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Original poster

Grommet op - after care .

21 replies

CaptainUnderpants · 25/04/2007 11:38

My DS age 4 is going into hospital for a grommet insertion, they said that he will be off school the next day but then OK .

So a a couple of questions .

How long was your child off school ?

How long was it before they could go back swimming and did you get ear covers/plugs for them for swimming ?

What kind of aftercare is there - how often do they go back to see if the grommets are OK ?

Many thanks

OP posts:

frances5 · 25/04/2007 11:53

How long was your child off school ?

My son had his adenoids removed as well. He recovered extremely quickly. Two hours after the op the poor nurse was having to catch him to measure his blood pressure. My son had a week of nursery although we were told to keep him off two weeks. He was DESPERATE to get back to nursery.

How long was it before they could go back swimming and did you get ear covers/plugs for them for swimming ?

We were told to wait for the 6 week check before swimming. We found the best ear plugs were putty ear plugs and a swimming cap to keep it in place.

We used putty buddies. We tried the ear bandit as well, but found that my son was too good at taking it off in the water.

www.swimstop.co.uk/cat.php?id=6

What kind of aftercare is there - how often do they go back to see if the grommets are OK ?

We had a lot of aftercare because my son had a lot of problems with his grommets. We saw the ent surgeon every four weeks because my son had a constant discharge of pus. In the end the pus pushed the grommets out.

However this complication is rare. Most children who have grommets have no complications. I think that most children are only seen by the ent surgeon every six months.

Original poster

CaptainUnderpants · 25/04/2007 15:30

Thanks Frances .

A quick bump for anyone else ??

OP posts:

geogteach · 25/04/2007 15:34

DS1 has had 2 lots, playing in the parl the same day and back to school the next, he was over it very quick!
For swimming we use swim moulds which we get from audiology (he is also deaf).
We saw ENT after 6 months but he sees them every 6 months anyway for other issues.

beautifulgirls · 25/04/2007 18:26

Thanks for this - we are seeing an ENT next week with DD#1 with a view to possible grommets and I would have been posting this myself if we do get the go ahead to do the op.

Quick additional question - how quickly did you notice an improvement in your childs hearing after the op? Our DD has speech issues and is under a SALT already - this will be another step forwards for us to get it done and get her hearing sorted.

Original poster

CaptainUnderpants · 25/04/2007 19:13

Hi beautiful

My DS has had SALT and is taken out with a in a small group from class for extra speech and sound work.

the glue ear was diagonised a year ago but the previous op was deferred as it cleared and subsequent hearing tests were clear.

Unfortunately it has retunred so we are going ahead with the op in a few weeks.

OP posts:

frances5 · 25/04/2007 20:32

We noticed an improvement with hearing within hours of the op. On the way home from the hospital my son complained that everything was "loudy"

Its just a pity that he was in the tiny percentage of children who had problems with the grommets. He had a constant flow of pus and smelt like a dustbin. However this is extremely rare.

My son now has hearing aids and they are no where near as effective. I do think its real pity that children on the waiting list for grommets don't get temporary hearing aids

DrNortherner · 25/04/2007 20:34

My ds had grommets at 2.5, he was charging round teh ward demanding toast half an hour later!

He too had runny ears after for a while. We were seen 6 weeks later, then 6 months later.

I used ear bandits for swimming.

DrNortherner · 25/04/2007 20:35

ear bandits

Original poster

CaptainUnderpants · 25/04/2007 21:00

So is it 6 weeks them before they can go back swimming , or can you go swimming ealrier with ear plugs etc ?

My DS loves the water, will miss it so much !

OP posts:

SpringBunny · 25/04/2007 21:37

I think my ent said no swimming for two weeks, but only if everything was OK. I ubderstand about loving swimming (my ds does too) but the ent asked which was more important, that he can hear or that he swims - kind of puts it into perspective!

Both mine have ear plugs (band its) for swimming and hair washing as otherwise they get an infection, but I know some children with grommets who swim without.

We had the op on a Thur, we kept them 'quiet' for the next day and they were fine by the Monday. With adenoids you need to keep them off school longer (2 weeks) because of the risk of infection, but no such issue with grommets only.

Aftercare - we had a hearing test after a few weeks, but optherwise nothing except with ds frst set which bled a week later so we had them checked out. The GP is happy to look inside their ears if we are worried to make sure the grommets are still there.

They sometimes can get a bit clogged with wax, so keep track of his hearing - if it reduces then you can get some wax dissolver from the GP.

Hearing improvement - pretty much straight away!

hennipenni · 25/04/2007 22:42

Springbunny, we were told tht DD has to be kept off school for 1 week after her grommets/adenoid op. I hope they don't change their mind-she'd(and I'd)go crazy!

2shoes · 25/04/2007 22:47

sorry if i repeat other posts.
ds has had gromets about 6 times.
he was off for about a day(but as all ops were on a thursday he had the weekend as well)
the most important thing is to keep the ear dry(as if it gets wet it can lead to infections)
he wasn't allowed to swim for months. and had check ups at 3 months then every 6 months.
i think it is a good idea to get them to always use ear plugs. (boots ones are best)

beautifulgirls · 26/04/2007 07:50

Thanks for all the information everyone. My DD too loves her swimming class so we will look into the ear plugs and bandit head strap if we do have the surgery for her.

CaptainU - Wishing you the best of luck with your DS and his op.

Original poster

CaptainUnderpants · 26/04/2007 08:05

Will let you know Beautiful how it all goes

OP posts:

bozza · 26/04/2007 08:17

DS's ops have always been on a Friday so he hasn't needed any time off afer either of hise two grommet ones. Although he had a week off after the one that also included adenoids. It really is very minor for most children and he didn't really have any pain afterwards.

confusedandignorant · 26/04/2007 08:54

we were told swimming in a pool was okay as was having a bath providing water was clean and contained no bubble bath (something to do with lowering of surface tension allowed the water to get into grommets) and cotton wool with vaseline on the outer surface during hairwashing

must have worked as it was done over three years ago no earache since and hearing tests fine

Diplidophus · 26/04/2007 09:14

We are eaiting to see if my DS1 (2.5) needs grommets. He has had glue ear for abotu a year (on and off). He had (non-healing) perforations about two months ago on both sides about two months ago. We saw the consultant on Mondaya nd he said one side had now healed and suggested we wait abother three months. However I'm sure that as soon as he gets abother cold both are going to blow again and we're back to square one. Any advice (sorry hijack!)

frances5 · 26/04/2007 11:50

"I ubderstand about loving swimming (my ds does too) but the ent asked which was more important, that he can hear or that he swims - kind of puts it into perspective!"

When my son was younger we had a child physio telling us to take our son swimming and an ent surgeon telling us not to. I think you have to consider the whole child rather than just their ears.

I suppose our case is a little different as my son had walking problems. Which is more important: being able to run and jump or being able to hear?

The swimming issue is why we have opted for hearing aids. Unfortunately not many parents are aware they have the choice.

beautifulgirls · 26/04/2007 21:57

Frances - Thanks for making me aware of the hearing aid option. We are seeing the ENT next week with DD#1 so I shall ask about alternatives and his opinion on the pros and cons of each option. Sorry things were not more straightforward for your DS.

beautifulgirls · 02/05/2007 10:42

UPDATE: saw the ENT yesterday and he has recommended grommets and poss adenoid removal too for our DD. We were really happy with him and feel reassured that this is the right thing to do. He said no swimming for 4-6 weeks then ok with earplugs and cap or headband so that will be just fine with us. She'll miss a few swim lessons but it is a small price to pay if her hearing is sorted and we can get her speech improving more.

JodieR12 · 13/04/2012 00:26

Hi
I've just come accross some fantastic information videos about grommet surgery and after care that I wanted to share with everyone - the videos are at www.littlegrommets.com/

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