Ear drum looks unusual

[kapin]

I'm really worried about my 3 year old ds. Preschool have suggested we get his hearing tested, as he sometimes doesn't respond to simple commands. We've occasionally had concern about his hearing, but never enough to get it checked out. He's had a couple of ear infections, including a perforated ear drum, but these were mainly a year or two ago.

I've taken him to the GP today, who said that his right ear drum looks rather unusual, and he doesn't know what to make of it! This sort of talk scares me to death. He said it could be scar tissue. He's referring him to ENT and for a hearing test. Does anyone have any experience of this? I've been googling and decided he's got cholesteatoma. I'm a bit prone to hypochondriacal googling!

Any ideas?

No ideas but step away from google

Could the perforated ear drums have caused the scars? I guess the only way you'll know for sure is the ENT specialist telling you.

Thanks Iggly- you're right. I'm lucky enough to have a friend who is a paediatrician, and she told me that it's most likely just a scarred ear drum from perforation (even though it was ages ago), and the worst it is likely to be is glue ear. Other problems are much rarer, especially without history of significant ear infections/problems. Apparently ears all look very different, and even the same problem could look very different in different children. I read too much into what the GP said I think. I'm going to try and relax and just wait and see.