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Children's health

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Original poster

Grommets tomorrow...having second thoughts

24 replies

polkadotpixie · 06/01/2022 20:51

DS aged 3 is due to have grommets tomorrow due to recurrent ear infections but I'm having second thoughts/last minute panicking 😩

He was added to the waiting list over a year ago as he was getting loads of ear infections (8 in a year) however he's not had one since!

He had a hearing test a couple of months ago and the consultant said his hearing is good but still recommended we go ahead

His vocabulary is excellent but his pronunciation is quite poor, he can't say his Ls (pronounces it as a y so yellow is yeyyow) or his Rs (pronounces them as w so red is wed) and if he repeats something back that you've said it's often quite garbled, like he's not heard it correctly

DH is very much in favour of us going ahead as he had them as a child and they were really beneficial for him but I'm scared of putting him through a GA if he doesn't really need them now...help!

OP posts:

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rrhuth · 06/01/2022 20:53

I get the fear about GA but the consultant would not recommend you go ahead if it was not necessary, surely?

DramaAlpaca · 06/01/2022 20:54

The consultant recommended you go ahead - so go ahead. It's a short, simple procedure and your DS will only be under for the minimum amount of time. Two of my DC had grommets, one of them twice, and they were hugely beneficial both for hearing and speech. Oh, and recovery time is very quick.

Medievalist · 06/01/2022 20:59

My eldest had this done when he was 3 (now 27!).

He used to get ear infections and his pronunciation was off a bit. But I didn't think there was anything wrong with his hearing. When I tucked him up into bed the evening after his op he asked me what the noise in his room was. It was his clock ticking. He hadn't been able to hear it before. Honestly, I wouldn't hesitate to have it done.

Danikm151 · 06/01/2022 20:59

I had them as a baby, fixed my hearing loss. I’ve never had any ear infections

Drs wouldn’t advise to go ahead if they didn’t think it was right.

Pinkflipflop85 · 06/01/2022 21:05

They aren't putting them in for the fun of it. Don't cancel.

The op is straightforward and so is recovery.

DramaAlpaca · 07/01/2022 00:28

@Medievalist your son's experience echoes that of my eldest, who is a similar age to yours. I'll never forget his wonder at hearing sounds he previously hadn't been aware of.

Onceuponatimethen · 07/01/2022 00:31

My oldest had grommets done with poor speech sounds. Three weeks later there was a huge improvement. I would do it again in a heartbeat and in fact did with my dd2 who had grommets at 13 months old - scary for parents but it’s such a quick op and the impact can be life changing for making themselves understood and their confidence

Mundra · 07/01/2022 00:35

He won't have any pain afterwards, the hardest part will be for you, holding him while they put him under (they go limp really quickly).
Honestly, both my children needed them doing, and it made such a difference to their health. No infections in either since, and they'd been having ear infections every two or three months.

starfishmummy · 07/01/2022 00:39

My friends child was unintelligible before she had hers done, it made a huge difference.

With my son he only needed one so there wasn't much difference, but his hearing in thst ear improved.

The op was quick and in no time at all he was monopolising the ward play station and practically had to be dragged home!!

Original poster

polkadotpixie · 07/01/2022 20:18

Thanks everyone for the reassurance. We went ahead with the procedure and everything was fine

It was a bit borderline as to whether they were going to do it as his hearing had improved between his 2 tests and he's not had any more infections but apparently there's still a problem with the pressure in one of his ears so she said to still go ahead so we did

He's home and tucked up in bed now and was bouncing around a couple of hours after surgery!

OP posts:

Medievalist · 07/01/2022 20:21

Wonderful! What a relief for you

DramaAlpaca · 07/01/2022 21:08

Glad it all went well

rrhuth · 07/01/2022 22:28

Thanks for the nice update, really glad it all went well.

Onceuponatimethen · 07/01/2022 23:14

Fantastic op!

BAST1 · 13/01/2022 20:56

@polkadotpixie

Thanks everyone for the reassurance. We went ahead with the procedure and everything was fine

He's home and tucked up in bed now and was bouncing around a couple of hours after surgery!

Hiya, my son is due to have them 24th feb and adenoids out. I've already pushed back once as he had 8 ear infections from April - sep but now stopped. Can I ask how they knew about pressure? Are you talking about glue ear? X

Pinkflipflop85 · 13/01/2022 21:10

The pressure is checked with the little machine. Ds always has his checked the same time as his hearing tests.

Original poster

polkadotpixie · 18/01/2022 22:09

@BAST1 I'm not sure exactly how it works but it's just a little machine that blows air into the ear and it tells them the pressure (least scientific explanation ever!)

OP posts:

Onceuponatimethen · 19/01/2022 06:43

How are things now @polkadotpixie

Original poster

polkadotpixie · 19/01/2022 08:33

@MissHavershamReturns He's doing well thank you! No issues whatsoever except for slightly gunky ears but I assume that is the crap that was bunging them up in the first place getting out? His speech has actually improved a bit already, he's doing much better with his L's now which is amazing given it's been less than 2 weeks!

He has to go back for a follow up appointment to check his hearing and ear pressure in February but so far I'm really pleased with the results and glad we went ahead 😊

OP posts:

Onceuponatimethen · 19/01/2022 08:35

Ah I’m so pleased @polkadotpixiedelughted to hear about the speech - we found improvements in 2-3 weeks so I was hoping you would be seeing something!!

Onceuponatimethen · 19/01/2022 08:36

@polkadotpixie that was supposed to be delighted

Original poster

polkadotpixie · 02/04/2022 11:34

Just an update in case anyone Googles grommets and this thread comes up...3 months down the line and my son's speech has improved massively and he can now clearly say all L, R and Th words whereas they were Y, W and D pre-grommets. So glad we went ahead and it was 100% the right decision 😊

OP posts:

FromOurHatsToOurFeet · 02/04/2022 11:41

DD had them in and in the car on the way home had her hands over her ears as the car was too loud. It didn't seem to make a huge difference on the scales of her next hearing test, but the actual effect on her was huge.

Onceuponatimethen · 02/04/2022 14:48

@polkadotpixie I’m so pleased for you and for him. That sounds like really amazing progress - you must be very proud and I’m sure that reflects a lot of emphasis on speech by you guys at home. It’s just phenomenal what grommets can do, isn’t it!!

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