Grommets - Should our DS get them?

[MelissaClaire]

Our son is 2 and a half. From about 18 months we noticed he had a speech delay and were referred to an ENT specialist by another doctor. The specialist confirmed glue ear 4months ago - initially in one ear, but at the appointment today it was in both. He has had two hearing tests, both indicate some hearing loss, although not significant.

DS has seen speech therapists who acknowledge his speech delay but don't seem to regard it as significant. In the last three months his speech has improved significantly and whilst his pronunciation is pretty patchy, he is now putting 4 word sentences together. He does get frustrated when he can't express himself, but I presume that is pretty normal anyway.

He has never had ear infections. The specialist seems to be keen on grommets and also having his adenoids out at the same time. I am just not sure - it all seems pretty drastic.

Would be grateful for others opinion - I have read other posts relating to grommets, but it seems other childrens problems are much more severe.

BTW, the specialist is thought of very highly, so I am feeling that I should listen to him as he is the expert.

Oh dear, it is difficult when you're not sure, and I do think that glue ear is one of the conditions which seems to vary considerably, not just from child to child, but also over time.

Ds2 had glue ear at a similar age, mainly down to colds we think. We waited it out (though admittedly this was on the advice of our private specialist) and he has since been fine.

I think that if you are not comfortable then it is worth getting a second opinion. Not that your first specialist is necessarily wrong, but just to see what someone else would say.

i had a little one whose hearing was patchy and she had her tonsils and adenoids out and grommets in - the difference in her speech occurred almost immediately - she responded to so many more sounds, her articulation became clearer. I was reluctant to have them in BUT when she had them and I could clearly see the improvement they made - I am glad I agreed. Dd1 has had a second set.

Dd1 had never had an ear infection. The reason we took tonsils out - they were huge - they also found that the adenoids were as well which stopped her head from draining if she had a little stuffiness iyswim.

DS had his tonsils & adenoids out last August - aged 4. Started school in September 2008 and the teacher instantly picked up on the fact that he can't pronounce certain sounds - she suggested a hearing test which we had in December on a Monday and the following Friday he had grommets put in.

He's now seeing a SALT weekly to learn how to pronounce certain sounds and his teacher has already noted an improvement in his listening/understanding/speech.

I'm a definite supporter of grommets !

i was actually quite anti them so the difference when she had them blew me away and made me a believer.

from your post it is difficult to tell what the grommets would be for..as you say neither his hearing loss nor his lang delay are significant,and he doesnt get ear infections...?

that said, it is hard to accurately measure a 2 1/2 yr olds hearing...(especially with regard to the speech frequencies)..and if he has been referred for speech/lang therapy there was prob a need?

My ds had fluctuating conductive hearing loss and had grommets inserted/adendoids out.

we noticed that he slept better and had a less blocked up sounding voice.
however his grommets got blocked and then he had a nasty infection when we used the drops to clear the grommet!

having glue ear def makes language learning an uphill struggle...that could persist untill he is five.

i can also recommend steroid nasal sprays - sorted out ds2's glue ear - amazing difference really. worth asking about

Ages ago I looked after a 2 year old who was having real trouble hearing and communicating - 24 hours after having grommets put in the difference was unbelievable - he was happy, chatty and calm. My nephew who is 10 had trouble at school for ages - naughty, fidgety, not listening, generally always the one at the core of the naughty pack - grommets put in in September and he is transformed, and so much happier at school. I have another friend whose son also really benefited. I'm not saying the outcome is always good, but certainly I haven't heard anything bad about them. I don't think it is as drastic, my nephew was groggy from the GA but back at school the next day with no probs. Definitely consider them - ask lots of questions, make sure your happy, but don't dismiss them out of hand.

Ds has a perforated ear drum one side (due to low-level infection that the Dr didn't seem to think was a problem until I insisted on a referral) and glue ear some of the time in the other. He is seeing the specialist that treated my dh when he was younger - dh had 4 sets of grommets over time. We've sorted the ear infections and ds hasn't had one for about 8mo (record!) - when he does we can get it cleared up very quickly with drops. In terms of the glue ear side, specialist has recommended not going for grommets at present, but keeping a close watch on hearing etc - at present ds is coping OK - although some consonants take a bit of work. Specialist would really like ds to grow out of the need for grommets without having to have them as long as this doesn't badly affect him. It would appear, however that adenoids are not causing the problem - its simply the eustation tube (sp?) that's just not wide enough and this should improve with time hopefully. Just thought you'd like someone sitting hopefully on the otherside of the fence!!!

DS recently had grommets in adenoids out for a significant conductive loss in both ears. The difference has been amazing 3 weeks on he is hearing things he has never heard, is interacting more and it seaking in more than single word sentances.

I was not sure how effective it would be as although I knew his speech was a little delayed( he is 2 .10)I was not overly concerned, we were referred to ENT for nasal probs not deafness.

Consultant said his was one of the few cases that had almost no chance of resolving, as the Glue had begun to solidify and he has massive adenoids.apparantly glue ear often fluctuates and can resolve completely.

My Niece however had an awful time with her grommets, loads of infections etc.

Hope you can make the right decision for you and your DS

Thank you all so much for your opinions - they really help. Since my original post, DS had a second hearing test at the request of the specialist (as the one earlier in the week he was a little more distracted). DS was alot more focused yesterday and the results indicated hearing lost on one side, boarderline on the other.

This afternoon I got a message from the specialist saying based on the results he wants to retest DS hearing in 6 weeks and not rush into the grommets until after that test. It has all put my mind at rest as I now feel if in 6 weeks the specialist still wants to put the grommets in that we will have the results from hearing tests over a number of months.

Beansontoast - you say your ds sleep improved after having grommets - what sleep problems did he have. DS has never been a good sleeper and wakes many times a night, although does go back to sleep quite easily. Could this be related to ears??

Thanks again everyone.

I was thinking about this again - and yours and Norks' post about sum it up - there may be cases in which grommets are really necessary - but there may be cases where (hopefully like my son) glue ear clears up all by itself.

One thing that I found helpful for ds, and this might sound peculiar - is cutting out cows milk products. We actually cut out goats milk too, but found we were able to reintroduce that again with no problem. We found that by cutting out cows milk products (the whole range, which is really annoying, but was worth while for ds) we significantly cut down on catarrh for him - his ear infections immediately reduced in number.

It might not help your ds - but then again, it might be worth trying to see if it makes any difference.

Out of interest, we reintroduced cows milk last summer when ds was 3.4 and he seemed to be OK now - but it really did make a difference when he was younger.

Hi MelissaClaire, maybe try some cranial chiro? Especially if there's been a history of not so great sleep. Can have a settling effect and positive impact on ear probs inc glue ear.

Useful article that might be of interest on this website: www.barnes-chiropractic.co.uk (in the babies and children section see 'articles' 'childhood health - otitis media). My belief is always that something must be causing these things so if you can get to the root prob then hopefully lots of the issues can be sorted. That's the aim of this kind of treatment so might be worth a look x