lose hearing, get scar tissue, etc.

I personally had my adenoids removed when I was younger but wonder if tubes wouldn't have worked better since now every time I get a sinus infection I get an ear infection.

The tube creates an opening to drain out the ear instead of draining thru the eustachian tubes. Some people are naturally smaller than others and that is what causes the build up of fluid and when the fluid sits to long you get an infection.

If that is what the ear infections are from regardless of allergies it is still going to happen.

mammag replied: None of my kids have but Kyle, who I've watched since he was a week old did. It was great for him. He had one after another and was delayed in speech because of not being able to hear. It was the best thing she could have done for him.

redchief replied: We had one chld who needed e-tubes. It was the best thing we've ever done. The tubes allowed his swelled canal to drain and heal. The tubes fell out a few months later on schedule, and everything was fine. My brother also had them with similar results.

No one ever likes to choose a surgical option unless they feel a real need to. In my son's case, his infections were nearly constant and he risked permanent hearing loss. That's what happened to me because tubes weren't available when I was a child. I have approx. 20% hearing loss from constant infection in the inner ear.

Speak with the ENT and listen to what he/she says about the danger of permanent hearing loss (the only reason I can think of to choose surgery). That way your decision won't be based on emotion, but the medical facts for each of your children. Good luck!

mom2lilnick replied: I have two kids with ear tubes and they have both had them twice. Noah is now 6 but he got his first set at 3 after 8 months of battling back to back ear infections with no relief and hearing loss. Those tubes lasted almost 2 years and they fell out right before he turned 5. Within a week of them falling out he had another ear infection and then another a month later. Then they found out he had sleep apnea and he needed his tonsils removed. So we put the ear tubes back in when we took out the tonsils.

Nicholas is a different story.. He got his first set of ear tubes at 6 months after an MRI showed what appeared to be mastioditis, a brain infection. We went to an ENT who put in ear tube to drain the fluid so that it couldn't get infected. It turned out later that Nicholas has an immune disorder so he will always get ear infections over and over again. As soon as his ear tubes fell out at 18 months another set was just put back in. He did have three ear infections just waiting to get the surgery scheduled.

While our situations are different, both boys are totally normal while the ear tubes are in. Each of them has had one ear infection while having the tubes still in. They can take baths and swim with no problems or restrictions.

Good luck in your decsion.

Mom2Kurtis replied: My son has had tubes for about 1 1/2 now. He will be 4 in August. He has had one ear infection since he's had them. The fluid just comes out but he needed ear drops. My ENT said he could go in the water no problem. Depends on what kind of problem it was.

b&bsmom replied: I want to thank everyone for all their stories. I made sure to check my daughter's hearing and it was fine with no hearing loss which was one reason we kept holding off because she wasn't doing bad. My son has not been tested yet but I am sure that will happen when we go to the ent. If there was any problem with the hearing I would go with the tubes no question. Decisions, Decisions. You all gave me a lot to think about. Thanks again. It is so nice to find some support like this.

Nikki101 replied: My daughter is going to go an have allergy testing done and then the possibility of Tubes, I don't see anything wrong and have never heard of anything going wrong. My brother and Father both had tubes put in there ears and they seem to not have any problems afterwards.

kidsarecrazy replied: In my experience, tubes have worked for everyone I know who have had them (including me)...though it does get kinda weird when your kids want to go swimming...I make my niece wear a showercap in the wading pool! haha!

lisar replied: I had tubes twice as a child and my tonsils removed. I havent had an ear infection since I was 4. My DD just last month had tubes out in for the second time and had her adnoids removed. I have found that they are great. I would recommend it. the surgery takes 5 minutes there arent a whole lot of complications. but my DD was also having hearing problems which is why we went them again. Let us know what you decide.

Lisa

b&bsmom replied: Thanks for all the advice. It seems that there are lots of success stories. I haven't had him to the ear specialist yet. We have a skin problem at the moment so we need to see the dermatalogist first. I need to call and make the ear appt but I am thinking I am going to wait to see how he does this summer with the ear infections. I will keep you up to date. Thanks for all the info.

amom4ever replied: Hi - I've never heard any horror stories from tubes. My 5 year old had tubes when she was almost 4. One came out already, but the other is still in place. They really helped her. Just remember, every child reacts differently so you just need to do what you feel is best and don't let those horror stories keep you from helping to improve your child's health. Best of luck deciding!