My Daughter Needs Tubes for a Third Time

My oldest son, who is now 24, had cronic ear infections for years. He had tubes, had his tonsils and adnoids removed and still had ear infections. A friend told me about Dr. Dustin Thomas in Broken Arrow. I took him there and found out his neck was out from delivery AND he was allergic to dairy. Dr. T. adjusted him a few times and we took him off of dairy and he hasn't had one since!! That was 11 years ago! We fought his infections for 13 years! Dr. Dustin Thomas ###-###-####

I went through that with my oldest also. He had 3 sets of tubes by the time he was 7 years old. He is now almost 17 and has had no ill effects from it. His hearing is great. Does he have allergies? Or use a straw alot? If you can get the cause of the fluid build-up addressed it may help this set of tubes be more successful. Good Luck and God Bless!

J.,

My daughter has had tubes 2 set. Her tubes fell out a couple of months. Her doctor has said that we may need to have thme once again. He also told me that he think it could have something to do with her tonsils. I am to set up a appt up with her nte doctor. We asmost had then out over the summer. Her twin brother had his out in June. I am getting very trier of having the ear problems. Out nte doctor did tell me that last time that we saw him he there are about 5% never out grow having tubes put in their ears.

I had to have 7 sets of tubes as a child (every year until I was 7) and my hearing is exceptional. I still had ear infections until I got my tonsils out when I was 16. My daughter was having ear infections when she was two and they wanted to put tubes in her ears and I was skeptical but somehow her ears cleared up and she hasn't had any problems since. She is now 3 1/2. If they ever told me that she needs to have tubes put in, I would ask them about possibly removing her tonsils instead because that seemed to relieve all of my problems.

My daughter had 4 sets of tubes. She's now 10. They did cause the holes in her ears to stay open after the last set finally fell out. Some close on their own. She had some minor hearing loss (nothing you could notice) until the holes were repaired. I've never heard of long term hearing loss or deafness because of this. She was seen by the ENT Dept. at Children's Mercy Hospital. They did a great job. Granted, nobody wants holes in their kids ears, but the trade-off was definitely worth it at the time. The surgeries were done 1 ear at a time, and were outpatient. Although not the easiest surgery she has ever had (she's had numerous for different reasons), after the 2nd day, she was fine. Not a lot of pain, more queasiness because they operated on the ear, which messed with equilibrium. The bandage they put around her head was uncomfortable also. Kids bounce back a lot easier than us adults. Hope all goes well.

You're not alone. While I haven't heard of permanent hearing loss I know that delays in speech and comprehension can happen if they aren't properly drained. The plain fact is if the vent from the eardrum to the throat isn't working then the fluid does have to go somewhere. Generally it will just dry up on it's own/reabsorbed into the body but if ear canal tubes are working properly it will drain out. I've seen it happen. It's not a complete drain but it does affect the level of fluid in the ear.

let's see, what helped my 5 year old overcome this without tubes. We gave up dairy when he has conjestion. That seems to stimulate the mucus membranes. We doubled up on all of those veggies and fruits packed with antioxidants and vitamin C. Even keeping his ears free of wax build up seemed to help. the ENT says that it keeps the ears from itching which stimulates the sinuses into getting all mucked up too. He's on Singulair for his allergies/asthma maybe that helped.

I wish you luck. I would think that a strong expectorant like Mucinex DM would help curtail the fluid each time she gets stuffy. It pulls the moisture out of the mucus membranes and dehydrates so if you try it I would suggest keeping her on Gatorade too.

Hello, my son is having his second set of tubes at four. The alarming thing is I was told exactly the same thing....that there is a build up of fluid behind his ear drum. I asked the doc about scar tissue and such from tubes and she said the incision is so little it isn't an issue and it will fix the bowing of the ear drum as it is concaving from the pressure of fluid on the inside of the ear. My daughter is two and a half and she already on her second set of tubes. I had tubes as a kid and I am guessing that it is a genetic issue of how long the eustacian tube is and at what angle is lays to allow fluid to drain out. Did you or your husband have ear problems as a kid? I know my son's speech is affected as well as his hearing, but not on an alarming scale to need speech therapy or anything. He also has selective hearing. LOL. But don't they all.
Let me know how it turns out and if she gets better.
B. C.

J.,

It's not the tonsils so much as the adenoids. The adenoids are like a giant tonsil at the back of the nose/mouth- you know, where it gets all itchy or sore when you're sick but you know it's not the tonsils? Well, in some folks- my family for instance- the adenoids are enlarged, acting as a jumping off spot for bacteria right into the eustachion tubes.

My girls got into this mess and started having hearing loss due to fluid buildup, plus snoring (sometimes goes with). We opted for tonsils and adenoids out in one, and just the adenoids in the other. They have never had dairy, or that would have been my first move- it causes mucus to be stickier and more abundant, which makes it likelier your kid will get bacteria hanging out.

I definitely believe in the ear-pulling and adjustments- even a massage therapist can help dramatically, but in some cases the chronic nature can call for dramatic treatments. In any case, anyone thinking of tonsilectomy should ALWAYS get the adenoidectomy at the same time, as they cause problems later in life, too.

Best of luck!

Alot of mom's on here answered the same question months ago and the responses about chiropractors was overwhelming. I would give it a try to avoid going thru that again. Thankfully my daughter hasn't had that problem, altho she does produce more wax that I'm good at making sure it doesn't build up. I am seeing a chiropractor now and while I wait in the lounge for my adjustment I read "Chicken Soup for the Chiropractor's Soul". There are a few stories in there about ear infections and pediatrics. Good Luck.

This sucks I know. My 4 yr old just had his second set twon weeks ago as he was going deaf, the ENT didn't believe me so i got a second opinion. Is she on any preventative medicine like an allergy medidicine? This helps to stop the drainage into the ears from teh sinus area. It is helping my 7mth old who has had 5 ear infections already.

Good luck! and rest assured you are not the only one.

CHIROPRATOR!!!!! This has prevented my son from having to have tubes all together!!! He had struggled w/ ear infections and they told me he needed tubes. (he has a Heart Defect and as minor of a surgery tubes are...it' still surgery) I took him to a chiroprator and they adjusted him plus, do this "pull thing" on his ear that drains the fluid. It has been a God Send!!! When he starts to get "cruddy" I take him in before he gets an infection so the Chiroprator can drain the fluid so it doesn't build up! Plus, he told me that tubes DO NOT DRAIN THE FLUID....that's a lie the doctors tell parents because they are at a loss, (as well as a misconception) basically they equalize the pressure. Which does give the child relief and SOMETIMES helps the infections...just like growing out of it does.

It's worth a try to not have to put your child through surgery again!!

Goo Bless
byw--My Chiroprator is in Tulsa and his name is DR. Eric Schluter...Great!!

I needed tubed I think 6 times yes does cause scar tissue but the benefits out weighed the the losses and now today I am thankful I did not loose that valuable time with this issue and speechloss

S.