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Original poster

Glue ear

34 replies

popsycal · 13/04/2004 17:07

Glue Ear

I am starting this thread for another Munsnetter who, for some odd reason, gets a message saying she isn't authorised to start a thread.

Here we go:

My daughter has been diagnosed with glue ear. Before she goes for surgery to have grommets, I would like to try some alternative/complementary medicine (e.g. cranial osteopathy, homeopathy, diet etc) Has anyone had any success with these? If so is there anyone you could particularly recommend (preferably in the Derby/Nottingham area). Thanks

OP posts:
Thomcat · 13/04/2004 17:27

My daughter has glue ear. My audiologist is one of those who doesn't believe in grommits. So far the glue ear doesn't seem to present any ptoblems as such. I have taken her to see a cranial osteopath a few times. Not sure if they actually do anything or not but go anyway. will see if her hearing has improved by the time her hearing is tested again.

Not sure about diet ideas for glue ear so i look forward to other mumsnetters views on this.

I am going to see a homeopath asap for this problem and for her constipation.

mummysurfer · 13/04/2004 17:33

i suspect my ds has glue ear altho' not 100% sure what it is
he suffers from periodic deafness due to a lot of ear wax, sometimes but not always this leads to ear infection. we have a gp's appointment for friday
does it sound like it?

Thomcat · 13/04/2004 17:47

Have a look at this

mummysurfer · 13/04/2004 17:53

thanks tc
it does sound like it, it doesn't affect his speech, but he does complain a lot that he can't hear.
we think that it is affecting his behaviour - he doesn't hear instructions or he uses it as an excuse to do what i have told him not to do!!
the gp we are seeing on friday is a homeopath too so we'll see what alternatives he suggests. i'll let you all know

Janh · 13/04/2004 17:55

Glitterfairy (new mumsnetter, met her yesterday!) used cranial osteopathy for her DS when he was about 18 months, she said it was fantastic.

Cranial Osteopathy and Children has a link to finding one in your area.

sinclair · 13/04/2004 20:07

DS had hearing aids from 23 months for glue ear, (see various old threads on this) and has just had grommets fitted at 4.6m and the difference is unbelievable, her speech is improving by the day. She has Down Syndrome so learning difficulties to complicate the deafness, but I would say to one and all - if advised, take the grommets, nothing will do as much to aid speech development. BTW Thomcat, have they ruled it out altogether for your DS or just till she is older? - we have been keen from the off but it is only this year that they felt confident that the ear would be sufficiently developed.

glitterfairy · 13/04/2004 20:17

Thanks janh. I would really recommend a good cranial osteopath but make sure they are used to dealing with kids used it on both my ds and my (dd at six weeks for colic)and the effects were incredible. they also tuaght me to do it myself so that when he had an ear infection I could help him and sometimes didnt even get to antibiotics. Before the osteopath he was very deaf and needing gromets, adenoids etc out and in pain an awful lot. He was also on antibiotics every day to keep ear infections away! It took six months of going once a week but was worth it. Some areas offer it free on the NHS but I had to pay.

robinw · 14/04/2004 07:26

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meysey · 14/04/2004 09:12

hi

cranial osteopathy worked a treat - a huge improvement after just one session, and further improvements after another 2 sessions. no more "what's that?" and "I can't hear you". the osteopath also recommended using chewing gum from a health food shop but we haven't tried that yet.

the audiologist didn't want to rush into grommets and said wait until summer when the cough and cold season is over, to review the situation.

juniper68 · 15/04/2004 22:05

Xylitol is good and I swear by homeopathy. there's a site called abchomeopathy that had a checklist and recommends remedies. though it's best to see a homeopath if u can.

Thomcat · 15/04/2004 23:03

Sinclair - my audiologist simply said he didn't believe in grommets. I was happy with this as would personally prefer that to be the last resort. However this is also because as L has DS her passages are a lot narrower than NT children so I'm not keen on grommets for her. My audiologist also has a great reputation and I trust that if he says he doesn't want to use grommets we'll find an alternative for the munchkin if possible first. That just suits us and our situation. Her hearing test, one done with electrodes that she had to be asleep for, she passed with 60% which is meant to be quite good??? Will keep up with the cranial and see if that has improved next time she is tested which should be soonish.

robinw · 16/04/2004 06:02

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glitterfairy · 16/04/2004 20:50

The only thing I would be wary of with people not using grommets is that whilst there is evidence it is not the best treatment many NHS authorities have stopped it for financial reasons and these need investigating. It can be a policy decision rather than the best decision for your child. I am sure that many consultants do not think they are the best option. As someone who has had a ds with grommets which were a miracle but also cranial opstoepath who in the end did better as grommets fall out I would just check that the consultant is saying they are not indicated in your childs case rather than just because they are not financially an option in your area. It is always a difficult decision and many doctors are quite right that it is not the best treatment but sometimes the effects on the child (my son stopped talking as he couldnt hear and with grommets suddenly started again)mean that grommets are the best option. It is really difficult but if cranial treatment works than this is non invasive.

stripey · 18/04/2004 12:01

My ds2 has glue ear he is now 19mtns old and has failed all hearing tests since his 8 month check but I am convinced his hearing is quite good. At his last test I was offered a long term low dose antibiotic to see if this would help.

He has been taking the antibiotic for about 4 weeks now 2ml before bed and in that time has not had a single cold or runny nose - before the antibiotic he had colds and a dripping nose almost constantly. I mean a constant cold since he was about 3 months old even in summer. I am not overly happy about giving him an antibiotic every night but it really has helped him a lot and it has been tested and I haven't noticed any side effects so far. He has been repeating a lot of words lately too but as I said I was never overly concerened that his hearing was affected. If he was offered grommits I would definitely accept them if I thought he needed them i.e if his speech didn't keep developing. I don't really understand why some people are so against grommits if they will help their child hear.

glitterfairy · 18/04/2004 12:23

My ds was on antibiotics every night too for about six months and it hasnt done him any harm. Both my girls ahd to take antibiotics for years as they both have kidney problems (now sorted thank god) but again people gave me grief and said it would be abd for them, and it really wasnt they are both perfectly healthy touch wood! My ds had grommets at 9months but after about six months they fell out. I am not against themas he only started talking again after he had them just that if there is an alternative try it it is worth a go.

robinw · 18/04/2004 15:34

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sinclair · 18/04/2004 15:49

Stripey I so agree, I would do anything to improve my DS's hearing, and therefore speech, which in turn will help with self help, with social development - the list is endless. the tiny risks associated with GA didn't worry me personally - but each to own etc

stripey · 18/04/2004 18:15

If there was a proven homepathic remedey to cure glue ear then I would give it to my chlid but I have read quite a few threads on glue ear and none have yet mentioned a product that does this.

I realise there is always a risk with anaesthetic and wouldn't agree to it without a lot of thought but if my sons hearing or behaviour was definitely affected by the glue ear I would go with the grommits. I just asked the question because it seems a lot of people will do anything to avoid conventional medicine (not refering to anyone in this thread in particular - just a general observation).

glitterfairy · 18/04/2004 19:47

Stripey the problem with homeopathic remedies is that they are often unproven but like with everything else it is what works for you and your child that really counts. Not sure anyone on this thread has pushed one thing or another and I have tried everything but would say I would do anything to avoid surgery if I could only because two of my kids have had surgery twice and it was awful watching them go to sleep and being powerless to help. That is my personal opinion and as I said everyone should do what is best for their child in their opinion and with the best evidence they can muster. It is always a nightmare and I think we are often guilt tripped.

irishmammy · 18/04/2004 20:03

plantago is a herbal remedy that works really well for glue ear. (also good for anything else ear/nose/throat)
Bioforce Echinachea Complex for children will help glue ear and any underlying infection

robinw · 19/04/2004 07:43

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glitterfairy · 19/04/2004 08:01

In some ways the proven, unproven thing is a red herring anyway because most research clinical or otherwise can be flawed. My ENT surgeon scoffed at cranial oseotpathy with my ds but in six months he was a changed child. I would always prefer to avoid surgery because it carries risk as robinw says and anything that is non invasive can be tried with far less risk. If they need surgery as my dd did (5 hours long reconstruction of bladder and kidneys) then so be it. The medical profession are in general fantatsic but can sometimes be irritatingly set in their ways with no evidence to support their view that only double blind trials are the way to go! My view is to get as much information as possible and keep an open mind.

Soapbox · 19/04/2004 09:37

I did take my DS to a homepath when he had very bad glue ear as a baby. She said that a lot of children with glue ear have allergies which is what pushes up the mucus production and their immature ear is unable to cope with the additional volume of mucus. She said that dairy is by far the most frequesnt offender.

On her advice I took my DS off all dairy products. His glue ear had completely cleared within 6 weeks and he has not had a recurrence since. The ear infections have also decreased in frequency from about 1 every 6 weeks to 1 every 6 months. I should stress that my DS's glue ear was very severe.

The other signs of allergy is constantly runny (green) nose and excess dribbling.

It may just be worth giving it a go!

stripey · 19/04/2004 11:08

Thanks for all of the information provided. I am wondering what will happen when my son stops taking the antibiotic.
IrishMammy is plantago available in health shops or would you need to see a homeopath to get it. Is it suitable for all age groups and are there any side effects that you know of?
Soapbox is your ds still off all dairy products or were you able to re-introduce them. My ds loves cheese yogurt and milk and I would have a hard time trying to take these off him especially as ds1 would still be having them.

Soapbox · 19/04/2004 11:16

Stripey - no we have not been able to reintroduce them he is now newly 4. Whenever we get a bit lax and let him have a bit of cheese or some dairy icecream his nose starts getting bad and his speech starts being affected. His speech has been very badly affected and he has had speech therapy for over a year now and whilst it is improving well there is still a long way to go!

One thing that stood out is that you say your DS loves cheese and yoghurt - mine did too ( and still does he would kill to get to a piece of cheese ) according to the homeopath this is classic allergic symptom. The body craves what it is allergic to - in that it becomes used to the toxins produced from the allergy and misses them if they go away. So the craving itself is a symptom that the body has a reaction to this type of food.

To be honest it really wasn;t a problem getting the dairy out of his diet - however it helped that my DD (older) was already off dairy as she was highly allergic to dairy and has never had dairy ever!