toddler with burst ear drum..advice

[bumbly]

any really

little one had fever since sat afternoon and yest suddenly complained by screaming of not wanting ear thermometer in ears - usually loves it

today noticed one ear full of wax so booked docs

at docs ear suddenly had fluid coming out

should have gone to docs earlier so feel horrible...bad mum...just didnt think ear infeciton but flu

will he have hearing loss ? doc was so vague said come back in 3 weeks

what should i do now? ear weeping but seems happier

would giving antiobiotcs earlier helped - though doc said they only tend to give antibiotics when discharge

A friends daughter had this recently. She was told that there would be no hearing loss or long term consequences.

Also that it was a very good thing that the eardrum had burst as there was a lot of gunge behind it that could otherwise have lead to more serious problems. Infections behind the eardrum are apparently really hard to pick up, friend had taken her DD to the doctors 3 or 4 times in the couple of weeks before the burst...

The ear leaked yucky stuff for at least a week I think.

If you are worried at all just go back to the doctor

My small person has had 4 ear infections in the past year. He normally has a raised temp and is up all night crying and the next day he usually has a greeny yellow discharge coming from his ear. The Doc said that sometimes in small Children the ear canal does not slope down like in adults so it does not drain fluid away from the ear and into the back of the throat like a fully developed ear. Because it doesn't drain bacteria collect in the fluid and you get a bacterial infection which builds up behind the ear and then the pressure causes a small hole to open in the ear drum and the fluid is released. The tears etc are due to the pressure build up and the temperature is the body trying to fight the infection. Once the goo starts coming out of the ear they usually feel much better because they no longer have the pain caused by the pressure build up. Antibiotics then clear it up in a few days. My Doc said that DS will be fine and will not have any long term hearing damage he has also seen an ENT specialist and had hearing tests to confirm this.

Don't feel bad I only know the signs now because he has had 4 this year. The antibiotics should clear it up. Go back for the 3 week check just to make sure it has all cleared up.

You will now know the signs if it happens again

I hope that helps

This has happened to ds 3 times now. I've never managed to spot the infection before the gunge and the doctor is completely unbothered by it.

At the follow-up appointment they'll check all has healed up properly by looking at his eardrum.

Ds has never even had antibiotics for his. It seems to be linked to bad colds for him & has cleared quickly with no complications after the gunk's out.

dd had a perforation as a toddler - very common and can come on very suddenly - she'd been grunpy at playgroup and we were gettign ready to go to the gp - so don't blame yourself. The perforation releases the pressure built up inside the ear so is almost a relief for them once it "pops". dd hasn't suffered any long term hearing problem from it specifically, although did have glue ear 2 years later which is unrelated (build up of fluid, often over the winetr due to colds). Until it is healed and his ears are clear again it isn't worth testing and may not be reliable at his age unless there is a very marked result - hence why you should return in a few weeks' time if you are concerned. We were at gp last week with dd thinking she had an ear infection (one side was red with fluid but not infected) and were told precautionary ab's aren't often prescribed now, just anti inflammatories like Nurofen and a spray (Otomise) which also happens to contain ab .

Hi, my 13 month old DD burst her ear drum on Sunday morning, and she's much better for it. Doctor gave us some AB to use in case she developed a fever, but she's been fine so we'll give them a miss. Her ear is still leaking gunk & we've been told not to swim and not to fly for a couple of weeks.

I'll see how she goes in a few weeks and decide whether to take her to GP to check up. Hope your little one will be fine

Just to echo - don't feel bad! My 16 mo ds has had 2 in past 6 months. The gp said that she'd also had one as a child, very common, and not indicative of parenting skill. It's shocking as it's such a yucky visual.

thanks so much for all your responses...still leaking today but a bit less

sleeping still a prob as muck i think going in thrat now

at leats a bit of relief to know it is a bit common and not as rare and perhaps they may be no lasting ear damage

just worried as i have tinnitus and thus worry all ear things related

shoyuld he avoid loud toys eg his durm which he loves?

thrat = throat

My DS has had this a few times. We seem to have a pattern of "cut a tooth, get a cold, get an ear infection." Teething seems to knacker his immune system.

The eardrum bursting is uaully a good thing as it relieves pressure.

Sometimes they give antibiotics but GP's are getting more and more resistant to dishing them out for things like this as it only seems to shorten the duration for a day. I see their point.

I do the alternate Calpol/Calprufen at night if it's disturbing him.

Hi Bumbly

PLEASE READ.
Firstly I hope your little one is feeling better.

Secondly, I am being a bit cheeky hijacking your post but I am desperately looking for help with my daughters eye problem. I noticed a post you wrote last year about your child having an intermittent droopy eyelid that looked swollen and had a double crease. My daughter has been experiencing exactly the same as you described with the eyelid batting slower when affected. I wondered if you would be so kind as to let me know what happened with your child. I have been told virus, teething, allergies.
I hope you can help me.
Thank you
Jo

Hiya, just wanted to add my dd has had ear infections on and off since she was 7 months. Vogels childrens echinacea can help because it reduces the chances of them getting a cold which can lead to an ear infection and it also contains plantain which is a natural decongestant so helps to keep the eustasian tubes / sinuses clear and so also helps reduce the chance of an ear infection. It has been a massive help to my dd.

I have only learnt all this after my dds repeated ear infections, it seems better to be able to prevent rather than having to constantly cure iykwim?

wow children's echinecea will def look it up cant thank you enough for tip

now got a massive cold and sleep pattern really badly affected as though seems better now does not sleep through..maybe got used to waking up or maybe ear still bothering him or snot

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re droopy eyelid wow that is interesting my lo is now being monitored (crapply i must add) by hospital who seem him once a year - eyesight ok lid droopy intermittently..wont say what it is

DROOPY EYELID IS still there but better so i guess everyone is waiting to see what age does

i know how you feel as i still feel pretty helpless about this..shall we start a new thread on this? -

who told you about teething and has a doc seen it?

Hi Bumbly
Thank you so much for answering, I have checked about 10 times hoping you would see my message.

My daughter is 10 months now but she has had this problem on and off for 3 months now.

At 7 and a half months overnight her eyelid looked droopy, exactly as you describe with the extra crease. I took her to the doc who said it was either teething or part of a vius which she had had. It improved after a week or so but never completely went away and then got really bad again a week later. Took her back to docs who said it was fine but that he would refer us if "we" wanted. In the end we paid privately as I was worried sick at what I had read could be causing it. The private specialist thankfully said there was nothing sinister and that it was not drooping eyelid (ptosis).
He mentioned it could be a variant of an epicantic fold that would disappear as the bridge of her nose grows but 4 days after seeing him her eyelid was completely better so that meant his diagnosis was wrong. It is definitly puffy like it is filled with something so cant fold over properly hence the extra crease.

Within 3 weeks it was back again, 2 weeks later gone and now came back a couple of days ago.

A friend, HV, doc and specialist mentioned puffy eyes can be allergy related so we tried excluding wheat from her diet. Each time within 2 weeks the puffiness has gone and when we reintroduce wheat it comes back....not sure if this is coincidence as unfortunately it has also coincided with teething and colds ! When eating wheat though she gets a rash (coincidence ?) and seems unsettled. She also has not been gaining weight since all this started but when I take her off wheat she gains again. I thought I had cracked it until it returned a couple of days ago but she has not eaten wheat/gluten for nearly a month. There could potentially be more allergies though.

We now have an appointment on Monday at hospital. I feel at a loss and desperate for answers.

Sorry this has gone on so long, just cant believe that your little ones seems exactly the same and you give me hope when you said your little one seems a bit better. Have they mentioned allergies to you, have you been told it may be droopy eyelid even though it comes and goes ?

Thank you again
Jo x

You are welcome

jt76, I don't know much about gluten/wheat allergy other than a friends dc was very intolerant of the smallest amount, is it possible that she had got hold of some wheat without you realising? Playing with home made playdoh or anything like that? Could the ingredients in something she ate have been changed? I remember this happening to my friend. Her son did test positive for a wheat allergy, but not gluten strangley enough....

You're welcome

jt76, stupid question probably but your dd wasn't playing with home made playdoh or anything when she reacted during the wheat free month? A friends dc reacted to biscuit crumbs on the floor and playdoh. I did have a long post explaining but mumsnet ate it.

Hi
Thats an interesting thought, I have a 6 year old as well who is the messiest eater so it is possible that she may have got hold of a small pice of toast or something that he has dropped. Maybe I could be onto something with the wheat or gluten allergy then. Until the puffy eye came back I was convinced I was right.....I guess I still could based on what you say about your friends child.....thank you so much...I only joined mumsnet yesterday and you have all been so kind and helpful.
I will definitly keep her off the wheat for now and see what the hospital appointment brings.

Thank you so much again, I really do appreciate your help.

Jo x

ear still leaking a bit and now all crusty but since cant wet ear how shall i move the crusts without water getting in? any suggestions?still worried re loud noises affecting his hearing he is drawn to his drum even more now as is he is a cheeky so and so knowing it is out of bounds!

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eyelid:

right - no allergies whatsoever and your child seems exactly like mine and the epicantic fold theory was never passed to me

teething was mentioned to me here on mumsnet but consultant looked at me as if was alien when mentioned it

can you post a picture?

i was told probably not ptosis but when it is bad it really does look like it

yes nose growing may affect things as consultant told me

i never managed to find out more but am def thinking of going private once he is a bit older..somedays it is so bad i cant stop thinking about it every day since i first put post up!

my child looks like sometimes ahs too much eyelid to fold..if that makes sense!

Hi Bumbly,
It totally makes sense, I have studied my daughters eyelids for hours over the past few months. The position of her original crease changes. I think this is because of the puffiness, it makes the original one lower but a second forms because the skin above is so puffy that it can't seem to hang over like the other eyelid does. It opens slower as well almost seems to flicker at times.

When it first happened, it totally took over my life, thats why we went private. She also had a few photos in which the pupil in her bad eye was white instead of getting red eye so they checked for tumours in the eye. As I say, thankfully everything was normal. They said it was just due to the light reflecting differently. Have you ever had this ? I couldnt eat, sleep or function at all but since it has come and gone a few times I just keep thinking it is either allergies or teething or colds/infections and my doc has assured me she will get to the bottom of it ! The private specialist confirmed her eyesight is normal.

One thing that gives me hope is that there were 2 days last time it happened where both eyes went exactly the same, both had the extra crease and she had a bad cold/ear infection. The doc gave her antibiotics. It had only ever been in her left eye before but for her right eye to go the same it must mean there is nothing wrong with the left eye. The doctor described them as puffy and said it could be that its just to do with colds/virus but that puffy eyes are very common with food allegies/intolerances. Has your childs only ever been in one eyelid ?

Also she has a new tooth coming through at the moment, her cheeks are bright red, she is biting like crazy and the eye is bad today.

One doctor said maybe its just the way she is...... so I said why does it go back to normal and keep changing then.... to which he looked totally blank. When her eyes are "normal" she has really beautiful symmetrical eyes.

Yet again, I have gone on...sorry. Is it as bad/noticable as when your little one was younger or does it happen less often or is it just the same or worse? Have you noticed the original crease position changing ? Like sometimes the crease is higher so more lid shows and other times its lower so no lid shows at all. Does any of this make sense?

I will try to post some pics later on tonight or tomorrow, could you do some as well so we can compare ?

Please keep in touch, we may well be able to help each other.
Thank you again.
Jo
PS I was told that with ptosis the eyelid would be smooth, not have a second crease.

About burst ear drums again.....
My DS (7yrs) has one at the moment. I think it burst last night - there was dilute blood in his ear, but nothing more since. He is still in a lot of pain and now has anti biotics. This seems a bit different from other posts. Anyone elses ears been like this?

I've seen it similar to that with my dd, give the abs and if not improving by day 3 go back, If your ds is able to take nurofen it may help more than calpol because its an anti-inflammatory and will reduce the swelling in his ear, hope this helps and that he's feeling better soon.

anything re what to do with crusts in ear with broken drum? do i use a wet but only damp cotton bud or too dangerous..or do crusts fsall into ear..worried

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re eyelid...started a thread!