Anyone had child investigated for GLUE EAR and it all be ok???

[HellyBelly]

Ds (just turned 3) has been to Audiology this morning for a follow up hearing test due to concerns I've had. His hearing is fine (although selective at times like it can be with toddlers ) but I was concerned as when we went in Jan, they told us to come back in 3 months for another check as certain things they wanted to see if improved.

Been back today and they've now referred him to Ear, Nose and Throat Specialist and a hearing assessment. On the form I have for today it says this:

Mild/Moderate hearing loss in left ear
Evidence of Middle Ear Effusion in left ear
Evidence of Eustachian Tube dysfunction (rb)

When we went in Jan I asked what sort of things they are looking out for and he said it's nothing to worry about but they do certain checks to make sure he doesn't have Glue Ear. After today's visit, I had a look at my childrens medical book under Glue Ear (as being referred) and some of this sounds like what's on this form.

I'm hoping it's not Glue Ear as I don't like the sound of what they have to do to treat it. Should I be worried or could it be something totally different?

Just wondering if anyone else's child has been referred for something similar and if so, what was the outcome???

Thanks :)

Well my ds is find with hearing (although terrible behaviour when has a cold! )

Hopefully I don't need to worry as it sounds like it doesn't necessarily mean grommets.

meant fine

Work this one out then Helly! DD hearing to us was absolutly fine pre grommets- we didn't even realise that she had a moderate loss and would have required hearing aids if we didn't go down the grommet route, and post grommets her hearing to us remains the same. Told the audiologist this yesterday an she was amazed that nobody could tell - turns out that she was so good at lip reading that even the school nursery din't pick it up!.

Seems that yesterday was the day for us all to be seen by ENT etc!

Hope your little mindee makes a good recovery.

Our schools only broke up today for easter.

Well my ds can definitely hear as I have tested by whispering and he couldn't have lip read as wasn't looking. The Audiologist did say that he was fine when doing the tests where both ears were being used but when the tests were done on each ear separately, the left one had problems. So I guess he's hearing is fine but because he had one ear that works better???

Mindee has bronchiolitis and has been in and out of hospital, was under an oxygen tent the last i heard :( Poor thing, he does worry me!

My DD1 had hearing problems since 8 mths. She's never had ear infections just difficulty hearing and very loud talking. She was referred last April and I was told that she had quite bad glue ear. The options were grommits or 2 hearing aids. I didn't like the sound of both but grommits seemed a better idea for a 4 year old.. She had the op in July. Her hearing is perfect now. It's just a pain having to remember the ear plugs everytime I wash her hair. She goes swimming every week and wears earplugs and an ear band to keep them in place. Also wears a hat ontop as everyone has to. She has never been bothered about it and nobody else has mentionned it. It is a very common problem.
I've heard that dairy can cause problems. As veggies I'm not cutting out the milk though.
It is hereditery too I've heard. I had it and so did my Mum and Mum in law.
It is better to get it sorted out as it can effect development, especially at school.
Cranialosteopathy (can't spell it) is meant to help too.
Hope that helps.

3catstoo, can I ask you which earplugs and band you use? Is it the earbuddies and earbandit or something else?

We use the buddies and bandit but getting through the buddies very quickly and by the time that postage is added it soon mounts up. We have seen some made by WIN which work out cheaper cos of the packaging but don't know anybody who has used them. just wondered really if you had come across them?

where do you get the ear buddies and bands from? My ds (4) is going in for grommetts and an adenoidectomy very soon and I asn't sure about where you could buy these things.
Also interested in the cranial osteopathy. Will ahve to look intoit.
Cheers

Cals, we got ours from www.thebabycatologue.com but you can get similar from www.swimshop.co.uk (not sure what these are like as haven't used them before)

DS had/has glue ear and we were told that he needed grommets but we refused, well declined, them.

why? well, imo they are a fashion. when i was little every other child had either adenoids and/or tonsils removed. todays equivalent is grommets.
our GP was againsit them saying that they haven't been round long enough to know whether or not they do some damage taht will be become apparent in later life.
i wanted t explore other avenues befotre i was preapred to put him through a gen. an.

so we tried otovent...basically a small device which enables them to blow a balloon up using their nose...this strtches the eustacian tube and gets the gunk flowing. it was a huge success over the summer months. hearing loss was insignificant.
but it couldnt keep it up over the wintre---no infections tho' which was a huge plus but significant hearing loss returned.
so then we tried cranial osteopathy, whereby the co taught me how to do exercises on him. this sorted it out...so summer otovent only. winter - otovent and CO
he is 7 now, and this is the first winter that we have done neither...and he hasn't had-touch wood- an ear infection, his hearing is great despite having a few colds.
his only problem now is directional loss...so he can hear everything but can't tell where it is coming from. i shout for him, and he shouts "where are you?"

i hope this helps some of you and sorry if it repeats anyone buti havent read all of the thread

auntyquated, i agree with some of what you say. my sister had 90% hearing loss in one ear and 100% in the other and it was glue ear and an audiologist heard my parents reservations about grommits and prescribed a regimin of the following for the following six months:

inhalations over hot water with vicks in it under towel every night
blowing up a balloon (with mouth!) every night or at least attempting to
hat on at all times outside in cold weather

she has perfect hearing now. no grommits necessary.

worth doing some serious investigating and second opinion asking before operating ime. it was not the easy option (getting a 3 year old to do all of this is v hard, and i know i was the nagging older sister in terms of the hat outdoors) but was worth it.

HP, I'm not sure what the earplus are called. They come in a yellow box and cost £2.49 from our local sports shop. I throw the box away and store them in a small 'tupperware' type box. The band was from the same shop. It has Tony the Tiger from Kelloggs on.
To be honest neither are great on their own. When I had to be in the water with DD on her classes I had to constantly check and readjust the band. Now she goes in on her own and wears a swim hat they are fine. The hat is a godsend as it keeps everything covered and in place.

My son also has ear problems but it seems to be seasonal glue ear that clears in the summer. He gets ear infection alot but the ENT dept won't do anything as it is not constant glue ear. Good in one way as he escapes the grommits but his hearing really suffers for a few months.
HTH.

Helly - I second the view about dairy!

My DS had severe glue ear from around months old. When he was around 18mo I took him to see a homeopath as the long term anti-bs had had no impact at all.

She took full case history - took over an hour - and said try a dairy free diet for 4 weeks, and have him allergy tested which we did.

The transformation was amazing. The excess dribbling and green snotty noses disappeared as did the twice monthly horrible ear infections. 6 weeks afterwards he was tested by the ENT consultant and all traces of the glue ear had gone!

He is still allergic to dairy - if anything more severely than he appeared to be when he was tiny.

Before considering grommits it would definitely be worth trying a completely dairy free diet for a few weeks to see if it has an impact. Particularly if he has evidence of any other allergic issues - excess saliva production, snotty nose, recurring ear infections, redness (contact allergy) if he gets milk on the skin around his mouth.

Another vote for dairy here too - ds is 9 and though the audiologists have said twice that his hearing was fine, he said it was muffled. Dr suggested non-dairy before trying anything else - 5 or 6 weeks later his speech is clearer, his breathing quieter and his hearing clearer. It hasn't been hard - I got lots of good tips from the allergy section on here and found loads of alternatives. In fact, I've changed to Lactofree milk myself (very low lactose) and have already seen an improvement in y asthma.

Daughter had glue ear and hearing loss in one ear plus constant colds etc. ENT consultant wanted to operate but I resisted because didn’t want her having a general anaesthetic unless really necessary. The nurse agreed, but consultant didn’t. She eventually just grew out of it about 8 years old?