Pros and Cons to Tubes in the Ears

My son had tubes put in last year at one year old, they were the BEST decision we made, he hears much better, and he has only been on 1 antibiotic since. In the months leading up to it, he had been on 6 different antibiotics from Thanksgiving til Christmas, with ear infections, we decided to go to an ENT who said lets put him on a preventative, (lower dose of antibiotic) for 2 weeks and if he gets one ear infection while being on the meds we will do the tubes, well sure enough not 1 week later, ear infection. The surgery was extremly fast, we just sat down with glasses of water and snack and they were calling us back. 10 min. tops, he was very upset when he woke up and they warned us he would be due to be disoriented from the antistesia (sp?) we got him in the car, he fell asleep, woke up when we picked up his ear drops, and played the rest of the day. His hearing is much better, he had a hard time hearing my husbands voice. His speech is excellent. I highly recommend tubes if your ENT recommends it. Good Luck!

Hi J.,

My son had tubes put in when he was 10.5 months old after two months of recurrent ear infections with 4 rounds of antibiotics. He was so miserable with all of that medicine - it destroyed his stomach and gave him such terrible diarrhea that he then developed bleeding, blistering yeast infections. I cried through multiple diaper changes and knew that we had to see an ENT - my little guy couldn't take any more of the medicine medicine, which obviously wasn't even working. I'm so glad we went - in addition to the infections, we found out that my son couldn't hear and had way too much pressure in his ears because of the fluid build-up. One week later we did the tubes. The surgery was such a breeze. No IVs, no needles and it was really fast - literally about 5 minutes. He had no visible pain afterward & was acting 100% normal that day. Two weeks later his hearing was retested and it's perfectly normal! He is now showing some signs that perhaps the months of not hearing very well perhaps delayed his speech a tad (for example, when he says "Bye" he says "Baaaaaaaaaaaye" because that's how the word sounded to him when he heard it through all of that infected fluid) but the doctor said to give it more time before having his speech assessed. Good luck with your decision - I know it's hard for your baby to have surgery. But it really has been great for my son & don't regret it at all. He even sleeps a lot better now too. Not sure if you have a referral already but we saw Dr. Kaszuba at Midwest ENT in Naperville (they have multiple locations though). We loved him!

J.-
I have 2 children, a son and a daughter. Both had many ear infections, and lots of antibiotics when they were young. My son had tubes put in his ears at 12-13 mos. I also referred him to Early intervention around that time for eating issues, and started with a speech therapist around 15 mos. My son is doing well. He's now 4 1/2. The tubes fell out about a year after being put in, with no problems. The surgery was very quick. My daughter had more ear infections than my son, but being our first, we were also fearful of the "surgery" word. Now I wish we had. She is now 6 and has auditory processing issues, and needs speech for articulation. She also had to have 2 fillings in her teeth when she was about 2, which I know the antibiotics contributed to. (they can make forming teeth softer, like chalk.)

My advice is to do consult an ENT. It's better to prevent problems now than to try to fix them later. The surgery was not as bad as we worried it would be, and my son was only out of daycare the day of surgery; back the next, and mostly normal by then. There was a while when his speech seemed to regress right after, but I think it was because he was hearing everything differently. The same with the speech (I noticed your second post.) Go through Early Intervention now. The evaluation is free, and if they find that your daughter needs speech, fees are based on a sliding scale, no matter how many sessions you have with a therapist.

Good luck. Let me know if you need phone numbers for early intervention, etc.

J.,

My son had tubes put in at the age of 2.5 yrs old. The advantages that I found were, no more ear infections and a lot more communication. He didn't talk much until after that due to hearing loss because of ear infections. His surgery lasted about 5 min. Cons-you have to be very careful to NOT get water in her ears. The best Ear plugs I found are at Walgreens called, Mack's Pillow Soft Ear plugs for Kids. They are like clay, so easy to shape for her ears. You do NOT insert them, you only "seal" them over the ear canal opening. I loved them. (My son wants me to send you the ones that we have left that we didn't use.) Also, not to scare you, but once his tubes came out, we couldn't get the holes to close in his ears. He has had three surgeries to close the holes. So far, the last surgery has lastest almost two years. If this one doesn't last, then he has to get hearing aids. It is a constant worry when he says he has an earache. I am not trying to discourage you from the surgery, I just wanted to let you know of an experience one mom has gone through for the last 8 yrs. I hope this helps and good luck. Be sure that you and your husband are comfortable with the surgery idea. But I would do it again, if my son had to go through it again, as he may. My son would like you to give hugs and kisses to your daughter and tell her he is sorry she has to go through this.

My two older daughters both had tubes when they were toddlers. Best thing ever. The younger of the two had an ear infection a month for 9 months. She received tubes when she was 19 months old. She had several ruptured ear drums and was speech delayed. After the tubes were put in, she started speaking in two word sentences and then three and four word sentences after only a few months. She still needed speech therapy, which we started when she was 3. Her tubes fell out two years ago (she's 6 now) and although she's still in speech therapy, her speech is so much better.

The only thing I regret is that we didn't put tubes in sooner for my her.

At least consult with the ENT. They'll test your child's hearing and make sure it isn't damaged, which it can be if there are too many ear infections.

Hi there,

I know how scary the sound of surgery can be. My little guy had tubes put in when he was just 10 months old b/c he had an ear infection that would not go away (it lasted 8 weeks b/4 we finally had the tubes in). He was on the strongest anitbiotic that they would prescribe a baby his age, and it did nothing. Our ENT told us that getting tubes can be hereditary since the problem is actually the shape of the ear canal. Both myself and my husband had them when we were little. We went ahead and had them put in. The ENT also told us that they are under for such a short time (my son was away from us a total of 12 min.) that the anesthesia doesn't even have time to enter their bloodstream, which made us feel better. No matter what, it can be scary, but it has made a world of difference. He has gotten a few ear infections since (He's 15 mo. now) but we've just had to use eardrops, and knock on wood, that has done the trick. He also started hearing and babbling so much more afterwards.

Good luck!

Kara

Our daughter had the tubes done when she was 12 months old and I never regretted the decision. Her painful infections and repeated trips to the dr's office for antibiotics came to and end. She was a much happier, more comfortable baby, and we were thrilled with the good outcome she had. I'd do it again if I had to.

I would strongly advise you to discuss this with an ENT. My almost 2 year old had 6 ear infections in 6 months and we just met with 2 different ENT's a month ago and we are waiting to see if he needs tubes....the ENT is going to continue to watch him because he is not convinced he needs tubes yet. I had 5 sets of tubes put in when I was younger. I also had to have reconstructive surgery when I was in college because a bone was missing and my ear drum was so scarred from all the tubes that they had to replace it. I, personally, am not against tubes and I feel they are great if needed. But, it is surgery and there are negative side effects. You also need to make sure that you have your son wear ear plugs when he has tubes so he doesn't get water in his ears, which means when swimming bathing, etc. I took my son to one ENT who did a hearing test and he was fine. Then, he just told me he needed tubes because he kept getting ear infections. Well, I took him to another ENT because I hated the one I went to (not nice and only saw me for 2 minutes), and he told me that since he was hearing fine, it was questionable. There are many factors to consider when hearing is fine but they keep getting infections. Then, we decided to watch him and said that as long as his fluid is drying up each time, then the ear is draining properly and tubes may not be necessary. With it being cold season, a lot of kids are getting colds and then ear infections. When they stop getting colds, will they still get ear infections? So, I guess I urge you not to jump into tubes, but do it when you and your ENT are both comfortable as to why your child needs them. Ear infections are hard to work through and heartbreaking to a parent, but surgery is not always the best option. I see Dr. Standage with Affiliated Ear Nose & Throat and I think he is great. He is very personable and isn't jumping into surgery, which is one sign of a good doctor. Surgery should always be a last resort. Good luck!

My son is 3 he had had tubes put in his ears 3 times already. 1st time he was 14 months, 2nd time he was 28 months (only because the tube that was in there fell out too early so they decided to put another one is and the last time was Jan 21 of this year. It's not that bad my son was in there for about 15 minutes they put him under on little anestic and he was fine by the afternoon the same day and was able to return to daycare (I dod keep him home though) He had a little blood. Honestly after all the medicine he was on this was the greatest thing. He is hearing well and speaking better. I honestly think you should go talk to an ENT. They will let you know for sure if your child really "NEEDS" the sugery. Just check it out and see how you feel after you talk to the doctor. I was freaking out when "they" told me that he would need tubes, but in the end it really helped his hearing and speech.

My 5 year old has tubes, we had them put in at 18 months after many many ear infections. His hearing was ok, but the antibiotics were too much. The doctor put in a kind that is longer than normal so they wouldn't fall out on their own. We're having them taken out this spring so we can do swimming lessons because try as I might, I cannot get those wax ear plugs they gave us to stay in. The surgery itself is very quick, maybe 10 min although when he woke up he was very upset/disoriented, but it was so worth it. Just remember that the tube constitutes a hole in the eardrum and while that is what lets the fluid out, it can also let things in, so you have to be careful of their ears when they have them.