DS (5) Blocked ears, infection, hearing loss- what happens next?

[Pabboo]

My DS is struggling at school. We realised he couldn't hear, and think this has been the case since at least early November.
He has been diagnosed with fluid behind his ear drums (GP in early Dec when he also had a horrible cold) and that was still the case 2 weeks ago, and then last week he got a ragin ear infection. 2 weeks ago he was referred to audiology.
I have now arranged a private audiology assessment while the NHS one goes through as I rang to chase it and they haven't even processed the referral onto the system yet.

What can we expect next? If he has had blocked ears and fluid behind the eardrums since November (at least - he had tinnitus symptoms before half term last term so maybe it started then, that was when he really slowed down at school and the teachers and now worried about his progress compared to his peers) does this mean he has glue ear?

What is the referral pathway and waiting times like? I do not want to watch and wait any longer as this is effecting his school work and as a consequence his self-esteem - he has stopped trying to write as he says he can't do it, and has stopped trying to listen to the teachers as he just expects not to be able to hear them - the teacher is working on this now she has realised the problem.

I am considering looking into getting a private ENT appt, as it looks like we have to go through the community audiologists to get to the ENT and then I am worried we will be ages waiting for an op, if that is what he needs.

Can you share your experiences with this? I'd appreciate it!

Yes its glue ear, my experience is that you will need to fail 3 hearing test before an ENT referral on the NHS. Then it will be a long wait to be seen by them. Then they too may want to wait and see. Glue ear tends to go away as soon as the weather starts to warm up in the spring. My son on the other hand has has persistent glue ear and a moderate hearing loss for 4 year :( he's had two sets of grommets and now wears hearing aids.

Without minimising it, I doubt they would want to do an op if he's only struggled since November. If he's never had problems before there's a good chance that he'll clear over the summer and it won't return.

My ds has had 3 sets of grommets, and he's in the position that without grommets he has had constant ear infections (talking about a 10 day cycle of infection/antibiotics/clear/infection) for months, and glue ear every September through to May on a good year. His hearing can be down to almost zero with it too.
He's never had to fail 3 hearing tests, however I think that upwards of 30 ear infections in a year probably is good enough evidence. In fact I don't think they even did a hearing test the first time, but he was only 20 months.

The thing is that as there's a chance it will clear over the summer, they won't want to put him through a general anasthetic-which as we all know is never free from risk. Plus the grommets only last around a year so if they're in now there isn't an insubstantial risk that they will be out by next November having covered the summer months when most children will be free anyway.

Sorry that isn't what you wanted to hear. Do talk about how it's effecting him at school to ENT, but, for most children in your ds' situation wait and see would be the correct way to go.

Thanks. That's really helpful advice.
I'll see how it pans out over the next few months then.

hiya,

sounds like this varies from place to place. I'm in Scotland and my son had 3 borderline failed hearing tests each 2 months apart. he was then offered grommets. they said they would assess his adenoids and if enlarged they would remove. they were OK so they left them. that was April/may last year and he still has the grommets in. the transformation after he had them put in was truly amazing!!

I think they are reluctant to do surgery preschool unless hearing loss is profound but once at school ENTs are more likely to suggest grommets along with adenoid removal and sometimes tonsillectomy. They are likely to struggle with phonics and tend to fall behind quickly. It's nice to know that the medics are up to date with the importance of hearing and phonics.

DS had glue ear on and off from 18 months it was monitored since it was seasonal. His speech and development was fine but we were always repeating ourselves or having to talk loudly for him to hear. He had grommets and adenoids removed when he was 6 and we saw an immediate improvement.

Interestingly one grommet came out within 3 months but the hearing in that ear was better than the other where the grommet was still in place. ENT surgeon confirmed that it was probably the enlarged adenoids that had caused the problem.