Constant ear or throat infections?

[Helpneeded24]

Hi guys,
My DS is nearly 5 and for around 2 years he's suffering from frequent ear infections and most recently throat infections also. From morning till night he always is pulling at his ears or his fingers are In them saying there sore.

He's been on antibiotics ear drops and anything else that should be done.

We went to see ENT in October who done a hearing test on him and basically said the hearing test is fine and there was a small bit of negative pressure in his left ear but not enough to need grommets

I'm at a loss cause I don't know what is going on with his ears but there has to be something underlining happening.

Anyone been in similar?

Thanks x

Sounds like glue ear - ENT often just wait and see if they grow out of it as they often do. In young kids the Eustachian tube is quite horizontal and it becomes more vertical as the child grows, so unless it is interfering with speech they don’t tend to put grommets in.

Is his ear discharging or is it just sore? Often glue is is viral and antibiotics only indicated if the eardrum ruptures. I would keep up with paracetamol and ibuprofen when his ear is sore. Will they see him again in 3 months?

I can empathise DS1 was like this, frequent ear infections, he saw ENT didn’t need surgery said he would grow out of it, he did when he turned 7, never had an ear infection since.

Hi,
Thanks for your reply. ,No no discharge just sore he says..

Yes he's being seen the 2nd april again for a review, i have been giving him pain relief as needed but just hate seeing him complaining most days.

Hey,
That's good to know he finally grew out of it, I'm hoping my son does also as its getting beyond a joke really he's complaining everyday which makes him in bad form and I hate seeing him like that. He's back up for review on the 2nd april so I'll see how it goes then.
Thank you

I don’t have any advice on the ear infections but just wanted to say I have some ear drops with lidocaine in that the doctor prescribed for my one year old, they are brilliant. I would definitely ask your gp for these so you don’t need to administer ibuprofen and paracetamol as often.

As an adult who gets ear infections, I would find out if he can use either the olive oil spray (softens any wax and some evidence it helps prevent infection, also it's soothing) or the mild vinegar spray (antiseptic). I have had both bacterial and fungal ear infections and they are MISERABLE. My ear swells shut and I go temporarily deaf. I did lots of reading about what works that is available over the counter. But I think you have to be careful if you think the ear drum is damaged. Worth asking about prevention if you think the infections are external rather than otitis media or even further in.