Ds had grommets put in both ears on weds

[QuietNinjaTardis]

And I was wondering when we can expect his hearing to improve? The consultant said he op went well ( he also had his adenoids out) and he's been ok but he is still saying "what" and "I can't hear you" all. The. Time. Some things I've read say that hearing improves as they're in the hospital, others say it takes a few days. It's been 5 days. I'm worried that for some reason it won't improve his hearing but there's no reason it shouldn't as all the fluid behind his ears has been drained away.
Any ideas? Any other experiences of this after a child has has grommets.

DS2 had them fitted last Oct (he is 3) we found his hearing improved almost immediately (he had glue ear from birth so while there was no permanent hearing problem he had not heard clearly all his life). Within a week he said his name clearly to us for the first time. One thing to take into account is that have good hearing can be quite overwhelming especially if they are young. DS2 frequently got stressed by new sounds (motorbikes, hand dryers in loos, hoover etc) so you need to give them time to adjust and perhaps a bit more leeway if they are getting overstimulated (we hadn't planned for this). Hope your DS is getting better and you see an improvement.

Thank you making. I hope it improves. Trying to keep positive but were really hoping for that dramatic improvement that people have said he'd have. He's not due to have another hearing test until after he's started school and we were so hoping it would be sorted before then as don't want him to be at a disadvantage when he starts.

is he not hearing or not understanding?
a friends dc ws similar but that was due to not understanding as they haven't heard much since birth.

He's not hearing. I'm not sure how long he's had the glue ear for but I would guess at a year - 18 months max so his understanding is good. He's 5 in December, his speech does have some mistakes in it and he lisps a bit but I just can't see any improvement at all in his hearing.

In fact I think its prob closer to a year than 18 months really. Took us a long time to realise he couldn't hear us.

They would have cleared out any 'glue' before they put the grommets in, so his hearing would have improved right away. It can take children a little while to adjust to the louder sounds, so it could be due to this. Can you call the audiology department and ask for him to be retested earlier?

It can take time for the body to absorb the 'glue' once the grommets are in place. You'd have to ask a doctor how long, but I remember when my DS had bilateral grommets his hearing wasn't immediately better. I think after about a month it was pretty good, but be patient, its only been a few days.

They would have cleared out any 'glue' before they put the grommets in

This is incorrect - they can't do this. They make a tiny incision in the eardrum and insert the grommet. Its up to the DC's body to absorb the glue. Some of it may come out of the ear via the grommet too. If this happens you need to get a doctor to take a look and make sure the grommet isn't blocked.

Ds hearing improved right away. The glue should drain downt the euastion tube. It is possible for an audiologist to test for neuro sensory loss at the next hearing test. Ds had hearing test 6 weeks after the op. I feel they need this period to recover.

Thanks for the reassurance everyone. Will try to be more patient. I'm sure the consultant said they suck the fluid away but maybe I'm mistaken. I might see if we can get a hearing test quicker if there's no difference in a couple of weeks.

They do suck some of it up, I've seen them do it in the paediatric theatre here. They use a little very light suction once they have made the incision in the ear drum, then place the grommet inside the tiny hole. The grommet is there to allow any more of the glue to come out. Each hospital may do them differently, but I'm pretty sure they all use standard guidelines.

Grommets can fall out, so this is something to think about.

Ok thank you. I haven't seen any gunk come out of ears at all though he is as waxy as ever so will just have to watch and wait. Really appreciate all the responses.

Grommet pro over here as both ds's have them. Although you say he's not hearing rather than not understanding, I want to throw in another suggestion.

If the glue has cleared What he is hearing now will be very different to what he was used to hearing before. His brain needs to get used to processing this different quality of sound. Asking you to repeat it gives him a second chance to hear it.

Also you can play some games to find out what his hearing is like. I copy what the audiologist did when ds2 was very young and just whisper an animal with my mouth covered so he can't lip read and see if he can hear it. Experiment with quieter and normal speaking volumes. Understanding vs hearing is less of an issue as its just one word. Obviously not very scientific but I use it to monitor ds2 hearing in addition to his regular checks as his hearing fluctuates quite a lot and school need a heads up if he's a bit deaf.

I would give it another week or so then ask for a hearing test earlier than your current appointment. With DS the first thing he said when he came round was 'wow, my hearing's amazing' so it was immediate.

Better to check unnecessarily than not check just in case and something not have gone to plan.

Good idea marshmallow. Will see how it goes then get a hearing test booked.

I would book the test now and you can always cancel if necessary, it will be a couple of weeks before the appointment comes through anyway.

Good plan.

Ds noticed the difference when he walked out of the hospital. He hadn't realised that there was a sound that comes from cars on the road. He also was amazed in the shop on the way home that people talked in the supermarket and we could hear them even if they weren't talking to us.