Grommets for a baby?

[ooooooeak]

Has anyone had an experince of having a young baby, under 1, with Glue Ear? DS is 8 months and has bad glue ear on both sides.
We are awaiting a hearing test but our consulatant has put us on the waiting list for grommets which my GP is really anti!
There seems to be a bit of a split camp on grommets!
Any advice or experiences would be really helpful xx

my ds (16 months) had glue ear all last winter, his last test was clear over the summer, just waiting to see if it comes back this winter. We've just gone for the wait and see approach as he's border line for hearing aids. It's not going to hurt to go on the waiting list, you can still say no when the time comes. Just use the time between now and then to read up and decide what's best for your ds.

You could ask for hearing aids as an alternative or try something like cranial osteopathy (didn't work for us).I can recommend the ndcs for parent friendly info and also their parent place forum has a board for glue ear.

i wouldn't do anything just yet

glue ear can come and go, it's common after ear infections or being ill. so i would leave it at least 3 months to see if it clears by itself

i would also try cranial osteopathy and see if that helps.

grommets have their place, don't get me wrong. but I would try and avoid a GA and surgery if possible.

ds2 hardly talks. he was dianosed with glue ear about 6 months ago. after 2 courses of cranial osteopathy he is much clearer in one ear and has just had great results on his latest hearing test.
hoping a few more treatments will sort the other ear out too!

There is no reason to think that cranial osteopathy is effective for any condition and the evidence base shows it is not a useful for treatment for glue ear.

I'm glad your ds is doing better but it is much more likely this is is a combination of the natural history of the disorder and regression to the mean.

really could you show me some research to prove that?

Assuming you meant specifically cranial osteopathy and otitis media you have NICE and Cochrane guidance.

Or if you prefer individual papers, the best one is probably here.

Even the American Osteopathic Association feel there is insufficient evidence. They're hoping to change that that.

Does that help?

My GP was not supportive of cranial osteopathy, but he also wasn't supportive of surgery either. The surgeon was so keen.....It will be interesting to see how the hearing test goes. Do you know anything about flying with glue ear?

I think it varies a lot on what treatment doctors recommend to their own personal preference, don't feel pushed into grommets if you don't want them, nothing wrong with saying you'd like to see how things go for a little longer first. Ime there is usually a fair period of watchful waiting before offering grommets. Sorry, no idea about flying, ask your gp or phone the ndcs helpline and see what they say.

Watching and waiting has become the recomended strategy in recent yrs.
It's only in severe and recurrent otitis media that you're not suitable for that option.