Glue ear? Blocked ears? My son can’t hear!

[Volcanicstomach]

Ds (8) goes through periods of not being able to hear very well at all. usually following a cold. It can last for weeks and is very problematic but by the time he gets a hearing test it is back to normal.

We’re in one such period currently. He really is only picking up a couple of words per sentence unless he concentrates on looking and listening which unfortunately he isn’t great at at the best of times which obviously compounds the issue.

We prob shouldn’t /won’t get a gp appointment currently but any advice would be welcome.

Can you ask for an audiology referral? Sounds like you've seen them before but kids have usually grown out of glue ear by his age.

They haven’t referred before- just had the school nurse test. Will see if I can get one over the phone

Try a cranial osteopath. They stretch the tube between nose and ear to help get a flow of air. In children the tube curves and gets blocked.

ENT will now suggest you try a nose balloon to see if you can encourage the glue to drain by itself www.otovent.co.uk/buy-otovent/otovent/

ENT in my hospital are only interested if it’s effecting school or causing lots of ear infections.

Sounds so uncomfortable the poor little boy. It’s really frustrating when sounds are muffled.

Hope he’s ok. Can you go private for an initial consultation? Usually about £250-350 & seen within 7 days (that’s what we did as the NHS wait was 4 months)

The other thing that might help is saline spray :)

I'm a teacher of the Deaf and support children with glue ear in mainstream schools. It's entirely possible it's glue ear but you need an audiologist to use an otoscope to confirm. They should be able to see some fluid behind the eardrum even if he's in a period of good hearing. Then, depending on the audiogram, he could be offered one or two hearing aids to wear until it either clears up or he has grommets.

It's important he gets checked. I have seen how children are affected by little or no hearing at school.

op if you do go down the private route make sure the consultation includes a Tympanometry.

Thank you. It must be affecting him at school so I’ll push that angle. And he does get a good ear infection most years.

I think it makes him listen even less than usual because it’s too much effort and he just zones out.

NHS audiology appointment should include tympanometry as standard. Hopefully you can get him an appointment fairly soon. Who knows if non-urgent appointments like this will be delayed for how long.

Try Apple Cider Vinegar, 1 teaspoon well diluted with water or added to a drink once a day. You need the raw organic sort with “the mother”,

I’ve just cleared my own blockage with this, it took about 3 weeks but I had the problem for years.

Well no joy getting a gp appointment as predicted.
‘Home schooling’ is an utter nightmare as having to repeat myself louder and louder is frazzling my remaining nerves and it can’t be nice for him either.
I ordered one of the otovent balloons but he can’t inflate it and it makes his eyes water instead. Same happens when he tries to ‘pop’ his ears in the usual way.
Would things like steam help do you think?

Ooh progress!
He’s been using the balloon every day for the last few days and this morning he managed to ‘pop’ one ear.
He said everything was really loud, turned the tv down from volume 55 to 10 and said he could hear the birds!
I know it probably won’t last but at least there’s hope and I guess if he carries on using the balloon it should get better!