Glue Ear

[Cinnemombun]

My son is 3 and a half years old and has just been diagnosed with Glue Ear. We are now waiting to see if it clears up on it's on before we begin the next steps (I'm guessing Grommets).

His speech as a result of this has been quite delayed. In times when his hearing is clear he can be quite articulate but when it's bad it's very difficult to commuicate.

Does anyone have any tips for clearing the congestion for them?

(note: We are learning makaton and we use flash cards).

We have the same with my 2 year old and have been told to put olive oil drops in his ears every day until his next appointment.

You can also get a ballon thing that goes in the nose a couple of times a day that is supposed to help - can’t remember what it’s called, Otovent maybe?

One of mine had glue ear and the good news is that it did clear on its own without grommets being needed.

We had Speech and Language therapy for about 2 years which helped.

Still prone to earaches and ear infections though, so this is obviously a weak spot.

Otovent helped us

Lots if ENT departments aren't even doing grommets anymore because they tend to fall out etc. Hopefully he will grow out of it, most children do. It's so common, I reckon around 20% of children I see for hearing tests in reception have some glue ear.

2 of my children have glue ear and grommets have worked really well for them both.

DS2 was the same at that age. He's never had an ear infection so the glue ear was a surprise. He had grommets and his adenoids removed in one go and it's made a slow but steady difference. He's 6 now and still works hard to produce clear speech. He had speech therapy which really helped along with the op. It's a very slow process and it seems to take ages for the ear cancel,to grow large enough to overtake the glue ear. We tried the nasal balloon thing but it didn't do much but I didn't persevere with it

Probably should add that my daughter is now 9 and we have been signed off from audiology and her hearing his fine. I think they do grow out of it. NHS rarely do grommets anymore.

Lots if ENT departments aren't even doing grommets anymore because they tend to fall out etc They're meant to fall out. There's actually concern if they stay in too long because then the ear drum doesn't always heal on its own.
Ds had 3 lots of grommets starting at 20 months, he's finally (probably) grown out of it at 12yo.

Only things that helped with him other than grommets were summer months and time. We didn't find the balloon helped (and he hated it) and the other suggestion on here of cutting out diary made no difference either.

Sorry should have added 'too soon' onto my sentence. I've had many parents saying to me that they won't do them and lots going private. They're definitely getting much more strict in our area

My son has just had grommets and now has normal hearing for the first time in two years
The surgeon said there's no way that level of glue ear would have sorted itself out without surgery

I had glue ear as an adult. It was miserable. (I had 50% hearing loss in my left ear which was the main culprit, but also tinnitus in my right ear.)
I had grommits inserted in both ears and over about four months, my hearing improved massively and they eventually fell out.
If no-one is pressing for grommits, I would suggest you do. They really do help. I tried Otovent, but for me, all it did was drive the gunk back up onto my middle ear.

My little girl is 5 and has had glue ear (diagnosed) since 3. Started noticing her hearing loss at 2. She has never had an ear infection and so we decided not to go down the grommet route. She wears hearing aids and this has dramatically improved her hearing. We have hearing tests every 16 weeks and is also seeing ENT. At the moment this is working well for her. However is at any point we / ENT / hearing team felt we should try something else, we'd be open to it.

Thanks guys this is all really helpful. I'd never even heard of the ballon I certainly give it a try for nothing! Especially with winter coming up!

My boy also never had ear infections so it was a surprise for us too! Like you say I hope it clears up on its own but if not I'll press for grommets I've been reading up and hearing good things!

@mineofuselessinformation hello, I know this thread is old but could you tell me your symptoms? I feel liquid swishing around my ears but when examined externally, the dr says it looks fine so the the fluid must be inside? I also hear cracking and popping. I’m at my wits end since October...