Recurrent Ear infections/A 3 Years Old with 3 Set of Tubes Already!

As a dental hygienist, the last response about the mottling seen on teeth is consistent to high fever associated with ear infections or other infections. I would agree with seeing a chiropractor and trying to cut out gluten and other refined sugars in his diet. I have also heard about being on a daily dose of an antibiotic to help prevent ear infections....I heard of using Bactrim. Good Luck

Take him off milk, he may have an allergy. I would recommend you get a second opinion. Dr. David Clark in Dallas is wonderful.

My son had his first set of tubes at 7 months a second set at 15 months with an adnoidectomy. The minute I took him off dairy he no longer had any problems and has not since. This is what worked for him. He also had dark circles under his eyes. This is a sign of a food allergy or intolerance. You might try this route. Faye Elahi in Plano is a nutritionist that can test for food allergies or intolerances.

Morning,

My oldest son, who is now 17, had severe ear infections when he was young just like your son. I had heard so many negative stories about the ear tubes so we decided not to have them put in. Instead, my pediatrician recommended he be on a low dose of antibiotics on a daily basis. I was worried that would make him resistant to antibiotics later in life but am happy to report this has not been the case.

The lose dose of daily amoxicillan (sp?) worked beautifully and he eventually grew out of the ear infections.

Now this is interesting, when he was 3 years old and time to take him for his first dentist visit; after the examination the dentist said to me, "oh, your son had severe ear infections didn't he?" I replied, "how do you know that?" He then showed me how his back molars were disclored and and were not the same shape as the molars on the other side of his mouth. Interesting!

Oh, one more thing, due to the extreme pain the ear infections caused, the doctor also perscribed liquid codiene to give on those ocassions.

Good luck,
C.

Hi there. I work for an ENT and am a medical professional. What you are experiencing is not uncommon. Both of my children had tubes(one still does) and eventually grew out of their ear infections. As your child grows, the chances of their ear infections continuing drops significantly. That's not to say that there's not 10 year olds who continue to have ear infections but it is rare. Tubes are not causing your child's speech delay. The hearing loss they experience due to fluid is what causes their speech to be delayed. Tubes release the fluid and allow your child to have the hearing they experienced before the ear infections. The one downside to have multiple sets of tubes is that the chance for a small hole to remain in the eardrum is greater as they have more sets of tubes. You may want to discuss this with your doctor if you need to have a 4th set of tubes. Having a small whole in the eardrum can cause a small amount of hearing loss but tubes certainly do not cause hearing loss. That is why most ENTs want to see children who have tubes every 3-4 months so they can check on the progress up the tubes coming out. As with any child, after tubes fall out there is a small hole that remains for a short period of time but should heal closed within 1-2 weeks. The holes that do not heal shut are the ones that are more concerning as they can allow water to enter the middle ear space during swimming and other water activities. Also, If you are unsure about how your child is hearing even with tubes in their ears, you can get a test done called OAE testing which measures the brain's response to sound. You may have to shop around for places that have OAE testing. Good luck!

I use 1 part lavendar oil mixed with 2 parts pure olive oil for my kids earaches. I have 3 children who are allergic to antibiotics so this works great. When they complain of their ear hurting I warm up my bottle- it's small, so I can warm it up in my hands- then I put 3-4 drops in thier ear every 4-6 hours. The lavendar oil and Olive oil have antibactieral properties that help knock out the infection. The ear stops hurting within 10 mins. usally- if it hurts worse, I will give them children's motrin. My son had an ear infection last week- I gave him the oil treatment 4 times the first day and then his ear was fine.
Make sure you get a pure essential oil (found at health food stores)and it needs to be mixed with the olive oil- Lavendar oil by itself is too strong and will hurt the ear. Lots of vitiam C will also boost his immune system so he won't get them so often. When you take too many antibiotics your system gets used to them and the bacteria change so they are not as effective and you have to continually get stronger antibiotics.
Good luck!
~C.

Get him evaluated for allergies from an allergy specialist (NOT your pediatrician or an ENT--go straight to an allergy specialist). My oldest son had frequent ear infections, too, until he started being treated for allergies at about your son's age.

My son had the same problem starting at 4 months until he was about 1 1/2. My doctor gave him all kinds of antibotics. Which he grew immune to and they stop working. He wanted to do tubes but I had a friend that her little girl had tubes and she still would get ear infections. My grandmother in law told me to stop giving him the antibotics and let him fight them off by himself. He was getting them at least 1 a month. So I did as she said. And gave him ear drops for the pain and my son stop having them. I am not saying this will work for everybody but I did it and my friend that her little girl had the tubes tried it also and she has not had them anymore.

I had four sets when I was young and I am now 32 and can hear just fine. I had my tonsils and adnoids out when I was 22 months and still had the occasional ear ache but I haven't had one in many years. Allergy testing is good but I can tell you that I am lactose intolerant and had no milk because of it and still had ear problems. Find a good ENT!

Through my journey with my son diagnosed on the ASD (Autism Spectrum Disorder), I too spoke to parents that once they removed milk (casein protein) also called whey in ingredients, the ear infections almost stopped. It wouldn’t cost you anything to remove “dairy” from your child’s diet (commit to removing dairy – not just here and there) to determine if the recurring ear infections are a symptom of a “milk” allergy. Good luck.

after dealing with ear infections also, we learned that milk products cause thicker phelgm in the nasal passages especially and just cause thicker mucus. We changed over to rice milk or soy milk, lots of water in place of sweet drinks and it worked. We did continue with a 2-3 times a week yogurt...but otherwise no dairy. The change over can be tough, but so worth it.

My daughter had had 18 ear infections at 20 months old. Our doc did allergy testing and found she was allergic to house dust most, then cats, trees, egg whites, the list goes on and on. He suggested i buy a table top air filter machine and put it in her room. i also put plastic covers on mattress to keep dust mites out. i kept that room closed but she napped in it and slept in it at night. Night and day difference! She has only had 2 ear infections since and is 26 years old now! The allergy testing is called "RAST" but i can't remember what the letters stood for. It is a blood test. Later on she wanted kittens and took allergy shots for years to have them. But thats a story for another day.....

Hello F.,

definitely get him checked for allergies. it could be anything: wheat/gluten, soy, ragweeds, milk, etc. that will go a long way towards his body fighting the infections. Also, find a good chiropractor. good luck! ~C.~

Hi, F., my son is now 13 and a 7th grader to boot. He had 4 sets of tubes because of ear infections and your doctors are telling you right... it is frustrating to watch, but he will grow out of it. My teen has selective hearing, but it is good most of the time... he usually hears stuff I don't want him to, LOL. Hang in there... hope that this helps.

The operative word here is ALLERGIST!!! I waited until my daughter was 9 years old and she'd already lost 50% of her hearing, tonsils out, etc. After allergy tests and shots, she regained 25% back, but today at age 42 she has pronounced hearing loss. Don't wait. And if your pedia won't refer, just find one yourself. I did! I don't regret it!

Hi F.,
I learned last year from Dr. Bain in Frisco www.healthykidspediatrics.com that 95% of ear infections are due to a food intolerance. My girls started having ear infections and we had them tested...(Dr. Bain only uses Genova or Immuno Labs due to reliability of results) through Immuno Laboratories and we eliminated all the foods that they were reacting to for four months. We have added all the foods back now except the two main culprits. We have had NO ear infections in over a year. Their immune systems are so much stronger than before as well. My youngest also came out of the 'fog' she seemed to be in...it has been amazing for us. I HIGHLY encourage you to look into Immuno Labs for testing....Blue Cross Blue Sheild will cover this test.....let me know if you have questions.

You may have received some of this info before, but I will mention it. I am always late in reading my emails so I don't have time to go through all the responses.

Years ago, I met a mom whose daughter had numerous infections. Some mothers ended up suggesting that they put her on a diet low in allergic reactions plus the candida type diet. Allergic type diet consist predominantly of lamb, rice & pears. The candida diet omits sugars, citrus fruits & I don't remember what else. I do know that there is a lot of info about candida--which tends to grow from repeated use of antibiotics. Hope this helps some.

F.,

I just had to respond to you. When my middle child was between the ages of 4 months and 2 years, he had continual ear infections. As long as he was on antibiotics, the infections would go away. As soon as the antibiotics were finished, they would recur. We had tubes put in, too, at 13 months. They fell out too early. (He has suffered permanent moderate hearing loss due to the continual ear infections.)

I took him to my chiropractor when he was 2 years old. My chiropractor only gave him 4 adjustments, including adjusting his ears, and my son (now 23 years old) never had another ear infection. I STRONGLY recommend that you find a good chiropractor. Our chiropractor is in Irving, and is very good with children. She adjusts my two grandchildren, ages 2 and 3. She gave my 2-year-old grandson his first adjustment in the hospital when he was about 8 hours old. Her name is Dr. Dawn Hill. Her office number is ###-###-####.

Good luck.