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Mumsnet doesn't verify the qualifications of users. If you have medical concerns, please consult a healthcare professional.

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Mumsnet doesn't verify the qualifications of users. If you have medical concerns, please consult a healthcare professional.

General health

DD's ear drum has just burst for the 16th time!!!!

56 replies

Aimsmum · 21/03/2005 13:51

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LIZS · 21/03/2005 13:52

Oh bless her .

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Marina · 21/03/2005 13:56

Can't help, just huge sympathies. Dd is on her 12th burst in 15 months as I type, Aimsmum.
Has adenoidectomy been discussed with you? We are due to see dd's specialist again early next week.
The restless nights are killing me (dd is stoical and doesn't scream but she does whimper and wake a lot, and we find that even a max dose of calpol and nurofen doesn't work completely on the pain pre-burst).
Once they get to this age they rub their ears and then their eyes, don't they. Yuck.
I will be interested to hear if cutting out dairy helps your dd, please keep me posted. I am reluctant to do it, as I think it's such an easy way to get calcium into them. I will ask the specialist about that too though.

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Aimsmum · 21/03/2005 14:08

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GeorginaA · 21/03/2005 14:17

Oh no, Aimsmum This is just after the grommit fell out, isn't it? No advice, but lots of hugs. Hope the specialist pulls through.

xxx

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Earlybird · 21/03/2005 14:18

We're just back from the doctor, where I was told to expect dd's eardrum to burst. We were given antibiotics, but who knows if that will help.

In the meantime, any tips for keeping dd as comfortable as possible? What are the best things to do for her? She woke up every hour last night crying. I feel so sorry for her, but don't really know how to help.

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Marina · 21/03/2005 14:27

Earlybird, if you have already started the ab's, you might be lucky and avoid a burst. How old is dd? If she is Aimsum's dd's age, she might be trusted to hold a warmed dry cotton pad (folded mussy etc) to the affected ear - warmth is soothing, which is why I have such rotten nights with dd - she ends up in bed with me, parked on my capacious bosom. That's her preferred therapy, the little pickle
Calpol and nurofen, staggered (ie not given simultaneously), to the max dose for her age, should help. Our experience is that it reduces but does not seem to remove the discomfort.
Aimsmum, your poor, brave dd I can foresee conversations like this with ours. At the mo she is only 19 months and has had this problem off and on since she was 5 months old
Several people lately have suggested adenoidectomy rather than grommets, none of them being dd's specialist so far. At first I was appalled at the idea, but swabbing smelly discharge out of our pretty dd's curls all the time, and fretting alternately about ab resistance or mastoiditis setting in, has worn us down

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Fimbo · 21/03/2005 14:27

Hi Aimsmum,
Have just seen this and wanted you to know I am thinking of you and A. The bit about her cleaning up her ears herself and it bursting at nursery and cleaning it herself actually made me want to cry. Hope the specialist comes up with something soon. Take care in the meantime.

Fimbo xx

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Aimsmum · 21/03/2005 14:38

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handlemecarefully · 21/03/2005 14:44

Oh Aimsmum,

I remember you posting about your dd last week and saying things had been so much better after her grommets op

(((((hugs))))) and sympathy

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Earlybird · 21/03/2005 14:44

Aimsmum - first, want to say how sorry I am that you and your dd are going through this. It is so hard to see your little one in pain, and I can't imagine going through it as many times as you have. I hope there is a solution that can provide both of you with some relief.

Marina - dd just turned 4. We have been lucky to have avoided ear infections in the past. Poor little one is really suffering at the moment. I've got Calpol (dosed her up an hour ago), and Nurofen too so will attempt to stagger as you suggest. As I mentioned, last night she was awake every hour (worse than when she was an infant!), and I was able to soothe her a tiny bit with a microwaveable heat pack wrapped in a towel which she used as a pillow...but it didn't help much.

Sounds as if this is a problem that you just get through the best you can, and that there really is no immediate/surefire cure. Sorry to hear that you're enduring this too.

Our doctor made it sound as if it is good for the eardrum to burst to relieve the pressure and drain the fluid. Can that be right?

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Aimsmum · 21/03/2005 14:50

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Marina · 21/03/2005 14:51

That is a valid point of view, re the drum bursting, Earlybird, and one our GP emphasises. It does alleviate pressure and pain and allow fluid to drain away. But it is messy, and smelly, and there is always the slight risk that NOT taking antibiotics will lead to a potentially more serious infection of the mastoid bone (behind the ear). This is rare these days but not so long ago (pre-antibiotics) could kill
Hopefully your dd has just been very unlucky this time and is not suddenly going to be challenging Aimsmum and my dds for the "Eat your own weight in Amoxyxillin" Mumsnet title
My ds only ever had one ear infection, at 15 months - so it doesn't necessarily mean long term bad news.
Hope she feels better soon.
Aimsmum - are you in London? We are at Lewisham Hospital for dd.

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Earlybird · 21/03/2005 15:05

Regarding the staggering Calpol and Nurofen - dd seems to want dosing with something to alleviate the pain about every 2 hours. Can I simply alternate the Calpol and Nurofen every 2 hours...supplemented with the amoxycillin?

The doctor also recommended a decongestant (like Tixylix) to help with nasal stuffiness. Does that sound like too much? And can I give her Tixylix (according to instructions on the box) when combined with the Calpol and/or Nurofen?

I'm fortunate to be such a novice, but it's unsettling too. Thanks so much for the advice.....though I wish for all of your sake's that you didn't have these experiences to draw on...

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Aimsmum · 21/03/2005 15:05

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Aimsmum · 21/03/2005 15:13

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Earlybird · 21/03/2005 15:26

OOOhhhhh otrivine child - fantastic! A medicine I haven't yet heard of, and haven't ever used! I'm so excited to have a reason to go back to the chemist! Seriously, thanks for the tip/advice...

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Aimsmum · 21/03/2005 15:33

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Aimsmum · 21/03/2005 16:13

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Marina · 21/03/2005 16:21

We went the eye ointment route after most of ours was dripped on to the duvet. Do worry that dd's first words may be "sod it! Keep still you little fiend"...
Will remember Otrivine Child, top tip, thanks.
I wish we had shares in SmithKline Beecham, Aimsmum...sigh. One day we will look back on all this as history.

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Aimsmum · 21/03/2005 17:13

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gscrym · 21/03/2005 17:14

I really feel for your dd. What a little treasure to be able to go and clean it up herself, and to accept and understand what has happened. I can understand how painful it must be. DH burst his and ended up on morphine. Your little onw is so resiliant.
Hope all goes well with the specialist.

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Aimsmum · 21/03/2005 18:18

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Earlybird · 21/03/2005 20:30

Looks as if it will be a long night around here. DD in bed for 90 minutes, and has already woken up crying 3 times. Poor little mite is absolutely shattered as she was up half the night last night. I hate it when they're not well!

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Aimsmum · 21/03/2005 20:34

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Earlybird · 21/03/2005 20:45

Aimsmum - that sounds just awful...for you and your dd. And, I know exactly what you mean about the sleepless nights - it is much harder when they're sick than when we had to get up to feed them as infants. I feel sorry for you having had it drag on so long. It's "only" my third night of disrupted sleep. When dd wakes, she makes a truly alien sound (for her) that's sort of like a yowling tomcat. I guess it's the sound of a child in pain.

About the eyedrops - would it work to squirt a little liquid into the area around her tear ducts and hope that some seeps in when she opens her eyes? I'm sure by now you've tried everything imagineable, but thought I'd make a suggestion anyway. Good luck tonight.

I'll be thinking of you when I'm up at 3 AM!