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Original poster

Solutions to rectifying ear deformity in 13 wk old

28 replies

Blyton · 30/12/2006 22:26

One of my baby's ears is still unfolded. Have just been reading about Ear Buddies / Splintage to rectify this. Has anyone tried this, heard of it (and can therefore discuss pros and cons, or whether it actually works) or any other means of rectifying this prob ?

OP posts:
Pennies · 30/12/2006 22:30

DD2's ear was unfolded. She's 1 now (a couple of weeks ago) and you can hardly tell. It sorted itself out. Sorry I can't actually answer your OP question, but just my own experience of this.

SherlockLGJ · 30/12/2006 22:32

I don't mean to be harsh, but is not exactly a deformity is it ??

Wait and see what happens and be led by the doctors.

A real problem would be if the ear did not work.

poinsettydog · 30/12/2006 22:55

That is really not helpful. If my little baby had a folded ear I would be worried and my first thought would not be to relate it to profound deafness and think oh well it doesn't really matter.

Maybe someone with folded ear knwoldge will answer you Blyton but you might want to start a new thread about 'folded ears' pr sopmething so no one thinks you are a thoughtless cow. Sigh.

SherlockLGJ · 30/12/2006 23:06

PD

It is frigging cosmetic.

My DH was profoundly deaf until he had a cochlear implant. Now that is a problem.

I did not suggest a corelation between the two.

DingdongMegaLegsonhigh · 30/12/2006 23:11

It's not a serious deformity no, but if it can be rectified simply wouldn't you want to try?

SherlockLGJ · 30/12/2006 23:13

Having had a slightly deaf, then deaf, then profoundly deaf DH,if I had a child with an unfolded ear and that was the only problem with it I would be on my knees thanking God.

Walk a mile in my shoes, then judge me.

frances5 · 30/12/2006 23:15

I think that shetlock is being unfair, has she actually met the baby to know what it looks like? Hearing is important, but looks do affect people in life.

SherlockLGJ · 30/12/2006 23:16

I am going now.

This is cosmetic.

Jimjams2 · 30/12/2006 23:18

blimey how did this go pear shaped? Blyton - did you ask your midwafe- usually folded body bits kind of unfold slowly on their own (ds2's legs took ages to unfold).

DS1 has a noticeable lump on his ear, btw- I hardly notice it now- just part of him (he's 7) although it's large enough to notice iykwim. With hair etc ears tend to be less obvious.

DingdongMegaLegsonhigh · 30/12/2006 23:19

Not judging at all and I can assure you I don't need to walk a mile in anyone else shoes to learn anything about deformity!

All I'm saying is that if this little ones only prob is a deformed ear, and treatment is simple why not rectify it with a splint?

To the op this is a real problem. I remember ds1 covered in eczema at the that age and all I wanted was for him to be perfect.

Jimjams2 · 30/12/2006 23:20

I think cosmetic problems are a concern anyway. The way ds1's adult teeth are coming in concerns us (we both needed braces- which wouldn't be possible for him) even though he has far greater problems (he's severely autistic).

Kristingle · 30/12/2006 23:23

we used the ear buddies for our baby who had a folded ear as well as bat ears and found it worked well. i wish we had known about it when he was newborn as the younger the baby when you start, the less time you need to use them for

SherlockLGJ · 30/12/2006 23:57

Maybe I was a bit harsh in the way I posted and for that I apologise.

In my defence when you have lived with a profoundly deaf person, you would not care if they were Dumbo once their ears worked.

DingdongMegaLegsonhigh · 31/12/2006 00:01

Oh SherlockLGJ thank goodness you came back here!- I was about to go to bed but I wanted to say, I PROMISE, PROMISE, PROMISE I was not judging you. I am the last person to judge and I felt bad that you thought I was.
This is obviously a sensitive issue for you and sorry if I offended you.

SherlockLGJ · 31/12/2006 00:05

Mega

I was not offended by you.

Now I am off to bed.

Take care.

LGJ

Crackle · 31/12/2006 00:09

My second son, who is partially deaf was born with ears like paper. They filled out over the next few weeks but weren't right at all. Ear Buddies were fitted by his consultant who felt that although only a cosmetic problem, the ears needed to be shaped correctly to give my son one less thing to be 'different' about.

I appreciated the concern for the seemingly frivilous when dealing with bigger, long term issues. The buddies were a Godsend and really, really work. My daughter had them too.

Original poster
Blyton · 31/12/2006 12:46

Ohmygoodness. I didn't mean to kick anything off and didn't actually realize that i had described his ear as a deformity which, of course, it isn't. It was late at night when i posted the message and i must've used the first word that came into my mind. I know in the grand scheme of things, a folded ear is a minor thing and i was only asking for advice on whether it was worth using Ear Buddies. Thanks all for the feedback and my apologies again for describing it incorrectly.

Crackle: do you think we should get the ear buddies fitted professionally or by ourselves as the website says it's designed to be fitted by parents also ?

OP posts:
SherlockLGJ · 31/12/2006 12:49

Blyton

I would like to apologise again for my directness.

It hit a nerve, but I have been on here long enough to have remembered my manners.

Sorry.

LGJ

Original poster
Blyton · 31/12/2006 12:50

Same question for you Kristingle. Did you fit the Ear Buddies yourself or get doctor to do it ?

OP posts:
Kristingle · 31/12/2006 22:28

we fitted them ourselves. its not difficult, just a bit tricky teh first time when you dont knwo what you are doing. We found the tapes needed replaced every 2-3 weeks, so you wouldn't want to be going back to the doctor that often. its just a little piece of moulded plastic that you put in your baby's ear then tape the ear to their head. It sounds horrible but it obviously doesnt bother them as they dont try to pull them.

For the first week he had them on I felt so upset every time I lookled at him and wondered if we were doing teh right thing. But it was only MY feelings - Ds couldnt have cared less. After the first week i hardly noticed them. Our Ds woulndt wear a hat ( still pulls it off) and I must confess I was was worried what people woudl say in shops ect.

the only commenst i got were positive ones . several people told me of children who had to have an operation when they were school age and how we were doing the right thing trying to fix it now. NO ONE ever implied we were vain or frivilous!

Simplyred · 31/12/2006 22:56

My daughters ears were the same - she is 15 months now and they are just fine! We did nothing and nature sorted it within a few weeks.

Original poster
Blyton · 01/01/2007 21:00

SherlockLGJ - Definitely no need to apologise so please don't worry about it.

Kristingle - Thanks for that. Do you have any tips re: cleaning the ear etc ... in between the time when it's on and when you next change the tape. How old was your baby when you fitted the Ear Buddies ?

OP posts:
Kristingle · 02/01/2007 01:06

before you fit the tapes you need to wash the baby's ears really well with baby shampoo ( or similar) and let them dry well. we found that the tapes became really dirty and unstuck after about 2-3 weeks so we had to change them. You know, a bit like an old elastoplast. By then it was pretty easy to remove the tapes and we used Zoff adhesive remover wipes to get the sticky stuff off the baby ( yuck).Our pharmacist ordered them in for us

Sounds horrid but all the baby objected too was having to sit still

you cant really clean the baby's ears when the tapes are on. most annoying not being able to bath baby and get that nice just out the bath smell. For us of course, baby didnt care...

baby was about 4 months as thats when we found out about ear buddies. wish i had known sooner as we coudl have fixed it in 2-3 weeks if we has started as a newborn

Original poster
Blyton · 06/01/2007 21:40

Kristingle - did the tape you use to pin the Ear Buddies down tear off any skin when you removed it ? Also is the Zoff adhesive remover wipes sensitive as my baby has really dry sensitive skin and i don't want to aggravate it.

OP posts:
misdee · 06/01/2007 21:44

what are ear buddies?

dd1 (age 6) has funny shaped ears, they dont stick out, but her top of the ear, is very square and folded. I dont notice it anymore. dd3 has an accesory tag on her tragus (think thats right) which we are waitying referral for for getting it removed.