Glue ear/constant infections - can anyone help me?

[sleepingbunny]

Hi. Will try to keep this short. DD is nearly five (so coming to the end of Reception) and the last two terms have been blighted by persistent ear infections (six this year I think) that have only got better slowly. As I type, both eardrums are perforated (again) and she's on yet another course of antibiotics.

It's affecting her at school for sure - spoke to her teacher yesterday and though academically she's fine, she rarely speaks in groups (says her ears hurt and she can't hear enough) and is withdrawing into herself more every day. Is probably slightly tricky to work out if you are her teacher whether this is because she's a July baby (only started Reception in Jan) or whether it is the hearing. I know she's normally a confident chatty child - she still is outside school on a one-to-one basis both with adults and children.

GP has referred her to the consultant after finding fluid in both ears and us pointing out that she can't always hear. It's taken months to get the appointment (in two weeks time) in which time she's had two further infections.

My concern is that if we see the consultant he'll just want us to wait and see if it clears up - which seems like it will affect most of Year 1 as well, rather than doing anything about it. How can I convince them that she needs it sorting sooner rather than later, before her social skills and confidence are permanently affected. Will a letter from the school help?

Thanks for any advice...

We have been through this, 7 perforations in 5 months, glue ear etc...getting grommets helped, but didn't completely solve it. In desperation I took him to a homeopath, and have had one infection in 10 months, amazing for DS!

Insist on grommets, don't let them get away with not doing it.

Cranial osteopathy is really good for glue ear.

THanks for thoughts. We are trying CO at the moment - frankly am at point where would try anything. But I don't know how I can "not let them get away" with not giving her grommets when she needs them - or how to get them fast...Any advice. WIll go private if we have to...

Did she have infections before?

If she didn't then you may find that they want to see how she does over the summer to next winter, as ear infections are less common then. And see if this year was a one off.

Ds has had ear infections since he was 3 months old, except for when he has grommets in.
They were not sure whether to put them in the second time, but I mentioned that he was about to start school, the length of time off preschool he'd had this year, and his behaviour when he couldn't hear. And the consultant then was absolutely certain he needed grommets. (We got them in 2 days later was how urgent the consultant saw it!)

If school will write a letter for you to take along outlining their concerns and anything they've noticed when her ears are playing up, it might tip the balance. Some teachers won't like doing that, some consultants won't take any notice of a teacher's letter.

Ime the registrars are much less inclined to prescribe grommets and much more inclined to wait and see. If you have a registrar rather than the more senior staff, and you're not happy, then you can ask for it to be referred on to the more senior level. However that may mean waiting a certain length longer as they are generally busier.

When she's finished this course of antibiotics it's worth taking her back to check it's cleared up, because sometimes multiple ear infections are basically one that's not quite clearing up, and in whcih case a double dose of antibiotics can cure it.

If you got a letter from the Head,or Head of year,explaining that it is affecting her schooling,this may help?Im only guessing,I am not a teacher.

X post with DeWe.

CO didn't work for us either.

When you meet the consultant ask if they will do a hearing test then and there, it often helps swing the decision if there is hearing loss. also stress the impact it's having at school and socially in this 'very important first year'. Ask if they will do te grommet op, of not, why not, and if so, how soon. Say you will take a last minute cancellation, if you can!

Good luck, it's horrible. We went through two increasingly bad winters before finally getting on top of it. DS has just turned 5 and we will most likely have preemptive grommets put in in October. His last ones have just fallen out and we have an appt soon to discuss it all. We keep seeing the homeopath occasionally as well and will see her in September time too.

Thanks - that's really helpful.

I often post this NICE guidelines for Glue Ear - it does say that the active observation is 3 months and you should be offered support for school.

We did go private for ds2 and ds3 - the wait for ds1 was too long. 'active observation' meant he finished reception without understanding phonics. If you can I'd throughly recommend by passing the 'gate keepers' to see a specialist.

The leaflet I've linked too also says complemenatry therapies don't work nor do dietary changes - we're using homeopathy, probiotics to help repair the gut after the antibiotics, vitamin suppliments and cut out all dairy - even thought the NHS say it has no affect its worth considering what might work for your dd. Our ds's are sensitive to dairy so I think it has helped cutting it out.

I found a letter from School did help, as well as taking ds1's IEP with me and any other referals - is she getting any support at School?

parent place www.ndcs.org.uk/applications/discussion/ has an area for discussion about glue ear, they also have more advice on their website and have been brilliant at advising me on Schooling and who to go to get to help. It also has some good information for boosting your confidence to get what your dd needs, I now know to point out that words like 'mild' hearing loss 'flucuating' and 'temporary' aren't helpful to a child in a School setting, at that moment their needs are the same as a child with permenant hearing loss, they are extremely fortunent they may grow out of it but they need to be acessing their education on a par with their peers and their ability

Hi op you may find they do take you seriously straight away.
My ds was the same at 3 he had loads of infections and mild intermittent hearing loss.
We were offered tonsil adenoid removal and gromit insertion which he had 6 weeks later.
Massive difference in him now and so happy they suggested it.
Good luck

To update this one. Thanks for all your help. We got to hospital (after a week in which DD had had oral antibiotics and the doctor had said the infection was gone). She went in for her hearing test and they looked in her ears and said "she has an ear infection - we can't test her". So we have another lot of antibiotics (drops this time) and an appointment for SIX WEEKS TIME. By which time she'll probably have another infection (the window in which she does not have one seems very small). Could scream, tbh. But there must be something more positive I can do?

DS has had lot of ear infections too, three weekly from the age of 3 months old. He is nearly 8 now and still gets ear infections probably about 4 a year now (slightly optimistically). He has seen ENT consultants since he was 12 months old and tried everything!!!

Oral antibiotics did very little except upset his tummy so eventually insisted on drops only. Not all ear infections are bacterial, some are fungal and there is also a range of bacteria that can cause them so it is worth getting a swab done for persistent infections which should give the antibiotic that will be most effective against the infection.

They can only put grommets in when the ear drum is whole so not possible when there are perforations. We found one window which allowed one to be inserted but it did not make the problem go away but lots of people get an improvement from this operation.

Cranial osteopathy has been fantastic for pain relief, drainage and over all constitutional strength but alot depends on the skills of the osteopath and it works along side the other treatments we have used including antibiotics when necessary. PM me with your location and I will see if I can recommend anyone. You need an osteopath with paediatric training.

We also tried (and still use) homeopathy but again, it is not 100%, however we have had many ocassions where ear infections have cleared up without antibiotics and discharges that have stopped within 24 hours of giving a remedy, almost instant pain relief with some as well.

When he was little, DS was quite ill so we have also seen a number of acupunturists but didn't see huge improvements.

He was a very snotty little boy with loose bowels and prone to stomach bugs (vomiting and diahorrea) and chest infections as well as the ear infections. We thought dairy might be an issue and used goats milk formula and then goats milk as a drink but he ate cows cheese and yogarts. At 2 and a half he had some food testing done and he was shown as intolerent to a whole host of things, mostly put down to his body being stressed. We had a fantastic nutritionist who helped with his diet advised on suppliments (pro biotics, high dose non citrus Vitamin C, DHA / EPA long chain fatty acids and stomach enzymes to help heal his gut and get his body working again. It has made a huge difference to him.

Over time I have been able to reintroduce all foods and now control the amount of wheat and dairy in his diet, though I do wonder if I excluded them completely, if it would be the final piece of the jigsaw. We still continue to see an ENT consultant, an osteopath (I have seen quite amazing results from osteopathy on various childhood hiccups), a homeopath and periodically a nutritionist and I think they all help to minimise the number of infections he gets but sadly, no one person has a magic solution.

I think all children are individual and there is not one answer that fits all and the answer is bloody hard to find!! But I hope my story helps.