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Children's health

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Original poster

GLUE EAR

15 replies

Bedgesullivan · 29/04/2018 09:20

Hello
I’m looking for some advice on my daughter. She has had problem with her ears with reoccurent ear infections for a couple of years now. Her speech and understanding is severely behind. She has had FOUR hearing test where they have confirmed she has glue ear and mild hearing loss.
I’ve had an ENT appointment after months of begging for a referral, to have one appointment and they try to discharge her. She had a hearing test after this that yet again came back with mild hearing loss and we can tell in her behaviour her ears are not right.
I’ve tried using steroid ear drops which really helped her but was told by the consultant that I can’t use them everyday.
I’m at my wits end. It seems as though they really can’t be bothered treating her and would rather get her gone rather than treating her.
Has anyone been to see a private ENT doctor? As I’m slowly giving up on the NHS. Any advice would be helpful.

OP posts:

Are your children’s vaccines up to date?

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Witchend · 29/04/2018 11:36

My ds has bad glue ear. He started at about 10 weeks old and still has it aged 10yo. He's had three lots of grommets all on the NHS.

But if you're talking about mild hearing loss then they're right not to want to do much about it. Grommets insertion does require a general anaesthetic and they're not a permanent improvement-they last on average about a year before they fall out, and for ds that's usually the case, but I have heard of cases where they're on the pillow the next morning.

To put it in prospective, ds' hearing has been down to just over 10% at his worst testing. 30% hearing is fairly usual-yet in the summer when it clears he has near perfect hearing.
He usually gets better over the summer and worse in the winter, and also has multiple ear infections. He learnt to lip read and will often watch things with subtitles as he can't hear the words.

Having gone through the operation three times with him, I wouldn't go through it with him for mild hearing loss. It may only be 20 minutes down but it does knock him for six.

The good news is also that almost all children grow out of it by the age of 10yo, and if she's only got mild symptoms at present I would suspect she may well grow out of it sooner rather than later.

BrieAndChilli · 29/04/2018 11:40

Grommets are not a miraculous solution. It’s worth doing if they have severe hearing loss and need speech therapy etc
DS only got them because he had very poor results in his hearing test and because each time he got an infection his eardrums actually burst

He had grommets and that stopped the infections but unfortunately when the fell out one of his ear drums did not heal back up so he has been left with a hole which will need surgery to repair when he is 12, until them he can’t put his head under water etc.
I know someone else this has happened to so it’s not a rare occurance.

applesandpears56 · 29/04/2018 20:03

What did ent say?
I’m surprised they didn’t offer you grommets or a hearing aid.
I’d pay to go private.
Mild hearing loss can still cause a lot of issues for a child.

applesandpears56 · 29/04/2018 20:21

Oh and does she snore? You might find her adenoids large too?

Degu · 03/05/2018 22:43

We were advised to try an Otovent nose balloon for our Dd who had glue ear and speech delay/problems. She used it every day between appointments and at her last appointment, the hearing tests came back normal. We also noticed an improvement in her speech.
Might be worth a try?

OldHag1 · 03/05/2018 23:28

Brie this happened to my daughter. She had the grommets fitted when she was about 2 during an active infection the surgeon didn’t think the grommet would stay in on one side. They have said for about 2 years that she needed an op to fix but she refused each time it was mentioned. She is now 9 - we had an appointment last week and the hearing loss now outweighs the need for an op as it is minimal.

Ask at the hospital for ear moulds aka swim moulds my daughter has them so she can go swimming/wear in the bath etc.

Her grommets were fitted as a private patient.

Original poster

Bedgesullivan · 04/05/2018 01:55

Her last ENT appointment was a few weeks ago and said they wanted to discharge her, however when we went for her hearing test her hearing wasn’t normal?
Yes it’s only mild hearing loss but it has a massive affect on her behaviour, her speech and her understanding. I would go through surgery and more to actually be able to sit down with my daughter and talk about her day. She’s far behind within her class at nursery and yeah she does snore and seems to talk through her nose a lot aswell.

OP posts:

Original poster

Bedgesullivan · 04/05/2018 01:56

I have heard about the nose balloon! May give it a try, can only try can’t you 😊

OP posts:

applesandpears56 · 04/05/2018 08:07

What age child can you use the otovent on?

bluetrees · 04/05/2018 08:12

My daughter had hearing aids from aged 5 til about 8/9 for glue ear. They don't have to have an operation for grommets. I was offered both but because glue ear is temporary I didn't want her to have an operation as it could have cleared up by itself. As it was, it did hang around for a few years but hearing aids suited her fine.

Degu · 05/05/2018 08:52

My dd is 5. I’m not sure what age you can use them from, maybe 3 or 4? They have to blow into it with each nostril 3 times a day for a week, then twice a day until next app. It took a day or two for her to get the hang of it.

I would 100% recommend it. Especially if you aren’t having any luck elsewhere. Good luck.

elliejjtiny · 08/05/2018 01:42

2 of my dc have your ear. My 4 year old had grommets aged 21 months and we are waiting for him to get another set as they have fallen out. My 7 year old has had hearing problems because of his glue ear since he was 4 and now the ent Dr has finally agreed to give him grommets. Having grommets has made a huge difference to my 4 year old.

HagueBlue2018 · 08/05/2018 03:13

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

Cath2907 · 09/05/2018 15:25

My DD has a moderate bilateral hearing loss as does my husband. She does have hearing aids but she was borderline for having them provided. The NHS doesn't aid for mild hearing loss (I have mild hearing loss caused by childhood infections but it is not sufficient to be provided hearing aids on the NHS). Aids are uncomfortable and compliance with children is tough. They are too expensive to be given out when they will make little difference and likely sit in a drawer!

DD doesn't wear hers on the weekend and aside from having to be sure she is listening to me before speaking to her I don't need to do much more to get a sensible conversation.

Are you sure that it is the mild hearing loss causing the problems with behavior, understanding and speech issues? My nephew has significant speech delay but his hearing is just fine.

Ohyesiam · 09/05/2018 16:39

Take her to see a qualified Medical Herbalist( use yellow pages, or through the professional register, National Institute of Medical Herbalists).
We did this on a tip off , and our ent specialist was so impressed he contacted the herbalist to find out more. Grommets op was cancelled, sleep, concentration, hearing , communication, tantrums all hugely improved or resolved.
She gave us a tea which we made every day and cooled. We could mix it with juice, but our LO was happpy to drink it. We also cut out dairy as it forms so much catarrh.
European herbalist not Chinese.

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