Grommets or a hearing Aid? What do I do??

[Joycey29]

My son is nearly 3 and is about a third down on normal hearing. We have our 3rd appt on Thurs to talk to the consultant and I want to know as much as I can prior to the appt.
He has been assessed for speech and is ok as he has over 50 words but they are very indistinct as he can't hear properly.
I have heard that Cardiff are piloting hearing aids for small children to avoid the general anaesthetic which Grommets entail.
Any advice, info or opinions welcome.......

[Curlygirly]

My ds2 is 5 and had his hearing when he was nearly 4.
He hates wearing it even though he acknowledges it helps him. He can't put it in himself and some days it's a battle to get it in. The bit over the ear dangles off at the first sign of anything physical and he hates other children commenting on it.

On the flip side, his speech is clearer, he doesn't shout as much when he wears it and he doesn't feel left out when he plays as he can hear the other children properly.

For him though, grommets were not an option.

[bigcar]

there are pros and cons to both options Hearing aids will not give perfect hearing, they can be fiddly and hard to get the child to wear. But they can have good results in improving speech, you can get them in various colours and get moulds in different colours or with pictures in.

Grommets, obviously is surgical and involves a general anaesthetic, you can't get water in the ears until they have fallen out and healed so hair washing/swimming is a pain. But once it's done it's done, there's none of the getting your child to wear an aid.

Have you been on to the ndcs they have lots of info about glue and also their parent place forum has a glue ear section.

curlygirly, have you tried cutting the tubing a little shorter if they constantly fall off or maybe a little toupe tape would help?

[Runoutofideas]

My dd had grommets fitted at age 4 and it worked really well for her. Her hearing improved straight away and her behaviour also greatly improved. She's now 5 1/2 and her grommets have fallen out so we are now waiting to see if the glue comes back and she needs another lot.
The general anaesthetic is horrible - more so for you that the child I think! I tried to avoid it by trying diet changes, cranial osteopathy etc but nothing apart from the grommets made any difference. If the consultant recommends another set for my dd we will do it.

BTW we decided against hearing aids, for the possibly shallow reason, that we didn't want her to stand out as different when she started school.

[Scubes]

HI there, you might not want an opinion from a professional but I am a mum as well! I am a Teacher of the Deaf and like bigcar says there are adv and disadv for both.

When grommets work they can be great but sometimes the efect isn't as instant as parents expect. They will fall out and the glue ear may recur so you could end up having more sets of grommets. Usually only up to 3 sets as more than that could scar the eardrum.

Hearing aids are far better than they used to be and are smaller than the huge things we remember! They do improve access to speech but will take some getting used to. If your lo does end up having them then you should also ask for a referral to your local teacher of the deaf who will go through everything with you at home and also visit the nursery if he goes to one and speak to staff.
You may also find that he will only need to wear aids when it is clear his hearing is down ie during winter months. Either way both options should improve access to speech and it is definitely worth pursuing as he is at such a crucial age for language development and would be good to get it sorted before school.

I've jsut read your post again and see you went to hospital today so this might all be irrelevant now but if you have any other questions now you have been please ask!

[kissingfrogs]

Sorry to hear a negative experience and comment about hearing aids

Todays digital hearing aids are modern, hi-tech, computer calibrated, small and stylish.

My dd2 has been wearing them since 3.5yrs. She's had them in Barbie pink with coloured/glitter moulds or with fairy, pony, peppa pig pictures in the moulds. They are, to her, a fashion accessory! She is now age 5 and sporting a flashy pair of new zebra print Phonak aids with princess picture moulds. And she loves them.

So, it's not all bad.