Advice sought re grommets!

[Volodya]

Ds aged 2.3 has been diagnosed with severe glue ear. The doctor says that grommets would be an obvious option for sorting it out, but that he is at the young end of the spectrum for having them fitted.

The doc was very frank about all the possible negatives/disadvantages of grommets when we asked (I guess they have to be to cover their backs ) Does anyone have experience of a similar aged child being fitted with grommets? How did it go? Was it unduly traumatic/painful for the child? Was it successful? Did they have any longterm problems eg scarring etc? Would you recommend it?

I'd like to go ahead if possible as ds's hearing is quite bad and he's not very verbal for his age. But would really appreciate some advice/shared experiences first. Thanks!

I have had grommets but not at that age. I was a bit slow as a baby not doing what they would expect and it was because of my hearing. I think I was about 5 when I had the first lot put in. Not being able to hear did hinder me I think, For example I could read and count and was quite bright when I started school where as lot of my classmates were not able to do these things. But I couldnt ever hear the teacher talking or I didnt know what I was being asked to do so I was given easier books etc and my parents couldnt understand it.
2.3 does sound young but I think that to have it done at this age would be more beneficial to him. They dont hurt at all and will work their way out of the ear over time and its usually only a day case operation. As far as I knew the only grommets that caused scaring were the ones that were perminent I had these when I was 11 and they were taken out when I was 15 (as they cant stay in forever)
Now my hearing is ok, not great but not bad enough to be having to go to check ups. I get on with it i have to concentrate more than id expect someone with better hearing to do but at least i can hear people!!

Hi,
my dd had grommets age 3 1/2 it has made a huge difference to her hearing (due to glue ear which she was at increased risk of as she was born with cleft lip and palate) it affected her speech which is another reason we went ahead. Her speech has improved dramatically. Must go pick up from school will be back shortly to let you know how the procedure went!

To continue where I left off-the process for dd was very straight forward, it was day surgery,the youngest children were first on the list, therefore not too much waiting around. It was over in 20-30 minutes start to finish, and we were all back home by 12.45. She did not have any problems at all following the procedure, it took a couple of weeks to notice the improvement in hearing, and a few weeks after that we began to notice improvements in her speech which continues.We found the most difficult bit was putting her under it was stressful I can't lie, but was quick, she came round very quickly afterwards and was just very grumpy but mostly because she had to be nil-by-mouth and was very hungry, soon resolved by juice and toast x 2 which she swiftly polished off! We have been advised to have her ears checked approx every six months to check the grommets are still there as they can fall out. Other advice was to give them the best chance to work properly keep the ears dry, so ear plugs for hairwashing and earplugs and headband to keep them in place for swimming.
DD can be a bit sensitive to loud noise now, but that is far outweighed with the speech improvements.

Thanks very much... really helpful to hear of your experiences.

Bumping for any more replies?

I had 3 sets of grommets, first ones about 4 I think, and now dd has to have them too, probably just after she's 5 (after the wait). The op never bothered me at all - the only bits I remember hating were not being able to eat beforehand, the vile smell of the anaesthetic cream and the irritating anaesthetists who told you stories to send you off So if that was a typical experience at all, the real op isn't very scary, as long as you don't panic about it. None of mine ever hurt, and they just fell out on my pillow after a bit.

I never had any side effects or problems after but was, and still am, nervy about very loud noises - that's the biggest thing to watch for IMO, apart from watching for water getting in the ears.

My DS2 had grommets at 8 months old - he had chronic recurrent ear infections due to narrower than usual eustachian tubes and a split uvula.

He was in an out within 3 hours and I can honestly say it was far more traumatic for me than it was for him.

His ear infections didn't really lessen until he was 2 years old but the gunk had a means to escape (really, really disgusting green pussy infections), which meant little or no treatment for fevers and secondary infections.

The grommets were removed when he was 2.5 years old - painlessly in the consultants rooms, touch wood he has never had an ear infection since.

I had grommets when I was about 7, then my adenoids cauterised, then more grommets, then Goods Tubes (bigger, I think??). I was getting ear infections and tonsillitis every six weeks or so. Eventually, when I was 14 I had my tonsils removed - hey presto- problem solved.
I have quite a bit of scarring, and a perforated eardrum but my hearing is not too bad. I do get the odd ear infection now (I'm 36) and last year saw a consultant to discuss having a skin graft on my eardrum, but the success rate is not very high, and my perforation is in an awkward place apparantly.

ds had a grommet when he was 1.6 - one of hte youngest to have tehm fitted, but his eardrum had perforated 9 times due to infection so they decided it was better to try grommets and see if ventilating the ear helped. they did him first, because he was the youngest. the operation took about 20 minutes. He was very grouchy afterwards for about an hour, then had some milk and some toast. we were home by lunchtime. he is now 2.5 and the grommet has just fallen out. he still has glue ear, but his hearing in that side is much better than before he had the grommet (he failed every hearing test on that ear before the operation). His ear is also getting some ventilation, so they're not rushing to put another grommet in. It was a very positive experience for us. we're told there is some scarring on the eardrum, but thats also from all the perforations. he passed his most recent hearing test with flying colours. I would recommend it

Hi

My little girl (4) was diagnosed with severe glue ear and we were given the option of grommets. She had the op - takes 6 minutes and you are getting back in your car 90 minutes later. The change in her has been truly remarkable, confident, sociable and her speech has improved. We have had no ear infections, to be honest she has been healthier since they were done.

Go for it!

Goodluck

Have you contacted the National Deaf Childrens Society? they may be able to offer you some advice!
www.ndcs.org.uk/

Grommets benefit most children who have them done. Like any operation there is a risk. Your child has a really tiny chance of grommets going wrong and having a permament hearing loss.

If you do go for grommets you have to fanastical about not getting water in the ear. I would ask ENT about where you can get custom ear moulds or failing that use putty buddies and ear bandits

My son had grommets and they were a disaster, but I think he was exceptionally unlucky. What happened to him is really rare. I don't know anyone in real life other than my son who had grommets go wrong.

The other alternatives is for your child to be issued with temporary hearing aids. Which would be a real challenging getting a stubborn toddler to wear. My son has hearing aids which are adjusted every three months to cope with fluating levels of hearing caused by glue ear.

Some people swear by cranial ostrophy (sp)

How long has your DS had glue ear?

This is from the BMJ;

Glue ear can get better by itself. So doctors usually advise that children wait for a while before having grommets put in. Doctors only tend to suggest grommets if your child has:
Had glue ear for at least three months
Had ear infections several times, one after another
Lost at least 20 decibels of hearing in both ears.
Grommets aren't normally recommended if your child has hearing loss in only one ear.
research on how grommets can help.

Having grommets put in helps children's hearing in the short term, but the benefits go away over time. Your child's hearing is likely to improve, especially during the first six months after the operation. But after five years, children who haven't had grommet can hear just as well as children who have had grommets.
After surgery, some children's hearing improves more than others'.Six months after the operation, most children's hearing improves by about 9 decibels. We're not sure how much difference that makes. But the improvement in hearing could wear off during the first year.

The operation reduces the amount of time children have fluid in their ear by about a third. In children with bad glue ear, grommets may get rid of their glue ear sooner than if they hadn't had them. This is more likely in older children. By the time they are 7 years old many children have grown out of glue ear.

There's no evidence that having grommets fitted helps children learn to talk sooner or do better at school. This may be because glue ear often clears up on its own, so tubes may not improve your child's speech and language in the long term.

If your child behaves badly because he or she can't hear well, then putting in grommets so they can hear better may help stop the problems in the short term.
Your child may get fewer ear infections while they have grommets and their ears may feel less bunged up.

Glue ear takes longer to clear up after grommets are fitted in children whose parents smoke.

I think that a two year old should only have grommets if their development is obviously delayed. Most children under five have a bout of glue ear at some point. It is only a problem if the glue ear lasts several months and interferes with learning to speak.

I would disagree that having grommets does not help speech. It certainly helped my son's speech. The big problem my son had was constant infection after the grommets and the scarring to both his ear drums.

DD had grommets at 15 months after several months of absolute hell fom ear infections - we had to sit up with her all night watching Thomas the Tank engine videos because laying down was too painful. We had it done privately because she was in such agony and we were totally sleep deprived and couldn't wait a moment longer. I have to say it was the best £1000 we even spent because she was almost immediately cured and never had an ear infection again. Our GP then did the follow up checks on the NHS so we only actually paid for the operation and the private room for half a day.

One plus point with grommets is that she didn't have the pressure build up you get in the ears on aeroplanes so air travel was easy.

The grommets eventually fell out on their own.

One downside is that she couldn't go swimming for a couple of years as we had to be very careful with water getting into the ears so she was behind the other children in water confidence but has caught up now.

dd2 had 4 lots of grommets, I think. She was 2 when the first lot were inserted. Problem was they always fell out within a few months. We didn't have a hugely positive experience with them but no negative effects either.

We put bits of vaselined cotton wool in her ears at bathtime.

I've skimmed the rest of the posts. It took until dd was 4.5 to get her grommets inserted, she changed into a different child she became so much more confident it was amazing. Her speech improved rapidly too, sooner the better IMHO

DS had grommets at 18 months. They worked instantly; his speech started coming on a treat.

He needed the op repeated at 4 but now, at 7, he has no grommets and no glue ear issues at all. Hearing - normal!

It's a very small op involving a very tiny piece of plastic (like a miniature funnel) being placed in the ears - it's not a big deal in itself; the general anaesthetic involved is the scariest part. (And that's generally all quite fine; just scary for us mummies)

Thanks - I feel encouraged

Can't wait for ds to have better hearing and start talking more...

I had grommets for glue ear when I was a small child. They did help, but, unfortunately they didn't come out naturally. The drs didn't act on this and I ended up with perforated ear drums, which is a pain in the arse, but not debilitating.

However, before you panic, as far as I am aware, my case is pretty unusual. Lucky me eh?