Recurrent ear pain

[bobbinogs]

I'm hoping someone will be able to give me some idea what to do next for my dd9. For about 18 months she has had recurrent periods of ear pain, mainly in her left ear but sometimes in her right ear or both. She also gets headaches and nausea and pain behind her eyes. There's never any discharge.
I have visited the GP numerous times. GPs always comment that there's not an abvious sign of infection though sometimes the ear looks a bit red. She has been prescribed anti bs about 4 times over the past 18 months, twice last November. Even when she's not experiencing severe pain she complains of niggling pain most days and is taking far more Calpol and Nurofen than I'm happy with.

After a lot of hassling I got a referral to ENT and have been to an appointment and a follow up appointment. At the first appointment they confirmed hearing loss in her left ear and assumed fluid in middle ear. We were sent away with Otofent and nasal sprays and returned 3 months later after continued pain and infections. This time they confirmed further hearing loss but nothing very severe and said they were reluctant to pursue intervention on the basis of 'just pain' and made an appointment for another 3 months.

I am at my wits end as this is really impacting on her well being. Her attendance at school is poor, which is causing chaos with mine and DHs work. She complains of pain so frequently but because there's no obvious infection I can't get anyone to take us seriously. I have just been back to GPS who suggested there was an issue with school but I am 99.9% sure this is not the case. She achieves well and has friends.

It is also really impacting on her mood, she is angry and irritable and prone to massive meltdowns. How can I take this forward. What can I do to alleviate the pain and get to the root cause? Anyone with similar experiences please let me know. We really need help.

[Rainbowsandflowers78]

Surely she just needs grommets?

[Rainbowsandflowers78]

Does she snore by any chance?

[bobbinogs]

THanks for replying. Yes she does snore and I'm pushing for grommets but ENT say no it's not severe enough. Apparently to get grommets the hearing loss needs to be more severe and she needs to have had at least 4 infections in 6 months. But although she's having lots of pain the gPs are saying it's not infections as they're not seeing discharge etc. Do you think I should be pushing hard for grommets?

[hevonbu]

Any allergies, now or in the past?

[Secretmum41]

I feel for you OP ....
My dd is now 18 and has had recurrent outer ear infections for 2years! They’ve literally driven us mad as nothing can be done about them
We’ve had numerous ENT appointments and our GP is probably sick of the sight of us

Apparently “it’s just one of those things” ....she too has hearing loss with them.

[bobbinogs]

Poor you and your Dd Secretmum it does seem to be just one of those things but I'm bothered about how much it is affecting the quality of her life. It's hard for her to be managing pain and low level feeling ill at the age of 9. I too feel like the GPS are sick of me and ENT want to get rid but nothing has really changed.

As for allergies no I don't think so but it's not something I have really looked into very much. How would I start to investigate this. How can you tell if she's allergic to something?

[endofthelinefinally]

The current rationing of care and treatment until real damage has been done is really shocking. Yet another symptom of the crumbling of the nhs.
Can you afford to seek private treatment?

[mustbemad17]

My DD is 5 & we have just received our ENT appt after two years of fighting. She is profoundly deaf in one ear but looks like glue ear in both. Reading your posts it doesn't give me much hope now 😔 Her schooling is suffering as she struggles & if she gets an ear infection (last record was four in just over two months) then she is almost totally deaf. I don't get why they won't just intervene rather than wasting time (and money) on pointless things like sprays!

[Rainbowsandflowers78]

Op it could be that your child had an adenoid and/tonsil issue too. Taking adenoids out can help. Maybe ask ent for an X-ray to see if they can tell anything about the size of g you adenoids? I guess I’m saying maybe the ear issue isn’t that bad - but it’s only one half of the problem so highlight the other bits of the problem too to them - the snoring, the pain. Disrupted sleep can certainly cause behaviour and concentration issues too

[bobbinogs]

mustbemad that sounds awful, you might be ok with that number of infections, emphasise the problems with schooling to the ENT, thankfully that's not been an issue with my Dd but something they did ask about. I wish I'd emphasised her behavioural issues with them now.

rainbowsandflowers yes I think you're right, she has always located the pain in her ears so that's what I've told GPs but actually I think the problem is bigger than that, sinus pain is a real problem too. Asking for an x day is a good idea.

endoftheline I would have said private care is not possible for us and I am very pro NHS but I have to say I have felt so fed up recently I have started thinking could we find the money somehow? All Medical staff have been kind and helpful but I do feel I'm up against a brick wall and that there just aren't the resources available to get to the root of the issue.

Good luck to everyone dealing with similarly frustrating situations.