Hello. My son had his first appointment with the ENT today. I was shocked when he suggested we put tubes in his ears next Friday. I agreed since my son has had 8 or 9 ear infections since September (one after another), but now I'm second guessing my choice. My son is three years old. Does anyone have any opinions? I'm not sure what could go wrong or right. Basically, I'm starting to panic because it is happening so fast.
Thank you for the advice everyone. The Monday before the surgery my son went for a hearing test and we found out he had significant hearing loss in his left ear. It made it easier to go ahead with the tubes knowing that it could possibly fix his hearing loss. The doctor seemed confident that the fluid was causing it. We went ahead with the surgery. It was at a military hospital so everything is a little more laid back. We were allowed to stay as long as we wanted and ended up knowing the other family there from when we were in Kentucky. My son is doing great, he was up and playing that day. Thank you again!
Hi D.
Did you try second opinion yet? For such an issue I would try even three. In the even that something will happen to his hearing I don't know if you can live with it.
My younger sister, now 32, had always had ear infections at her younger years, but my parents never did anything to it. The only thing my Mom did is squeeze the juice from chopped onion into her ear, she never used antibiotics on us.
good luck,
G..
L-O-V-E the tubes!!!! after 5 or 6 infections in 8 months-one off and on from halloween to christmas, i was so thankful for them. 2 months and counting without. my daughter is now 19 months and has started talking more. i was getting worried, but i think she just couldn't hear so well (especially after having my own ear infection this week). it took 15 minutes. she was an absolute bear to deal with for about 20 minutes after coming out of anesthesia. most of my friends said the same about their kids. after that, fine. right after we had them done, we heard a report on the news about how too many kids are having "unnecessary surgery" with tubes when antibiotics could take care of the ear infections. being a healthcare professional for the last dozen years, i feel more comfortable having my child undergo a 15 minute 'procedure' in my opinion than suck down antibiotics for the next year or two and develop resistance and/or allergies.
My son got tubes at 15 mo after numerous ear infections and allergies to antibiotics. I would suggest that you are comfortable with your ENT, if possible use a peds ENT and make sure the docs at the clinic treat peds patients with regards to the anesthesiologist.
He was a bit upset after the surgery but was fine. He awoke, then went back to sleep for 40 min. Drank his sippy cup, and was laughing with me. Hasn't had a ear infection since...
Hi D.-
I myself had tubes in my ears when I was much younger. After suffering from ear infections practically every other month for about a year and a half it was the best solution. It helped tremendously and prevented other things from happening. Some people wind up getting such horrible ear infections it starts to effect their hearing (such as my little cousin). Unfortunately, the ENT he went to did not recommend tubes in his ears at the right time. They waited until he was 9 before putting them in and it did not work. He now has two hearing aids due to the hearing loss he has suffered over the years. (That is not to say that will happen to your son or that this is the outcome of not getting tubes in your ears at the appropriate time)
I wouldn't panic I would just do some reading on it and if you are not confident in your decision you can always get a second opinion :-)
Hope this helps!
Hi D.,
No worries my son is now six years old and he had the tubes put in his ears at 18 months old. He had sever ear infections and was severly speech delayed. He was on so many antibiotics that when he played, he sweat began smelling like the meds. I was horrified at the thought of my BABY needing surgery, but the thought of what would happen if he didn't outweighed the fear. He has had the same pair in now for years and by the grace of GOD he has not had an ear infection since. I just wish i knew about the procedure earlier becuase i would have gotten it when he was even younger because he is speech delayed because of the wait. It's worth it for you and your baby.
Hi D.,
My daughter had multiple ear infection's and had tubes put in at 7 month's old. I couldn't believe how fast the procedure was. It only took minutes and she was back with me. They worked great and she was no longer in pain if she got an ear infection because the ear drained instead of holding in all that pressure. She was lucky and only had to have the one set. She's now 10 yrs old. She did become sensitive to noise at first but that soon passed. If I had to do it all over again I would do the same thing. It's worse for you than him because we as parents worry so much. Just remember that this will help him and everything will get better. Good Luck!
It's a very common procedure these days. (I work for ENT and ALLERGY) so I see this done ALL the time. The surgery takes only about 20 min. The doctors I work for put them in my nephew a little over a year ago, he was 3 1/2 I think. He woke up and wanted to eat lunch and play. I know your worried but there's really no reason to worry. You can relax a little bit. :) The only reason it seems so fast is that they can fit them in anywhere and why wait?
Hi! D., I have had two kids get tubes. One was 15 months and one was 6. Both went very well and helped my kids so much. The younger one was so shy and clingy because of the build up of fluid made her in her own litte world. My older one was shocked how well he could hear after the surgery, he also had his tonsisl out at the same time. It is scary but I would say go for it. Just remain clam for your child and the hosptial will take it from there..I hope all goes well and your child's ears improve.~D.
It's always hard to think about having a procedure done on your little one! Get a second opinion if you are not sure.
8-9 infections in a few months are a lot and antibiotics are not without side effects. Developmental delays are a risk of ear infection and is a loss of hearing. I'm sure you doctors have told you this as well.
Hi D.,
Both my girls have ear tubes. My older is 3 and got her first set at 13 months and my little one is 14 months and got her first set on January 29. My older girl had her 3rd set at the end of June. I can tell you that it has been excellent. Both girls had tons of ear infections, one right after the other, so getting ear tubes was the option for us(although my older did get her tonsils/adenoids out at 17 months also and really needed that).
I won't lie - it was scary for me because of the unknown and not knowing what you don't know. I didn't go for a second opinion because our pediatrician thought it was a good idea. I also go to an ENT that comes HIGHLY recommended by tons of friends who also had the procedure done. I can tell you that the whole procedure is quick. Due to my girls age they went close to first, if not first. The procedure was set for 7:30am and we were home by 10am with a 45 minutes commute to the hospital. The procedure itself is about 3-5 minutes per ear. It's less than a 1/2 hour (might have been 15 minutes) from the time the baby was taken from us until the time we were told it all went well and we can go see her. Then it took about an hour or so to come off from the anestesia and she drank so that we were able to be released. I think the worst part of the whole thing was that last part because all kids react differently to anestesia. My older was all over the place and my little one cried more than normal because she just felt weird I guess.
Please feel free to email me if you want any more information.
Good luck - it will all be fine.
S.
