Totally gutted please tell me something positive

[tryingtobemarypoppins2]

DS is only 6 months old. He has been diagnosed with very bad glue in both ears and the Tympanometry test (air blown onto the air drum) showed no movement at all in one ear and a tiny wave in the other :(

We are not smokers, never let our children go anywhere near a smoker, I breastfeed up until this month....I am gutted.

He is always hitting his ears and often seems uncomfortable :(

Consulatant has suggested detail hearing test and surgery. Any threads I have found have been very doom and gloom, behaviour problems, sad children etc.

Anyone have any positive experiences? Please!

He also has a blockage in his ear - lots of wax and the GP couldn't see his ear drum and refered him :(

I was shocked that at 6months he would be effected.....I thought it was more 2-3 year olds who suffered?

From what I have read, non surgical options are often unsucessful - I was shocked when the consulatnt said that would most likely be the path to follow. He is so tiny :(

Something very positive: you realized there is a problem and had him tested.

I know a little boy who was almost completely deaf and was not diagnosed until he was 3yo. In fact I know two boys that this happened to. They both had massive speech problems which led to behavioural problems.

The fact that you had him tested means that he can start therapy or hqve treatment early. From what I understand, behavioral problems are often caused by frustration because the child cannot make himself understood.

look at it this way - glue ear is usually a problem because it isn't detected until too late, and by then has already affected speech development etc.

i think it's perfect that it's been identified so early. it means there is no reason why he should not be able to follow the usual developmental pathways with the correct treatment.

hope it goes well x

(it's never easy to learn that a tiny needs treatment of any form, but the dx and thinking about it are usually the worst part tbh. after that you just get on with it. )

My son had glue ear when he was 6 - I took him to a cranial osteopath - six months later, glue ear gone in one ear, almost gone in the other, year later, glue ear gone completely and no reoccurrence.

Please consider this option before surgery.

The consultant we saw said that I could waste my time and money on cranial osteopathy if I wanted but he thought grommets was the way to go.... when I went back to see him he could do nothing but eat his words really. DS is now nearly 9, hearing perfect.

I had health insurance from work but each session cost about £25. We went once a week then gradually reduced to once a fortnight then once a month.

I'm sorry you've had bad news, but to look on the bright side, it's really good that this has been picked up early :)

RosaStylosa he is continually beating his ear and you can see he finds it uncomfortable. He only had the Tympanometry test which was in on ear and the other had a tiny wave but consultant said it wasn't great really.

Kbear just done some googling and NICE guidlines said not to offer cranial osteopathy as it didn't work!! Think I will look into it though.

I just worry about the issues it may lad to, speach etc. and also the system seems to be so backed up, our appointment was cancelled 4 times! I don't want him lost in the system and this going on and on. He is now being sent for a hearing test. How long would you wait before chasing this up?

I went for a hearing test with my dd when she wes only six weeks old, as my father is deaf, and they said she wasnt hearing in one ear, snd low in the other. They advised me to face her when speaking etc, and return at five months. When we returned at five months, her hearing was fine, no problems at all. Five months of worry.

So would you give cranial osteopathy a go??

Thanks for responce everyone.....been feeling quite sick tonight.

Thanks Rosa. Its so bloody unfair!!!

Sorry you are going through this, one of mine had glue ear as a toddler which was sorted with long term antibiotics. Another one of mine has moderate hearing loss from birth

Can I suggest you go along to a baby signing class or a makaton one and start signing with your lo. We used it with great success for DS - I feel it helped with his speech as although he could hear, he learnt to look at us when we were talking to him and helped him focus. He had almost no frustration as he learnt to communicate very clearly

we used makaton for dd2 from about 18 mos. i was initially concerned about it replacing speech, but in fact it seemed to stimulate it.

Yes, we used baby sign for DS1 and loved it, so will use it again.

DS2 did pass the hearing screen at birth - thats a good sign isn't it?

Enormous thank-you Rosa xx

My DS1 had glue ear in one ear, and a cholesteatoma in the other.

He functioned with about 25% hearing until the age of 9 when we finally got it sorted. Even now he has about 75% hearing.

he went to school age 5 as a non-speaker his hearing was so bad they wanted him to go to a special unit for hearing impaired kids.

The op for grommets is a small op - they are in and out in no time.

I guarantee if you met him you wouldn't know he was partially deaf.

He is went off to uni this week and has rowed for our country at junior level.

bottyburpthebarbarian you must be so very proud. Thank-you, great to hear something so positive.

My ds started ear problems after baby jabs (in fact I also got really badly blocked ears after a flu jab). We were both treated by an osteopath (years apart) who said the same thing happened to him after a flu jab. I strongly suspect there is a link to jabs.
Osteopathy definitely helped, although my ds was slightly older (in a primary school) by the time we got this sorted, but he didn't have grommets. He now has a very slight hearing loss.

TBMP2 - I am very very proud of him - but I do think that deafness is one of the worst disabilities because it isn't "obvious" - I remember having a discussion with his French teacher in first year when he was telling me that his written French was fine, but spoken was "abysmal"

Oh really?? Well doh there's a surprise - turned out the teacher hadn't been told he was partially deaf (he'd just had his last surgery 10 days before school started)

But honestly glue ear is not the end of the world, and at least it's been caught very very very early

BTW chase chase chase and chase them on EVERYTHING

I knew DS1 couldn't hear me, knew he wasn't talking, but because he was otherwise meeting all his targets and I was a "paranoid first time Mum" (yes that was written down by the HV
) they didn't take me seriously and he was 4 before they even diagnosed the glue ear