Glue ear and gromits

[Hilary]

Sorry, but I am unsure of the spelling of gromits.

Anyway, what does anyone know about glue ear? My youngest ds is 17 months and we have been told that he can either have gromits in now or wait a few months til he is a bit older and see if the warm summer helps his ears clear up on their own. The thought of general anaesthetic on my little boy terrifies me and I'd rather hang on to see if it clears up but what are the chances of that? Do people grow out of glue ear as they get older anyway? It doesn't seem to affect his hearing very much so is it necessary?

Basically I don't know much about it all, but knew someone here would. Help, please!

Thanks

Not sure I coan really be much help, but my son had grommits (gromits? I don't know) fitted when he was 6months old. He was having an operation to repair a cleft palate, and so was having the anaesthetic anyway.

He had had hearing tests which showed that his hearing, although fine at the time, would slowly deteriorate.

I don't know, but beleive me I do understand your reservations about the anaesthetic. I've seen my ds put under on two occasions and it is something that I would avoid if at all possible.

Oh dear, I'm not being much help am I? Can you speak to your doctor? Ask for more information -pro's/con's? I have always found the "ask jeeves" site to be pretty good for digging up info - www.ask.co.uk. Hope that is of some help

hi hilary well my son has had the gromets in twice he is seven now and has perfect hearing now you do grow out of it he has been clear about two years now well i was told this in lay mans terms that the ear canal is like a J when they are born and it is prone to having wax build ups in the dip and it cant clear it self this is what the grommet does it keeps the ear canal open so the wax can clear it self it is very common i would probley put it off if i were you because it was always much worce for my son in the winter you are more prone to ear problems when the weather is cold and as you say you should not put the little guy through it only if you have to but i would do it later because it is important that he has the best hearing it does hinder there development hope this helps

Hilary - just to empathise as I'm looking like being in a similar position. DS (15 months) has glue ear and has failed 3 baby clinic and 2 paediatric health centre tests. He is due another test in July (when the summer weather might have cleard him up - highly unlikely IMO) and then onto ENT. I don't know about your DS but mine is very susceptible to colds (has one more often than not, cot permanently raised, use menthol bubblebath etc. How is your DS's speech because this is one of the major issues at this age? I think if it comes down to it I will allow DS to have the gromits.

I can fully sympathesise with you re the GA. DS had to have one 2 days before his birthday and it was quite traumatic - an extremely long half hour. The worst part was being taken down to get him and hearing him cry in the next room where I wasn't allowed to go while I sat in the wheel chair waiting to take him back up to the ward. Please don't let this put you off because 10 minutes later he was guzzling milk and stuffing his face with grapes (had been starved) as though nothing had happened. Went home that afternoon though and all three had to go to bed. But DS was back at nursery next day. Sorry got off the subject but didn't want to be too off-putting.

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My brother in law is an ear nose and throat paediatric surgeon and helped with advice to a friend last year whose 18 month girl had a similar problem. He recommended cutting out cows milk and it did the trick for her baby. Worth exploring.

My dd had grommets inserted at 15 months. She wasn't having any cow's milk but had recurrent ear infections and both middle ears were full of fluid despite regular drops. She had started saying recognisable words before 1yr then stopped. I had observed her v. carefully and thought her hearing was barely affected but one of the things that influenced the surgeon to operate is that my own voice is v. quiet.

She had the op at 2pm. She was her normal self within an hour of waking up and in the next 4 days her vocabulary tripled. She was clearly noticing some sounds for the first time, eg laughed uproariously when she heard the noise her push-along (a first birthday present) made.

She still had a few more ear infections but they cleared more quickly, she was less ill with them and her ears were clear in between.

Thank you so much for your thoughts. I really value being able to air my concerns here. The ENT man said I could wait until further into the summer or do it now and gave me all of 10 seconds to decide without input from anyone else. I wondered all the way home if I had made the right decision but now I think I did.

The description of the J shaped canal was particularly helpful, I can understand the whole problem now.

He is learning words and sounds and I'm racking my brains but I think he is learning at a similar pace to my eldest son who has good hearing.

Your descriptions of GA don't sound as bad as I thought (although pretty horrid for the parents) The accounts of kids waking up and eating loads made me laugh as that is what he is like normally and so I'd better get Tesco Direct to be waiting outside when he wakes up...

My son does always seem to have a runny nose too, constantly this winter. Mum and I had wondered whether, as the ears and the nose are supposed to be so closely linked, whether a runny nose meant his ears were gunky too.

If anyone else has any experiences, I'd be glad to hear them, but thank you again to those of you who posted already.

Also, I had heard the link with cows milk and was asked by a doctor whether he drank a lot of milk to which I said yes but as he was about a year then, I thought it was a bit of a silly question as most people that age do.

I am trying to substitute some of his milk drinks with water (he won't drink squash or anything) to see if that helps.

Cranial Osteopathy is fantastic for ear nose and throat 'problems'. I know a number of children who have had problems with hearing, have been recommended grommets, have been plagued with tonsilitis, hence, having to take antibiotics and for whom Cranial Osteopathy has worked.

If you're in London, the Osteopathic Centre for Children is at 109 Harley Street, London W1, 020 7486 6160. The Centre is a registered charity and takes donations in lieu of a fee - you pay what you can afford. Or they could recommend a practitioner in your area.

My ds is 16 months old. In December he had his 1st ever ear infection. The drum burst and oozed puss. Since then he has had one ear infection afetr the other, usually but not always involving a ruptured drum. We have had his ears tested at the ent & they were ok. The paediatrition is concerned becasue he has fluid in his ears constantly now for 4 months and is concerned it will affect his speach development (although he seems to be picking up words thick & fast). He is also in a lot of pain quite often, even when his ears aren't infected.

I never had any problems with other ds, and no one in family has experience either. Doc says if he still has fluid in ears in 2 weeks, he'll refer us back to ent for op to remove adenoids. If this doesn't work a 2nd op to put in gromets.

I feel terrified of him having an op, but I also can't bear to think of him in pain. Is there anything I can do to help him? Are those head band to cover the ears at bath time (by Kooshies) a good idea? I feel pretty ignorant and worried.

Dear Monkey - a Cranial Osteopath could really help. I promise that it doesn't hurt and it isn't invasive.

My ds is 10.5 months old and has been having a mucky ear infection every four or five weeks for the past six months. We are off to the ENT for a hearing test in a couple of weeks time and I'm dreading to hear that he will need grommets.

His hearing SEEMS to be okay, but I'm a bit concerned about his speech. His only consonants are d's and l's. He has never said ma (sob!) or any other consonant sounds. He'll babble da da da all day long, but I'm sure he should have a better range of sounds by now. Am I right?

My ds is 10.5 months old and has been having a mucky ear infection every four or five weeks for the past six months. We are off to the ENT for a hearing test in a couple of weeks time and I'm dreading to hear that he will need grommets.

His hearing SEEMS to be okay, but I'm a bit concerned about his speech. His only consonants are d's and l's. He has never said ma (sob!) or any other consonant sounds. He'll babble da da da all day long, but I'm sure he should have a better range of sounds by now. Am I right?

Nattie I don't live in UK - any idea how I find one. Plus is it a case of one or several sessions? Is the effect immediate or does it take a while? Time is a factor - we have our doctor's appointment in 2 weeks, and he is going to refer us to the ent specialist if he still has fluid in ears. The appointment will take only a couple of days to come through so time is not on my side.

Monkey - can you call London - (+44) 20 7486 6160 which is the Osteopathic Centre for Children. Yes, it does take more than one visit and, yes, it would take a few weeks. Personally, I have gone to an osteopath for conditions like these before going to a conventional doctor as there are some conditions which don't have to be treated with such blunt instruments as invasive surgery.

Have just read the recent thread on gromets, and Hilary,we are in the same position as you My dd is 2 next week and after failing numerous hearing tests has now been referred to ENT. On her first appt the doctor was keen to avoid gromits, but on the 2nd, last week, another doctor said if she fails the next test then it should be gromets straight away and I am really not sure what to do next.Her hearing is not obviously bad but her speech is nowhere near that of her peers,she still makes a lot of "baby" noises. I really am not keen on a GA but I suppose it is worse for me than her!!

Hilary,I just wondered what you decided to do?
Has anyone got any experience of Xylitol?
Can they go swimming with gromits?
What happens if they fall out, which I understand they do? Is it another GA?
HELP!!!!

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Lizzyjo - my DS was similar - he could obviously hear things but his pronunciation (esp consonants) was poor although he had a fairly wide vocabulary. He had grommets a couple of weeks ago. The ga was not very nice (for me) but I was less anxious because he'd already had one for something else so I knew how he reacted. and by the time we left the hospital (at lunchtime) there was no sign that he'd had an op that morning...

Basically he can go swimming as normal - not been yet because of other commitments - as he's only 2 he doesn't dive in anyway. He will find it easier flying because there will be no pressure build up. And we noticed an immediate difference. He heard the intro to Bob T B song on the Cbeebies CD (ie the bit before the "bob the builder" line). Also heard the baby chuckle on the Teletubbies track. Heard traffic noises etc. And his pronunciation is improving already.

The grommets fall out after a few months but hopefully the glue ear will not recur. For the first 18 months DS suffered badly with colds etc but last winter was much better. Also as they get older and the passageways are longer this can help. Although there are cases of multiple grommets. HTH and any further questions feel free to ask.

I am so glad I have found this thread as my DD2 (19 months) has failed all her hearing tests and has glue ear has now been referred to our ENT clinic and her appointment is on 7th July. She is not "deaf" as in "totally deaf" but I don't think she can hear all the ranges of noise but she doesn't talk much (actually failed in that area at her developmeht check last Wednesday) as she should be saying 5 clear definitive words. All she says is mum mum mum, nan nan nan, da da da (and this is for dad, Dan and cat!!!). She always has a cold and sometimes pulls on her ear but doesn't seem to be in pain.

I had heard various stories about grommets and wondered whether they were the right thing for my daughter as her father had mentioned about folllowing the non-dairy diet route (but she loves her milk, yoghurts) but I am not sure how I would follow this through, how it actually works and whether this osteopathic route might be best. Also the xylitol.

I suppose with anything like this, it is just something that I need to decide for myself.

Bumblelion DS was pretty much like that with the range of noises and a lot of his pronunciation was like he'd got a cold so I assumed that he was hearing things "muffled" if that makes sense

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Thanks for all the advice and info. What has ocurred to me is that everyone has talked about their children having lots of ear infections, but my dd has only had the 1, when she was about 6 months old and that seemed to be fairly mild. She does, however, seem to have a constant cold.

We're in this situation because she has failed all her hearing tests and her speech is not very developed, and I'm not sure now if gromits are the answer. it doesn't help that the doctors aren't in agreement over treatment!I'm still not sure if they've even given her a proper diagnosis-we seem to have seen so many people!!

That me makes me sound a bit pathetic doesn't it?! You know how it is though-you sit there concentrating so hard on everything that it's only when you get out that you realise you haven't asked the obvious. Or is that just me??!!

The only thing I am sure of is that I am worried that my dd is not developing language in the way that others are. She has got a lot of "words" but they are her own version, mostly consisting of the middle sounds, with no beginning or end.She can definitely hear, but it may well be muffled-who knows? HV has mentioned a referal to Speech Therapist and as it is her 2 yr check soon I expect that will be raised then.

1 last thing-do you get xylitol on prescription from GP?

lizzyjo. Your dd sounds very much like my DS - he had one ear infection at 14 months but a constant cold (or so it seemed) from about 3 weeks. I believe that because the tubes are small and narrow in a young child mucus from a cold can get into the ear passage and then not drain away properly.

Your description of her pronunciation of words also sounded like DS. He missed out many consonants and then went through a stage where everything began with a "D" - so people would think he was saying "ta-ta" when he was actually saying "bye-bye" but with a "D". He also failed every hearing test since 7 months and the HV raised concerns over his speech at his two year check so he has to be reassessed at 30 months (ie in 3 months). His speech is improving so hopefully he will be OK. HTH

I read this thread last night and just had to comment before getting my two sons ready for school this morning.

My son at the grand old age of 9 years is just about to have a grommit fitted in each ear - his first ever. He has been going to audiologists since he was five years, nearly had grommits at 6 years, but it was felt in the end best to leave him and see if he grew out of this need. He used to have ear infections, but hasn't complained of ear aches for about 2 years. Definitely growing out of them. We also introduced xylitol toothpaste and gum about 6 months ago. Perhaps we should have done this earlier. However,since he wasn't complaining about earache, I was hoping he was improving.

His hearing is still not in the normal range. IMO it's got worse in the last year, judging by the way he ups the volume control on the TV. He also is noticeably unable to hear if you shout at him from a small distance - so I have worries about his safety if out with strangers, (thinking of school trips).

I am hoping the grommits work. My son has been pretty patient about his less than perfect hearing and I really think he'll notice the diference if he hears properly.

Anyway, what prompted me to comment here was this: I wanted to say that IME hearing problems do not always result in poor speech development.

My son was an early talker, and spoke very clearly too, even as a 2 year old with hearing probs. His teachers have always commented on his very wide vocabulary anmd ability to string sentences together. He can also sing well. He had no problems learning to read, either.

His schools have been aware of his hearing problems and he is sat at the front of the class. His poor hearing does not appear to have held him back academically. He has always picked up the gist of the lessons. If he chooses not to perform 100% in his written work isn't because he has not understood what to do.

His behaviour at school is not perfect, though much improved now, so it will be interesting to see if better hearing makes a difference.

I would say my son's hearing problems have been moderate - presumumably the audiologists would have recommended grommits long before if his hearing loss was more severe. None of his teachers have felt his hearing is a big problem in the classroom (either academically or behaviourwise) and I have had plenty of discussions on this with plenty of teachers over the years.

So just to sum up IME moderate hearing loss does not always cause probs with speech or development.