Advice please on otitis media with effusion

[Northerner]

Hi all, I know that there are probably loads of old threads on this but I am at work and do not have the time to trawl.

Ds (17 months) has his second appointment yesterday at the hospital. We first went 3 months ago and they decided to do nothing and see if the problem would correct itself. It hasn't. The fluid is present in both ears and his ear drums are red and inflamed. But there is no infection. He failed his hearing test (again). The specialist has prescribed a 3 week course of antibiotics, and we have to go back and see him in December.

Is there anything I can do to help my ds, I really do not want to have to go down the surgery route, but am also worried about ds taking antibiotics for so long.

TIA

[Northerner]

Forgot to say that I am a bit confused as to why he has been prescribed antibiotics when doctor clearly stated that there was no infection.

[SoupDragon]

Cranial osteopathy? It's meant to be very good for clearing ears.

[Northerner]

Sounds painful!

I'll look into it. Thanks.

[ThomCat]

Northener - SoupD said it for me - highly recommend you take him - they do work wonders - where do you live?

[ThomCat]

No pain involved at all by the way - they barely touch the child - just run hands over body really

[Northerner]

I'm in Harrogate. I've just found a local lady who sounds lovely. Not cheap though. £30 consultation and £22 thereafter. But if it's highly reccommended then I guess it's worth a go.

[ThomCat]

So going to London would be too much of a schlap right?? It's just that there is a clinic in Harley Street and you pay what you can afford.

[Northerner]

That sounds like a fab idea. But yes London would be a bit of a trekk from here!

Thanks anyway.

[ThomCat]

Let us know how you get on.

[Northerner]

Just bought some toothpaste with xliytol (sp?) in it, as I have read about this on old threads. But it is for kids over 6 years. Ds is only 17 months, can I still use it does anyone know?

[Sari]

Boots do a toothpaste with xylitol which is fine for babies - at least, I'm pretty sure it is. We used it anyway. It's the one with a green crocodile on it.

[Northerner]

Sari - I got this one from Boots. I thought it was a green dinasour but now you mention it it might be a crocodile! But it def says for over 6 years. They did a baby version of it but it didn't have the magic ingredient!

[Sari]

We definitely used it with ds1 for ages. He's now three and still standing, plus his teeth look all right. (Then again, I'm no dentist.) Perhaps just don't use too much at a time. If I remember correctly, he didn't get any more ear infections after we started using it.

[Northerner]

Thanks Sari, I'll do that. Anything to help his little ears!

[robinw]

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[Northerner]

robinw - his drum has burst twice. Before our first hospital appointment in July his ears were nearly always weeping a particularly pongy substance. Doctor did take swabs etc and hence the refferal to the hospital. He hasn't had an infection through out the summer, but the specialist definatley said he has effusion but no infection.

Thanks for the website - I'm off to look now.

[2under2]

Northerner, I can highly recommend Eileen Coffey on Station Parade, opposite Safeway, as an osteopath. She's not cheap though. Have also been to see Jocelyn Ashley who was very nice, but I think Eileen probably has more experience, particularly with children, and also does other completementary medicine.
Dd has been having problems with glue ear for a year now - osteopathy didn't work for us (dd has Down's syndrome and her ear canals aren't a regular shape so all the manipulation in the world couldn't help), antibiotics (full dose for six months) kept acute infections at bay but did not get rid of the fluid and when her ear canals were finally big enough for grommets we jumped at the chance (came back from hospital yesterday so can't report on success yet).

[sunchowder]

Northerner- CranialSacral Therapist or Osteo as you call it, the money will be worth the result! The ears fill with fluid (why?- that is the question right?) and then when the fluid sits it eventually becomes infected. Adding the xylitol might be helpful at the same time (not sure of this as I have not had the experience). I recently went to a CranialSacral Therapist here in the States and it was fantastic. It is not painful at all. They monitor the flow of your cranial fluids and can detect blockages, they lay their hands on these "blocked" areas and can gently manipulate the areas to increase the circulation (in very basic terms). It might not take more than one or two visits (it depends). I would also limit dairy and wheat if you can until you get get the treatment started for him.

[robinw]

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[2under2]

complementary even!

[jmg]

My DS now 3.5 had this for a year between 6 months and 18months of age. Consultant said treat with long term antibiotics which we did to no affect. Then he said just leave and monitor for 6 months which I was not happy with. I went to see a homeopath (slightly sceptical but prepared to do anything I could by now), she immediately said that in 9 out of 10 cases it is related to some form of allergy - usually at the age my child was when it started dairy. We took him off all dairy foods and within 2 weeks the situation had improved. At next meeting with consultant 6 weeks later he would not admit it was related to dairy allergy and said it would have cleared up anyway!!!

The long term problems we were left with was that DS was extremely speech delayed and is still having speech therapy sessions every week (paid for by us since NHS waiting list is 6 months just to get an assessment and then you get a max of 6 sessions of therapy). His speech is now getting a lot clearer but when he started nursery 6 months ago many of the children were reluctant to play with him since they could not understand him , as one child asked me one day when I was picking him up 'what language does he speak'!!

The other signs that there was an allergic aspect to this is that he had always had a runny/ green nose and that he dribbled constantly. Both symptoms cleared up very soon after taking him off dairy.

I'm not saying allergies are the cause of all cases of otitis media, but that it is well worth investigating. Please don't wait and wait and be reassured that you childs hearing and speech will not be affected - our experience was that this was very bad advice!

We also had allergy testing done and that confirmed that he had a dairy allergy!!

[jmg]

My DS now 3.5 had this for a year between 6 months and 18months of age. Consultant said treat with long term antibiotics which we did to no affect. Then he said just leave and monitor for 6 months which I was not happy with. I went to see a homeopath (slightly sceptical but prepared to do anything I could by now), she immediately said that in 9 out of 10 cases it is related to some form of allergy - usually at the age my child was when it started dairy. We took him off all dairy foods and within 2 weeks the situation had improved. At next meeting with consultant 6 weeks later he would not admit it was related to dairy allergy and said it would have cleared up anyway!!!

The long term problems we were left with was that DS was extremely speech delayed and is still having speech therapy sessions every week (paid for by us since NHS waiting list is 6 months just to get an assessment and then you get a max of 6 sessions of therapy). His speech is now getting a lot clearer but when he started nursery 6 months ago many of the children were reluctant to play with him since they could not understand him , as one child asked me one day when I was picking him up 'what language does he speak'!!

The other signs that there was an allergic aspect to this is that he had always had a runny/ green nose and that he dribbled constantly. Both symptoms cleared up very soon after taking him off dairy.

I'm not saying allergies are the cause of all cases of otitis media, but that it is well worth investigating. Please don't wait and wait and be reassured that you childs hearing and speech will not be affected - our experience was that this was very bad advice!

We also had allergy testing done and that confirmed that he had a dairy allergy!!

[jmg]

sorry for posting twice - my PC is playing up!

[Northerner]

Just thought I'd bring this up again. Ds has another ear infection and was in pain again last night. We are due back at the hospital with the specialist in March, who did say that if he had another infection before this appointment he would advise grommits. Although ds is constantly failing his hearing tests, I think it is just him getting fed up, and not a case of him not hearing IYSWIM. His speech is coming on leaps and bounds, but these constant ear infections are very distressing.

Anybody with any positive grommit stories? I need reasuring that surgery is for the best as I know this is what specialist will reccommend?

Thanks

[Luckymum]

Northerner - see my post on glue ear/autism.

Ds1 and 2 both had grommits also tonsils & adenoids removed.

After his grommits, Ds1 had huge amounts of smelly black tar like rubbish draining from his ears particularly the left (the 'glue' ). His hearing improved almost immediately. On the day he came home from the hospital he was playing upstairs...he came down and said that there was a strange noise in his room. We went upstairs with him and it was the raindrops on his window!..he was 4 years old. He attended speech therapy for a while but now has no problems whatsoever (he's 15 now)

Ds2 still has the occasional earache and gets very 'bunged' when he has a cold but again no major problems.

The only downside is that the grommits supposed to fall out by themselves, which they do but if that happens before the childs tubes have grown the procedure may have to be repeated. BTW my children never had tonsilitis has such but for both of them removal was recommended as the surgeon said they we scarred by infection and very large.

Agree with jmg - dairy increases the amount of mucous produced.

HTH