Glue Ear- tell me about it

[littlepinkpear]

Just as the title suggests, DD has been diagnosed with it. She will have to have an op, hospital didn't give us much info other than that.

Will it clear up immediately or will she have to have multiple ops?

Any info would be appreciated. Have googled but not helpful and would prefer first hand accounts x

Have you looked at the NDCS website? They have a lot of information about glue ear here

Thank you so much onetwothreeoops, lots of useful info

I presume she will have grommets? My DS had this at 2 after having recurrent ear infections (like 20) and a solid year of antibiotics literally every day. He had the op a year ago and has not had a moment of trouble since. His speech, which was delayed, has also come on in leaps and bounds. The op was very quick and although it's never fun for a little one to have a GA, he was eating toast an hour or so later. Hope that's what you were looking for.

Yes, she will be getting grommits fitted under GA, she is only 2 but we have thought for a long time she has struggled to hear us. Watching her through the hearing test, we really got to see just how she was struggling to hear things.

The blogs on the NDCS website have been great to read and given me a real idea of what to expect and how to try to prepare her. The hearing test really scared her, so going to try to prepare her as best we can for an op under GA.

Delighted to hear you had a good outcome Margoandjerry, it's very reassuring. Thank you for posting, hope it continues to be good for your LO.

Grommets worked very well for ds. He had his first set at 20 months, and second set at 3.6yo. The difference it makes to the hearing is huge. Last autumn he commented that the leaves hadn't crunched the last year-he couldn't hear them before the grommets went in.

Downside is that they come out. His first set lasted 18 months, unfortunately one of his second set came out after about 9 months-it's still sitting in his ear canal (I can see it-it looks just like a white hama bead) 3 months later gathering wax and blocking hearing on that side.

What I did find is that in the break between grommets if he had an ear infection then the drum perforated (again... and again... and again...), they wouldn't tell me if that was an effect of the grommet scar, but I suspect it was, as he'd only had 1 perforation before.

Thanks Dewe, I'm glad they helped but didn't realise that it might not cure her problems/might cause more. I've got lots of questions now, but all of the posts have helped me tremendously x

In relation to the actual op have you been in touch with a play specialist at the hospital? ours had a session you could go to before the op (it was more useful for ds1 and ds2 because of their ages and less so for ds3(2) - I just phoned for a chat when it was his turn) Ours was brilliant and talked the boys through what happens (might not be necessary for your dd) but mostly gave me an idea of what would happen and what I needed to bring. We contact ours through the childrens ward of the hospital. The grommets op is usually day surgery conducted by ENT, but again its worth checking in case thats any different for your dd being that bit littler.

This video is off the hospital website (again more for you than her at this age!)

ds1 had one set at 4yrs, ds2 has just had 2nd set one at 3.5yrs and one at 4.4yrs so the first set lasted less than a year and ds3 had one set at 2.5 yrs. None of them have had more than about 1 ear infection each but it has significantly impaired their hearing - the different in hearing, speech and behaviour was huge after the operation, almost immediately, personally I wouldn't have put them through the GA (or myself through it 4 times in a year) if I didn't think it had the benefits but I know others have chosen to use hearing aids, I think there is lots of discussion on the NCDS website and some knowledgable people on there too if you need advice x

DD was threatened with grommets, but the surgeon said that he didn't like to fit them as it was impossible to keep a 3 year old's head out of the water when swimming and it would be better to wait. She had repeated ear infections and I can remember at about 18 months old she fell and landed on her bottom and looked over her shoulder at the floor with a sort of 'the floor just came up and hit me!' sort of look. Bit with the dazed surprise of a drunk!

The thing that saved her was, on holiday in France, I had an attack of sinusitis, and was given acetyl-cysteine sachets in the pharmacy. It's available on prescription and can be given to any child from the age of 2. There is a special smaller dose for babies. Basically it's mucolytic, it thins mucous and so all the gunk can drain before it gets a chance to get infected.

DD used to end up on antibiotics every time she had a cold due to ear infections. Eventually, after getting the medecine in France, before it was made available in the UK, we used to dose her night and morning from about the second or third day after a cold had started. You can also get 600mg capsules in Holland and Barrett - the standard sachet contains 200mg, just have to open the capsule and split it in 3, but it's very bitter and a bit hard to dissolve in water.

By doing that, she remained virtually antibiotic-free for 3 or 4 years. Only thing was, I used to get some weird looks on holiday when I went into a French pharmacy and asked for the medecine. I would get '1 box?' and give the reply 'no, 10 please'.

hth

Thanks everyone, lots of me to find out and think about. It's been a great relief to me having the replies, will let you know how it goes x