Would you/Have you had your child's adenoids removed because of ear problems?

[Wills]

Hi,

DD1 had glue ear and it was quite some time before I persauded my gp that she was having hearing problems and to refer her which meant her school work was affected (she's only 5 so it wasn't serious). She had grommits fitted and life really settled down for a good 6 months. Her sudden progress at school was noticed and she went from being clingy and very very whingy to happy, content and confident. The she had an ear infection which pushed both grommits out. It was like she changed over night going back to clingy, tearful and very very very moody!!! She can hardly hear anything at all and even in a quiet room when she's standing beside you you would have to raise your voice. At night when I sing to her I've taken to resting my chin near her ears so that she can sense the vibrations.

So.. Specialist wants to remove her adenoids this time round. My thoughts so far against this are:

1. Not keen to remove parts of the body because I believe that they're there for something and I've seen too many instances of medical science getting it wrong to feel confident of everything that is recommended.
   
2. Removing them does not guarantee that the problem will go away - but he does think she wont need as many years worth of operations
   
3. Removal of adenoids is a bigger operation than simply inserting grommits
   
   For:
   

1. Removing them will probably reduce the number of operations she needs to go through and I'm keen to limit the amount of scaring that her ear drums will have to have because of grommits
   
2. Its not merely the operation. We've had to wait a month (and that's with private insurance) for this operation and the entire family as well as dd1 has had to suffer this. Also its once again affecting her school work. I'm not keen to go through years worth of possibly 2 months in every 12 spent in this way.
   
   What are other parents thinking about? If your child's had them removed what persauded you? If you decided to go with just grommits - why?

[Potty1]

Wills - both my ds's had adenoids and tonsils removed at the same time as their grommits fitted. This was 13 and 11 years ago. Initially we were referred for ds1 as he had repeated ear infections, glue ear and hearing loss pretty much since birth. Our GP had never mentioned his tonsils but the ENT immediately wanted to remove them as they were huge, the adenoids sort of went without saying. His surgery was very successful in that his hearing and general health improved almost straight away. Ds 2 was pretty much the same but his sleep was much more badly affected, when he did sleep his snores could wake the dead! He had the whole lot done and the ENT commented on the size of his adenoids. The success of Ds1's surgery meant that we were pretty confident to put ds2 through it.

Both boys have been pretty healthy since although ds1 usually gets a cough with his colds - maybe a legacy of having no tonsils - and ds2 suffers with his ears when flying usually to the point of tears (and he's 13 now so it must be pretty painful)but it would probably be even worse with his adenoids in.

Finally we have dd, who again was heading for the full job but as she has other medical problems which put her at risk under GA we put it off. She did eventually grow out of her repeated infections, I would say by 5 or 6 - she probably has maybe one a year now. As your dd is at that age now maybe she isn't going to 'grow out' of her problems.

HTH

[suedonim]

My ds1 had hearing problems for years but Glue Ear wasn't recognised back then (he's now 30). After six years of problems he eventually made it into hospital for grommets. However, the surgeon decided to remove his adenoids instead (we weren't even told this until the day ds came home!) and it brought about a complete resolution to his hearing problms. No more infections, no more deafness. Wonderful.

[onlineid]

Message withdrawn

[Wills]

Oh gosh you're all quite pro removing the adenoids. Its good to hear positive outcomes, thankyou.

[redsky]

DS had grommets, tonsils and adenoids done over 10 years ago. His health improved a lot (no more earaches), he slept far more soundly than before and his speech sounded less nasal.

[psychomum5]

Snap for me in having a child having a successful outcome with having tonsils and adenoids removed. My son went from having to shout all the time and playing up thro frustration to a boy happy and able to listen and concentrate. He is still a little shite at times, but hey, thats normal for a 5yr old boy!!

[meysey]

We are quite interested in having them removed from our boy who has constant easr infections and bade hearing as a result. But the doctors don't want to take things further. Did any of you have to fight for further help?

[redsky]

No, no fight required gp recommended it. referred to surgeon - he said it was a very clear case of needing to be done. Told us it would improve ds's health and therefore development enormously - which was true but not quite the dramatic transformation he led me to believe. still think it was the right thing to do.

[Bozza]

DS - history of glue ear first picked up at 7 month check although very few ear infections. First grommets at 2.3. Second grommets plus adenoidectomy at 3.7. Now 4.2 and grommets are out of drum and in ear canal. And his hearing his going downhill once more. In fact last month I took him to the doctor and got olive oil drops because of sudden deafness following cold - apparently lots of wax there. Check up this month noted a degree of hearing loss since his post-op checkup so have to go back in 3 months.

After both ops hearing improvement was immediate and significant.

[Ailsa]

DD1 had her adenoids removed at 4½yrs, she is now coming up to 11 and hasn't had a single infection since.

[Sugarmag]

Well, not had this problem with children but I had repeated throat and ear infections as a child (on antibiotics several times every winter like clockwork). My dad is a paediatrician and recommended having my tonsils and adenoids removed and it completely cured the problem - never had a single throat infection since and no other adverse side effects.

[tigermoth]

oh, intersting reading. My 11 year old has had repeated ear infections and mild deafness since he was a baby. Now gets tonsillitus several times a year as well. Has had a grommit for two years. His hearing is better than it was, but the infections are still there and he spends a about 3 months a year on antibiotics. The school must call me at work about once every three weeks to collect him early from school as his ears are hurting him. It is really inconvenient for us all.

He has his next audiology appointment at the hosptital in a weeks time. I will be asking about adenoid removal now I have read this thread - thanks mumsnet!