Experiences of ENT surgery for an 11-year-old with chronic mouth breathing

[Twobigbabies]

Hi, just wondering if any wise mums been through surgery with older children/teens. My son is 11 and has always had issues with mouth- breathing, glue ear, ear infections, poor hearing for weeks after every cold. He had grommets aged 4 but we haven't had any further surgery as by the time the appointment arrives he is usually ok, hearing loss at mild end of spectrum, and infection free.

The past 4 months (starting with a cold/double ear infection) he has not been able to breathe through his nose at all plus hearing not great. We've been using a steroid nasal spray for 2 months. Have an appointment with ENT soon. Really don't want him to have surgery but keep reading scare stories about distorted jaws and poor dentition as a result of chronic mouth-breathing. He isn't a loud snorer but breathes loudly through his mouth when asleep. No issues at school. Any experiences or thoughts welcome!

Does he have sleep aponea? Sounds like it. He probably needs his tonsils and adenoids out. Get a video of him sleeping at show it the the ENT consultant. The new coablation technique is really effective and the recovery much quicker than for a standard tonsillectomy.

Thanks so much for your reply. I'm not sure about sleep apnoea but he doesn't seem to snore. Good idea about getting a video of him sleeping. He is always awake early and bright as a button so I assumed he was sleeping well and apnoea not an issue. DH is very opposed to surgery unfortunately and ENT have always been very noncommital.

My 6 year old had surgery last after many years of questioning her enormous tonsils and loud snoring. Was always told she'd outgrow it but her sleep was terrible and it was effecting her at school. After finally seeing an ent on the NHS and being sent away for another 6 months I made the decision to go private. Within weeks she had surgery and was a changed child. Recovery wss extremely straightforward and she was only in very mild pain for a few days. The snoring stopped, however she does still breathe through her nose - I was told by the ent that this is now habit.
I have just taken my three year old to see the same ent because she's not hearing so well and she's had a runny nose for 6+ months. She'll be having her addenoids out and grommets inserted.

My dc has had adenoids out, it's a very quick op and recovery was easy. Just paracetamol for a few days and you wouldn't have noticed any differencd. I've heard tonsils are harder recovery but not awful.

We found dc slept much better after the op. But he does still get glue ear and stuffy nose. It's worth thinking about the underlying cause which could well be an allergy.

DS had all the same issues. He had tonsils and adenoids removed age 3 but it was turbinate reduction surgery aged 8 that finally helped with the mouth breathing. He also needed orthodontic work to help reshape his palate.