Needing Advice for 3 Year Old- ENT Dr Suggests Tubes and Adenoids Removed

My son had reoccuring ear infections as a child and the doctors kept putting him on antibiotics, then wanted to put tubes in his ears. A friend of mine suggested putting him on soy milk. The ear infections completely went away. My ped. would barely acknowledge that it could have been the milk products. Needless to say, I changed pediatricians. Few doctors are taught or practice using diet. It would not hurt to try....

M.

1 mom found this helpful

So instead of surgery has anyone (doctors) thought about seeing what causes the inflammation in your boy?!?!?! Of course a doctor is going to say yes to surgery and prescriptions. That is their job.

How about starting with a simple blood test that checks IgG antibodies for food allergies and then removing those foods. Very simple and it works. Chiropractic also is another thing that will help with the drainage of the ears.

When you say he was tested for allergies, I really don't believe they did enough. Go through ImmunoLabs in Florida with the one that tests for 110 food and other environmental items. Also, remove ALL dairy /casein from his diet and substitute with almond/rice/hemp ingredients. Try it for just two weeks and see what happens. Lots of times even if a child does not show a reaction in a test they do respond when this and gluten/wheat are removed.

For more information on diet and how to substitute foods I love the www.tacanow.org section on GF-CF Diet. Done by parents of child with autism. Check out the book I've listed below by Dr. Kenneth Bock as well. Very informative.

Also, please make sure YOU have done the research on vaccinations for YOUR child. The AAP recommended schedule of shots for children is too many, too soon. Here are sites and books that I always recommend for people to start their research:

www.909shot.com
www.tacanow.org
www.generationrescue.com

Healing the New Childhood Epidemics: Autism, ADHD, Asthma, and Allergies: The Groundbreaking Program for the 4-A Disorders, by Dr. Kenneth Bock
The Vaccine Book, by Dr. Robert Sears
What Your Doctor May Not Tell You About Childhood Vaccinations, by Dr. Stephanie Cave
Evidence of Harm, by David Kirby

1 mom found this helpful

I don't know the Doc, but I would definitely get a second opinion. When my son was born, we lived close to a freeway. My then 7 year old always had "allergies" for the 4 years we were there. Then the baby was chronically stuffed up and had asthma. Since we have moved, they don't have those problems anymore. I don't know if you ;ove in an area with air pollution, but sometimes outside sources irritate--cigarette smoke, air fresheners, perfumed soaps and lotions. I would rule these things out before putting my little one through surgery.

Have you tried eliminating all dairy for a few weeks?
You may find that has amazing results.
Good luck.

I actually have the opposite problem!! My son has had lots of ear infections. We placed our first set of tubes before he was a year old. They have now fallen out (totally normal) and we will need a second set but my doc wants to put it off! He's a great doc who likes to make surgery the last option. He has always been able to get us right in. We've seen lots of doc's and I think DR Tolan is the best. He's located at Ft Apache near Russell. Dr Timmy Tolan.
You should listen to your own voice on this one. If you think the surgery isn't a good idea or necessary then you are probably right. Allergies might be to blame too and the surgery wouldn't eliminate that probelm. I'd try singular or other allergy stuff before I went the surgery route.

I am not sure where you are. But, in OC Dr Barretto or Ahuja are great. they share an office near CHOC. My kids LOVE Barretto. Ahuja wears a turban, so, he is like Aladdin, they are mystified.

Please take your son to a chiropractor. I promise you it will make a big difference. Here are a couple of articles for you to read. He is not too young. A simple adjustment will provide the proper drainage. I can recommend two chiropractors, one in Long Beach just north of Seal Beach off the 405 and one in the Fairfax area.
http://www.hpakids.org/holistic-health/articles/33/1/Chir...
http://www.acatoday.org/content_css.cfm?CID=69

You could try to cut out dairy and or other foods and see if it helps. Get him on an organic immunity support like Nutrilite Twist tubes (we-us.mychoices.biz) and get some organic vitamins and food into him. I don't like antibiotics and you could find the probiotics on the site too. That would help. Good luck.

Getting a 2nd opinion is always a good idea. And, ultimately, the decision is yours, so if you're not comfortable - don't. My daughter had her tonsils & adnoids removed and tubes put in at about age 4. It was the best thing we ever did. She hasn't been sick ONCE since then and she's now 6-1/2. It was scary, and the first few days were hard, and the tubes were a bit of a pain, but I would definitely do it again. Good luck.

If you'd like a referral for a second ENT opinion, i suggest Dr. Maher Sesi in Torrance ###-###-####. He recommended a more conservative "wait and see" approach with my son who has had fluid in one ear that won't clear up. Many kids just grow out of it as the ear structure matures. We need to keep checking his ears, but I'm hoping we can avoid surgery in the end.

I recommend getting a second or third opinion from a chiropractor. The issue may be resolved by simple adjustments that align the ear tubes so they can drain properly.

Definitely get a second opinion. I don't have any recommendations for an ENT and I haven't heard anything about Dr. Schroeder. All I know is that my pedi doesn't even give antiobiotics for an ear infection unless it is really severe. My son had an ear infection and it went away on its own. In your son's case, it sounds as if it was bad enough to warrant antibiotics, but surgery still seems excessive. If he has only had 3 ear infections that doesn't seem like much.

I'm not sure how you feel about your pedi, but I love mine. Maybe you could go to him or ask him for a referral to an ENT. His name is Dr. Michael Levin at Henderson Pediatrics on Horizon (near the 95). He has been awesome about giving us more natural home remedies before he writes out a prescription.

Also, if you are looking for a chiropractor (who can probably help as well) Dr. Anderson is wonderful. He is off of Eastern and Tropicana. He deals with both adults and children. He helps with all areas of health, not just joint issues.

Both of these doctors take most insurance plans, but if yours doesn't cover them, they really work with people on cost as well.

Good luck to you and your little one!

Hello,
I don't have experience with ear infections, but I would definitely get a second opinion on this one. Also, a study was just released (I heard a news segment on NPR this last week) about children that are given general anesthesia and the great potential for future learning difficulties for those that have gone under. I don't know if the doc would use general for this procedure, but it is definitely a question to ask and then ponder. My girlfriend's two daughters have both had the ear tube surgeries, but they have had many, many more ear infections than 3. Good luck to you!

Try removing dairy products from your son's diet first. My son had constant ear infections and too many rounds of antibiotics. It turn out to be a dairy allergy. My son's symptoms vanished when dairy was removed from his diet.

D. Merlin
Mother/author
www.victoryoveradhd.com

google this stuff called "serrapeptase" it's cheap and natural and can help

good luck..sorry to hear your son and you guys are having this trouble

Has your son actually seen an allergist? My son has not had any allergy tests come back positive (according to my doctor it's tough with kids to get a positive unless it's a serious allergy), but has always had runny noses and allergy like symptoms. His Pedi is going to give us a referal to an allergist if this continues through this Spring Season. But, my son's Pedi is also against invasive surgery if there is a way to avoid it and keep kids healthy.

In my opinion, if you son has only had 3 ear infections in 3 years, I'd say the surgery sounds a bit drastic. I agree with getting a second opinion and making sure that this is necessary. These kinds of surgeries are sometimes helpful and other times, like with my half-sister not helpful and make the issue worse or don't help at all.

Get that second opinion and then, go from there. Good Luck!

You may try Dr. Jerold Boyers. He has done surgery on both my kids and when I had to have the tubes placed in the ears for the baby, I had all the confidence in the world with him. Warning: Not a big people person ~ a bit dry

He is on the corner of Shadow & Goldring ###-###-####

My situation was my 18MO (at the time) had infection after infection and it would not clear up. I took her into Boyers and we planned a surgery after her PED prescribing all 3 prescriptions for her. It was my understanding there are 3 levels of meds that may be given (someone out there help with accuracy or completeness who is med field). After no reaction to the highest level, an ENT is suggested. I walked in with that history and was more than willing to do the surgery at that point, as her ears were oozing outside the ear.

With that said, it doesn't sound like your son has had 3 infections that didn't clear completely and then re-occurred. So, I would think the infection is extreme if the doc wants to order tubes.

Keep in mind, my oldest daughter had plenty of ear infections and I was told to leave it alone and allow the ear to drain. When the ear can't drain, the drum bursts and that is what happened to her. She has a permanent scar on her ear drum and did lose a little bit of her hearing in that ear.

Ease everyones mind and go on the second opinion. Boyer's is a great doctor. I wouldn't mention him if I had any reservations. However, there are plenty of other great ENT's out there. Boyers is certifed and that is something I have been looking for in all my doctors.

Best of luck.

Hi there... I don't have any experience with tubes, but my nearly 10 month old had his adenoids removed about 2 1/2 weeks ago. He snored horribly from the day he was born, and had developed sleep apnea and was always puffy and red around the eyes due to lack of good oxygen. SO.... we had them removed and I was so scared for him. The surgery was super fast, and we brought him home the same day. From that day on, he has slept so peacefully and quiet. His eyes have cleared up and he know longer wakes in the middle of his sleep due to not breathing properly. I think you are smart to get a second opinion. You should always feel confident in the care your child receives. My niece had tubes put in her ears, but she had chronic ear infections; we're talking 4 or 5 every year. She no longer has them..

Good luck!

I would most certainly get a second opinion if you have any questions about the diagnosis. I had a great experience with the ENTs at Children's Hospital.