Ear infections

[dollybird]

Not sure this is the right section to post this but here goes. DD who is 2.9 has had recurrent ear infections since she was 4m. She had a really bad spell between 8m & a year and was referred to ENT, and it all cleared up. After that she has had them probably four more times up till recently, the last one being May last year. The most recent one took three different lots of antibiotics and about a month or more to clear up. It finally cleared up, only to return about ten days later (last Monday). She is only ever bothered by it the night before all the gunk comes out of her ear. I haven't been back to the doctors this time as I worry about her having too many antibiotics. She is not bothered - I just have to clean her ear a few times a day. does anyone know, if it could cause harm/affect her hearing or anything, by leaving it at the moment? Thanks

[dollybird]

bump...anyone?

[Littlefish]

Sorry dollyburd, I can't help, but I'm watching this thread with interest. My dd has got her 3rd ear infection in 2 months (she's 18 months old) and the GP has said that if she gets another one within the next 2 months, he'll refer her to the Consultant.

Don't know how you feel about it, but a friend of mine has suggested that we look into homeopathy as an alternative to constant antibiotics.

[Littlefish]

Sorry, dollybird not dollyburd .

[2shoes]

ds suffered REALLY badly with ear infections. I was told by ENT that it is quite usual for small children to suffer as it is to do with the way the tube in the ear lays when they are young.
Not wishing to sound like a know it all:o but ds has had about 6 ops with grommets plus major surgery on his ear.
If you are concerned go back to your GP and INSIST he refers you back to ENT (quickly as appointments are like gold dust) I did this with dd as I was concerned by the amount she was having and with ds's history wasn't going to take any chances. the consultant put her on prophylactic antibiotics(5ml a day) as we felt that she wasn't really getting clear of the first infection so what we thought was another one was really the same on iynwim. The prophylactic antibiotics did the trick and touch wood she has been clear for a couple of years(dd is 11 but has cp)

[mummydear]

Get her refered to ENT , recurrent ear infections can lead to glue ear, loss of heraing and then possibliy some speech delay/problems. Catch it now and by any luck it will be sorted by time they go to school.

also ask for hearing tests.
Long wait on NHS down our way .

[dollybird]

Thanks everyone. I think I will ring the docs tomorrow as it still hasn't cleared up. Aren't grommets to help the fluid drain away? she doesn't have a problem with this as she's always got 'gunk' coming out of her ears (like a runny nose, but stickier (nice!)). She doesn't appear to have any speech or hearing probs at the mo, but don't want her to get any either. It's just weird how it doesn't bother her - most other children seem to get really ill/grisly etc with it.

[foxinsocks]

dolly, my dd used to get ear infections in exactly the same way. She got loads but they would only ever bother her the night before her ear would burst and all the gunk would come out!

She had no hearing or speech problems until quite recently - suddenly, at around age 4, the gunk stopped coming out of her ears but she would still get the pain. She has very waxy ears and had built up a huge plug and at the same time, her middle ear stopped draining the glue out. She now has a bad hearing problem and we are waiting for grommets.

I asked the ENT if we should have done anything earlier and he said that if the ear drains properly (like it had been doing) then it is working exactly how it should be working. I would keep an eye on her hearing - definitely ask for a proper hearing test (done with the equipment) to see how she is. We never had antibs for dd's ear infections because we never got them in time as she was only in pain for such a short time but it did mean that there was no GP record of how often she had them (which counted against us when she got referred) so perhaps go to the GP and have a chat about how often she has them just so that if you need a referral, all the details are there.

[mummydear]

I din't think there was anything wrong with DS2 speech until last Autumn and now we have dsicovered he has got glue ear and he starts school in Sept. He will be 4 in August.

Your DD is still young enough to get it all sorted before school etc .

[mummydear]

Probiotics... one of the health visitors mentioned these and mentioned these yoghurt drinks that have them in it. Have done any research myself about it though ....

[dollybird]

Well, we saw the doctor yesteday ( not her usual doctor) - he has given her ear drops as he understood my concerns re antibiotics. She is going back in a week to review. thaks for your tips everyone - I'll look out for thise yogurt drinks when I go shopping later.

[HappyMumof2]

I used Solgar ABC when dd was having recurrent ear infections. I also cut down her milk intake and replaced dairy with Rice Milk/soya yoghurt etc. I also took her to a homeopath. The combination of these things did the trick for her and she has not had an infection for over a year

We were also referred to ENT and the consultant said they normally have one or two bad winters and then it should improve.

He also agreed with the link to cows milk.

I agree with you about avoiding too many antibiotics, especially as it seems to not really be making a difference to your dd. My dd appears to only respond to Augmentin now. Amoxycillan is useless for her now as she has had so much of it.

Have they tried Augmentin for your dd?

I would try a homeopath, you have nothing to lose.

But be guided by the ENT specialists as you can't afford to mess around when it comes to ears, recurrent ear infections can cause to speech and hearing problems.

Hope you get things sorted.