To puss for hearing aids over grommits?

[mummyneedingahug]

DS (4) has had glue ear most likely for years and has a moderate hearing loss.
Audiologist gave me the choice of grommits or hearing aids today and from what I have read I felt pretty confident in going for hearing aids in the hope that the glue will go (soon?).
However on telling his new class teacher my choice she looked at me like I was crazy....AIBU?

I wish I had gone for grommets sooner with DS1 - he now has permanent hearing loss, partly caused by having glue ear, which eroded bones in his middle ear.

With DS2 we had grommets done asap and he has had no further problems.

secret I am well aware what grommets are thank you. They are smell ventilation tubes that will drain away the glue and restore hearing.....initially. The glue may well return when the ear drum repairs and the grommet is pushed out. Many children will be fine, 1:100 will have infections caused by the hole into the ear drum. Some will need to return to have the grommets redone as the glue returns etc.
My thoughts are, he may well grow out of it in a few months...unlikely so we will go with hearing aids whilst on the waiting list and try the Octovent which has a 66% success rate. If all else fails we go for Grommets. You can't say just go for it! They are risks to and so many children have glue as they grow up and it can resolve itself. I don't think DS's will but I still think its wise to try others thinsg while we wait.

Interesting thread
one of my ds has hearing loss, waiting to be assessed again in a couple more weeks to see if they decide to do anything or not
but when I was there with the audiologist last time, she made it sound as though more likely they would go for hearing aids than grommits, if his hearing loss is still at the same level when they check it again
the reason she said, is that he is a bit young for surgery - he's 2 and half, and by the time they finish assessing him and book him in for it would probably be nearer 3?? she made it sound that they never like to do grommits on the young children as its too risky having anasthetic when they could go for hearing aids instead

Mummy your question was to go for hearing aids or grommets.
I answered your question based on this point:
When you can cure the ailment, why would you just give the child something that helps him/her cope with it.

You didn't say anything about being on a waiting list and trying hearing aid in the meantime in your OP did you?

I still think you should go for it. Why make your child wear a hearing aid when there is a treatment that is (as you can see from most peoples posts) very effective. Yes there are risks, there is with every single operation. It's just a risk some people take, even though it's hard with it being your child I can sympathise.

A hearing aid won't make it better, it just makes it okay to live with. You would be ignoring the root problem.

Actually grommets do not drain away the glue. The grommets are inserted after the glue has been drained away. They allow the air to circulate and hopefully the glue will not return. There is a hole in a grommet but it is for air and not glue It allows the pressure to equalise in the middle ear space, reduces secretions allowing better ear drum vibration function and it also gives the middle ear a chance to recover from constant infections.

my DS had 2 grommet ops over 3.5yrs...and has normal hearing and all is just as it should be...
ears grow and glue ear tends to clear and stop being an issue with this simple treatment...

at the same time as the grommets the 2nd time around...they did his adenoids too...

I believe if glue ear isn't drained and grommets fitted that it can cause a lot of permanent issues leading to permanent loss of normal hearing ranges/tinnitus, etc, balance, coordination, etc too

the sooner grommets are done the better the long term outcome is as far as I know and believe???...

using hearing aids I wouldn't be considering unless it was a condition where hearing would remain impaired...and using them temp could be quite distressing for a very young child to cope with...it's a very different sort of hearing...

if DC is managing just now then maybe wait for the grommet date of op. to come around...shouldn't be a long wait I don't think as it's routine and takes minutes...

My dd (18 months) had grommet insertion and adenoids out 2 weeks ago
She was completely deaf in one ear and almost completely deaf in her other ear.
The op was traumatic for me, but she was fine. In the last two weeks she has started to say mummy and daddy, she is repeating sounds that we make. The difference is truly amazing.
My gp didn't want to refer us to the Ent, so we went privately. I am so pleased that we did, otherwise who knows how long we would have had to wait for her to be seen.

I hope it works out for you whatever decision you make.

mummyneedingahug
hearing aids do work well and you don't spend months faffing about with watchful waiting. They are a serious treatment for glue ear and glue ear is a temporary problem in the majority of cases.

"using hearing aids I wouldn't be considering unless it was a condition where hearing would remain impaired...and using them temp could be quite distressing for a very young child to cope with...it's a very different sort of hearing..."

Nah! my son took about two weeks to get used to the hearing aids at four years old. My son was part of a research project looking at the effectiveness of digital hearing aids. The outcomes for my son were very good.

It is far more traumatic for a child to have a really aggressive ear infection that will not respond to anti biotics and to have constant stink pus coming out the ears.

In my experience the audiologists are better at explaining options than the ENT surgeon. Don't write off audiologists.

Hearing aids are a good option for many children, otherwise the NHS would not provide 2K worth of hearing aids for a temporary problem. I think the OP needs to think what is best for her son. The National Deaf children's society has a bullitin board which will give you better advice than mumsnet. The ndcs also has a help line and you can speak to and audiologist if you have questions.

I had grommets fitted when I was 2 due to suffering constant ear infections and having really bad hearing.

I ran away from the Hoover the first time my Mum used it after, I hadn't realised it was so loud, so that was my hearing sorted.

Also the infections just stopped, the grommets fell out naturally and my hearing has been fine ever since.

Just to back up STDG - having also been a scrub nurse, grommets are a very quick procedure and I could not believe the volume of muck (to use the scientific term) we'd suck out of some of these poor children's ears.

If it were my child, I go for grommets.

Hi mummyneedingahug I noticed somewhere upthread you said that your son has never had an ear infection? Well I have a DS aged 3.5 who has glue ear but has never had an ear infection, perforated eardrums or any other associated problems. For that reason, our ENT consultant persuaded me away from grommets because she said that she didn't like putting them in children who had never had a problem with their ears/ eardrums (other than the hearing loss). She said that it left the child exposed to possible infections and further eardrum perforations afterwards, and so why operate on a "perfect" eardrum.
As it has turned out for us, my ds has been fitted for a hearing aid, but on our return to hospital he had another hearing test which showed his hearing had improved so he hasn't been fitted with them.

Fanjo - just saw that you interpreted criticism in my post about spotting things early, which was totally unintentional! So sorry if you felt bad. I didn't notice for 2 years that there was any problem with DS's hearing. Especially if it is DC1, there is no benchmark, and I didn't even have that excuse! We beat ourselves up because we don't notice for 2 years, or 4 years, or 10, but it is all relative. The point is, mums notice long before other people, especially the school. It has been 6 years since DS's glue ear(s), and even though the glue ear was fixed quickly (choose what method you like, of course), I am just beginning to find out what the after-effects are. The school doesn't recognise them, and he has started getting bad reports, as if he's not trying or not listening (hello?!), whereas I know that is not the right story. That was my point about mums trusting their instincts about what is wrong.

This post seems to be mostly about grommets, which is a huge and very anxiety provoking topic. However one gets through glue ear is a personal choice, but at least we have choices. My main point was that even when glue ear is fixed, it doesn't stop there for many years - speech, spelling, processing instructions, as loads of people in this thread have demonstrated. Although these things are all fixable, we should not accept schools telling us that our DCs are lazy or not listening, when we know that is not their character and there is a backstory.

Have just read this whole thread from top to bottom, and slightly shocked at how binary the decisions seem to be: hearing aids or grommets? No other options?

Although grommets have worked for many on this thread, I was warned off them by doctor who said they may not work, you may need many sets, they may cause permanent damage etc, all of which is exactly what so many mums have posted here.

Personal choice of course, but just want to highlight that there are natural remedies which resolve glue ear more gently, and often faster: (my DS returned to full hearing in 1 month and has been 100% ever since), without anaesthetic, multiple operations or hearing aids. We used homeopathy + cranial osteopathy. May not be the best fit for everyone, but shouldn't we try to broaden the debate here to the full set of options available?

Alternative medicine such as homeopathy and cranial osteopathy, when backed up by proper evidence is known as "medicine". Not alternative medicine.

Am not sure how severe your DCs glue ear was LaSagesse but we tried cranial osteopathy too and other than being very expensive it made no difference. I glad it's worked for your DC though.
The reason that the debate is between grommets and hearing aids is that this is what the NHS offers and other treatments have to be paid for by the parents which not everyone can do.

I think its worth looking at allergens with glue ear. For example I believe that my son is allergic to cats. We used to have a visiting cat, but when she moved away my son's glue ear cleared up. Some children are allergic to dairy. We tried Otovent (Ie a special balloon that you blow up with your nose) but found it impossible to use.

I don't think there is any point in arguing about he the severity of LaSagesse son's glue ear. Glue ear is temporary problem and does no long term damage in most cases. I am glad that her son has good hearing now.

"My main point was that even when glue ear is fixed, it doesn't stop there for many years - speech, spelling, processing instructions, as loads of people in this thread have demonstrated. Although these things are all fixable, we should not accept schools telling us that our DCs are lazy or not listening, when we know that is not their character and there is a backstory."

Making sure that children can hear somehow in the early years is important for development of auditory perception. (Ie. development of listening skills) I think that learning a musical instrument or singing is valuable for the development of listening skills.

However I don't believe that a history of glue ear is an excuse for laziness or even underachievement at school. My son is doing very well academically inspite of a history of severe glue ear. He is level 4a/5 in year 5 for most subjects at the age of ten. My son had glue ear from being a baby until the age of seven. His spelling is very suspect though.

"We used homeopathy + cranial osteopathy. May not be the best fit for everyone, but shouldn't we try to broaden the debate here to the full set of options available?"

I think we are 'limiting' the discussion to things that actually work here.

I had grommets twice as a child. No ear or hearing problems now.

I am fascinated by people's response to a post about hearing aids over grommets. I am the mother of a 6 year old with glue ear and hearing loss. I've opted for hearing aids after a lot of careful research. Firstly most children naturally grow out of glue ear by the time they are 7 or 8. Also grommets don't cure glue ear. They let air into the inner ear so that the fluid can dry out. It can return. There is a limit on amount of time you can redo grommets due to scarring. So it makes perfect sense to me rather than subject my child to what could be an unnecessary operation I have chosen to help her with her hearing. With the hearing aids she can hear a pin drop. Leave it for a year. Regularly review to ensure its not getting worse and the glue ear is not turning to scar tissue. Then with my audiologist ill review then. I do think Otovent is worth a try too. It has an excellent success rate. It's a balloon a child blows up with its nose which helps open the tube to help it drain away naturally. Whatever you choose know that there is no right or wrong answer in this. Look at what you feel comfortable with for your child if that's grommets go for it. If hearing aids that's fine too. Ignore people pushing their views so strongly on here. Your audiologist would tell you very strongly if they thought you were endangering your child's hearing long term. As mothers I'm sure we all feel we know best and its great to share your own experience as some mums have here. That's helpful advice. Some of these posts however are just not balanced. Hearing aids are now quite funky and my daughter got to pick sparkly ones with pictures. She was proud to show them her friends who were asking their mums for them. Obviously it won't be the same for all schools and all ages. However, I feel I'm doing the best for my daughter and that's what feels right for me. Good luck to anyone reading this I hope it works out for you. I'll post in 6 months with an update

My son had glue ear, and was given hearing aids, which, to be honest, didn't help much, as he now says the sound was still distorted by the fluid build up.(he is now 12) Only after repeated ear infections and x4 burst ear drums he was offered grommets. OK, he had to have them twice, and his adenoids done, but it was the damage done by the infections and scarring from the uncontrolled bursting of the ear drums before he had grommets that caused his 20% hearing loss, not the grommet ops. He also still has a slight speech problem after spending so much time trying to understand what people were saying to him - I wish they had offered the grommet earlier, but we went down the hearing aid route first, and wished we hadn't. If they offered you grommets, the main thing you must think about is -Is your DS prone to infections?- if he is, I really would push for the grommets, rather than the hearing aids

DD used that Otovent thing. We called it nose hole gymnastics. I hadn't even noticed she needed glasses, but did realize that her hearing was poor. I got the school nurse to check it, went to the GP with the findings, she poo poo'd the nurse, tested again and found DD had a significant loss.
We were referred to an ENT surgeon who wanted to do grommets the following week. I was very reluctant. He suggested a course of Otovent and chewing gum (we were in Switzerland). Once it became apparent that this regime wasn't working - we did give it about six months, she had the surgery.
The change was astonishing. Unfortunately, I think she needs them again.

OP I don't know about grommets.

My daughter has mild/mod hearing loss (not related to glue ear) and will pick her first hearing aids up later this week. She is 6 and very excited about it!

The battery packs are small nowadays (about the size of a kidney bean) and far more attractive than they used to be.

I don't think there is so much of a stigma attached nowadays.