Earwax causing hearing problems?

[nobodysfool]

My ds is 3 and has recently had a chest infection where he has been traeted with antibiotics.
Yet again when my GP has looked in his ears she has said there is so much wax in his ears that she can't see the ear drum.
She said this the last time she checked him over as well.
I have noticed that he doesn't always hear what people are saying, i thought it was selective hearing but am wondering if this could be affecting his hearing ,as she said it may.
I have been told to leave it a week or so untill his infection has cleared up then take him back to have another look and to refer him if needed and even mentioned grommets (gulp).
We have tried olive oil drops a while ago but he really hated the sensation and they didn't seem to work.Are there any other ear drops that are more effective that is safe to use on a toddler?
What do you suggest?

think they have to be a certain age to use those sodium bicarb drops (but not sure...). We also had to try the olive oil drops for a while.

thanks foxy-its not affecting his hearing to much but he says its sometimes muffled.How old was your dc when they had microsuction and did they have to a a GA?

oh no, no GA for the little hoover thing. They just lie down on a bed and hoover it out of the ear. I think it might have been a tad uncomfortable but she didn't complain too much.

I cannot for the life of me remember how old she was (is probably on here somewhere lol). Think we got her seen in yr1 so she would have been 6 I reckon? Took us a long time to get her seen unfortunately.

glad about the GA.I had read on a site that they sometimes have to do a GA.
My Ds is only three so i'm not sure how compliant he would be.Not as helpful as a 6 year old i bet.
I think it would really scare him and we would probably have to pin him to the bed.Oh gawd the thought of it is filling me with dread.
Did they ever need it repeating or is it usually just once off.

dd is 8 now which is why I can't remember very well lol

yes, I imagine a 3 yr old would be less compliant but the ENT for dd did it v v quickly (and seemed to pull out some rock hard stuff ).

What I can remember the ENT said to us (things may have changed over the years!)....

1. earwax can often disguise a hearing/glue ear problem so IF there is a lot of earwax (constantly) and you think there's a hearing issue, then worth getting referred.

1. some children seem predisposed to ear wax

1. children who have glue ear often outgrow it when they get to 7/8 when their skull grows/changes (something to do with the passages in the ear)

1. summer is normally better for these children so often they wait before they do anything till they've seen what children are like over a matter of summer months

They thought dd's hearing was so severe that they would have to operate. But we waited and as he predicted, it got a lot better when she was 7/8 (though she still gets v waxy ears etc. but her hearing is far better).

Think, in this country, I'd be surprised if they did the hoover under GA. They tend to only save GA's for operations iyswim!

All very helpful and useful advice.Thank you.

it's a very hard call isn't it...I guess all you can do is keep an eye on it...hope he is better soon too!

Thanks foxy.Glad it all worked out ok for your LO.

Lots of children outgrow glue ear at about that age because the eustation tubes become more vertical (from being horizontal) so that fluid drains more easily from them and so, is less likely to build up.

Adults rarely have glue ear (although my dh had grommets as an adult!) because their eustation tubes are drain more easily because of the angle at which they lay.

DS has had hoover regularly since 4/5. Done without GA but has had a clean out under GA as well. DS's regular consultant always uses suction, the one we sometimes get as stand in does it manually and it is obviously excruitiating DS cries but suction is fun you can watch what is happening inside the ear on a telly

Thanks for info.
Does suction really not hurt it sounds so eerrgghh.

We use sodium bicarb ear drops for DD2 who is 4. We've also used olive oil but you have to use both for at least a week to really get the benefit.

I love doing ear syringing, it's really satisfying seeing all that gunk come out leaving a lovely pink ear canal

Do you find the bicarb drops better than the oil?

I wouldn't say any better, but less messy!

I knew syringing would be satisfying