Has anybody's child had grommets done TWICE?

[mumhadenough]

Hi All,

My wee guy who was 6 at the end of July had grommets inserted and his adenoids removed when he was 2 1/2, due to constant recurring ear infections.

I took him to the doctors on Monday as I would like a hearing test done to confirm if he just ignores me or if he does have impaired hearing. (He is about to be assessed for adhd and would like hearing probs ruled out first).

Doc checks ears and says right ear perfectly clear, left ear blocked by some wax, so recommends almond oil to clear build up and arranges a date with HV for test.

Then, last night, all hell broke loose, he was screaming the place down and in agony with supposedly perfectly clear right ear. Cue docs appt this morning (same doc) who is astounded at the "raging infection" going on in his right ear. He said he wouldn't have believed it if he hadn't saw it for himself considering how clear it was on Monday.

Anyway, to get to the point, he's being referred back to the ENT surgeon who did his grommets as he is having ear infections every six weeks again. Thankfully we're covered by private healthcare through work so he has an appt for Wed 24th. Is it likely they will recommend grommets again? Poor wee guy, he still remembers the first time so I'm trying to reassure him, but I'd like to be prepared too.

I'm going to get her to do the hearing test while I'm there too!

Thanks

C x

My ds has had grommets twice so far, at 3 and at 5, he is now 7 and due to have another lot inserted in a couple of weeks time. This time round we have got private health insurance and spoke directly to a consultant who told us that ds's eardrums are now bending inwards (due to the vacuum inside his ear which is reason they get the gunk of glue ear pulled into the ear) and the eardrum is touching the small bones in his ear. If he doesn't have grommets to relieve the vacuum then the friction will wear away the bones and he will be left with constant hearing impairment...so there was no argument from us about the need/no need for the operation!

the op to have just grommets put in is just a day op...he will be put under for a very short time and will go home the same day - not as bad as when he originally had his adenoids out (two of my dds have had tonsils/adenoids removed and grommets put in..one had grommets twice)

Poor chap - but don't complain about the grommets. My DS was plagued with non-stop ear infection when little. His ears were so bad that he had bad hearing problems that meant he had really delayed speech and needed speech therapy for 12 months. I was forever taking him to my GP to be told 'ah yes, he has another ear infection, go home'. They wouldn't give him antibiotics because they claimed there were studies showing that they didn't shorten the length of the infection and wouldn't even discuss gromits as they were considered outdated and ineffective!!!! He had his ears checked a couple of years ago when he started the speech therapy and apparently they show bad scaring from the non-stop infections!!!! Aaahhh.

Ds1 has had 3 lots. They can fall out really quick. DS has a permanent hearing loss so any glue makes a big difference to him. For the latest set he was 7 and very concerned, we went to the unit before hand to be shown round which he found very useful and he was much calmer once he had done that. On the private thing DS has had one op on a private unit and to be honest the NHS was much better. The private unit had nicer surrounding but they just weren't geared up for kids, DS was much happier with the nhs ops he had.

Thank you everyone for sharing your experiences. I'm not averse to him having grommets again as I think he needs them to stop him being in pain so much.

I'm kind of pinning my hopes on that there is some loss of hearing that would explain his behaviour, but then again he's always been a bit mental and the grommets didn't make a difference the last time. He didn't have a hearing test the last time though now that I think about it.

Also, he was speaking very very early and had an amazing vocabulary at just 12 months old, so we've always kind of ruled out hearing loss due to that. But I'm amazed at threads I've just read on mn that confirm loads of hearing loss due to glue ear!

Brilliant news that he may only be a day patient! . That doesn't worry me too much either mind you as the last time he was done at the Nuffield in Glasgow and they were amazing! He had a wee playroom attached to his bedroom all for himself and I got cooked the most fab dinner! lol

Thanks again all, you are so helpful!

C x

Ds has had three lots of grommets, and finally t-tubes in his ears. He was always treated as a day case, and would be out playing in the garden in the afternoon of his op.

Hope it goes well!

ajandjjmum, what are t-tubes?

Just a small update in case anyone's interested?

Saw ENT consultant on 24th Sep who confimed that he did indeed need grommets doing again. Also he had some hearing tests which showed a "marked hearing loss" in both ears.

He had his op today, went down at 12.30pm, back for 1.15 crying his wee heart out, a dose of liquid dihydrocodeine and he dosed for about half an hour. He sat upright and asked for coco pops and a cheese toastie, which he promptly scoffed! .

He got out at 4.30pm and by 5.30pm, against my wishes, was out bouncing on his trampoline! lol. He's now complaining that everything is too loud.

Thanks again all for your advice.