Hi all! I've been trawling through lots of glue ear threads on here and couldn't see anyone in the same situation as us so thought I'd start my own to see who else is out there!
My youngest has been diagnosed with glue ear. His problems started with an ear infection when he was 11 months old. It was continuous ear discharge after that. Really thick and smelly (tmi, sorry) All of the antibiotics prescribed didn't work. The doctors took numerous swabs that came back either sterile or with something that should have been dealt with by the antibiotics (that didn't work). So we got a referral to ENT.
After a stroke of luck on the cancellation line at our local hospital I got him into ENT in March who confirmed it as glue ear. We are now on our second lot of 3 month watchful waiting due to his age. The problem is, his ear is just constantly gunky. And it smells. Most of the time it doesn't bother him. I take him to the doctors whenever a new flare up arises but as all they can do is offer more amoxicillin/ another random antibiotic or yet another swab to check for infection I find myself feeling very jaded with it all. This current flare up has been going on for a month now. The antibiotics haven't done anything for the gunk or smell so I'm now going to take him back to the doctors again. His doctors btw are fab, I do find them very supportive so no disrespect for them.
I've no idea about if his hearing is affected. At his age, the hospital can only check for if his ear drum moves (I think I have that right) which they've said they will do if things carry on. I have a feeling he is slightly behind with talking as he only has a few words. I am comparing him to his brother though who was an early talker so I'm trying not to panic.
Has anyone else had this happen at such a young age? Any outcomes or advice on next steps?