How many ear infections before they will suggest grommets?

[OzJo]

My just turned 3 year old son has had about 4 ear infections in the last year, maybe one lot prior to that. I have a friend who is prone to doom and gloom saying he'll be needing ear grommets?! I have a morbid fear of wee kids having general anaesthetic....But just have no idea how long they leave it before they do something...He's a big lad, nearly as tall as my 5 year old, 19 kilos, so he's big for his age.
Anyone had a similar experience? I thought that kids got fewer of these as they got older?!

what I think I would do is ask your doctor to make you an appt with the Otolaryngologist your ENT doctor.

I didn't think they routinely give grommets for ear infections. I know a few people that had their dc treat by a cranial osteopath to sort out repeated ear infections and they all said it helped. I think as children grow the angle of the eustacian tube (sp) alters which makes ear infections less likely.

How bad are the ear infections? A bit of pain that clears up with antibiotics, or does the eardrum burst each time?

If the latter, grommets are more likely to be recommended, but if he continues having infections a referral to an ENT specialist sounds like a good idea. Also getting his hearing tested regularly, so if it goes downhill he can be treated rapidly.

Agree with notcitrus; it will depend on how bad the infections are and if there is any loss of hearing. If there is loss of hearing, it will be worth having them done as hearing problems can affect a child's social and emotional development, as well as their cognitive and language development, in a very negative way.

My dd had lots of ear infections but never had grommets inserted; her cousin and her best friend had the grommets done.

Some people carry on getting ear aches even as adults: I get them very easily still.

Grommets are an extreme measure and I think it would be stupid to operate on a child unless there is major developmental delay.

My son had his grommets go wrong and it caused a lot of infections and he now has terrible scarring on both ear drums. My son had hearing aids for 18 months to help with hearing loss.

If its any consolation ear infections get better as the child gets older and bigger.

Just to add - from the persepctive of having had loads of grommets and T-tubes, grommet insertion is about the easiest operation there is, so the general anaesthetic is really light as the child only needs to be out for under 5 minutes.

And totally agree with what cory said about hearing loss - it really needs to be picked up on ASAP.

Can I suggest you do a wee bit of research regarding HOPI ear candling? It can be really good for soothing the ears and very calming. Not for everyone I know but at least have a look.

www.embodyforyou.com/Treatments/?t=98

DS1 has had ear infections since he was six months old and also had glue ear.

We were back and forth to see the Consultant.

Basically, we were told that he should grow out of it which is what has happened.

Grommets were the last resort.

My son's bone conduction hearing test was better than average. (ie. hearing loss about -5 db) Ie. is cochlar is about 5 times more sensitive than the average person.

However his air conduction hearing test is on the edge of being a hearing loss. His hearing loss is about 20dB. Although this is not considered to be a hearing loss, it is quite a bit poorer than his bone conduction test. My son has terrible scarring on his ear drum caused by the grommets going wrong. It is rare for grommets to go wrong but its not unheard of.

I agree that hearing loss needs to be picked up as soon as possible. However glue ear is temporary and in most children it clears up on its own within six months. Many ENT surgeons prefer to do watchful waiting to see if the glue clears up on its own. This is frustrating to the parents and child.

I think that temporary hearing aids are a brilliant idea. Its less evasive than grommets and when the child's hearing has improved they just give back the hearing aids. Unlike watchful waiting the child can get help straight away.

Evasive, ReallyTired? You mean the grommets give you shifty looks and run away?

My dd's friend did suffer fairly major developmental delay because the ENT specialists took so long humming and ha'ing about whether she ought not to be growing out of her glue ear. It took her years to catch up and she had trouble in school because the other children found her very odd.

"Evasive, ReallyTired? You mean the grommets give you shifty looks and run away? "

oops, typo.

lol ... I suppose my son's grommets did run away. They came out after 8 weeks. They just could not cope with the flow of pus.

Glue ear is a nightmare and its not much of a consolation being old that your child will out grow glue ear at the age of 8 when they are three years old and have no speech.

Its a pity that your dd's friend was not lent digital hearing aids. Then her speech would have developed while ENT surgeons made up their minds.

My dd1 has only eer had one ear infections that we know of, but she needed gromits because of poor hearing due to fluid behind her ears. It's a very small operation, she was back at school the following day, and her hearing and therefore her speech have imporved loads since having it done. Definitely worth it in her case.

Personally I think they should be used as a last resort; try osteo first (worked for my DS) or the ear candling thing (I guess). I always understood that grommits could cause potential equalising issues in adulthood and you might not be able to do stuff like scuba diving as a result...

They won't necessarily outgrow ear infections though, ReallyTired. I haven't and I'm 44. Dd is 11 and also gets frequent ear infections.

ds intermittant glue ear - more glue than not it seemed to us. when ds was 4 enquired about hopi candles. could not find anyone in my area prepared to do them as they said would be difficult for child to sit still. but did read stories elsewhere where other poeple had it used with success on young children. thought it was more for glue ear rather that infections. post infection if there is a lot of wax dr suggested warmed olive oil although used would eventually clear wax.

my dd was on constant antibiotics for 12mths before gommets ive now been waiting 2.5 yrs for them to fall out as her ears are much worse still under e.n.t

I still get ear infections, but not as often or as severe as my son had as a baby, or I did as small child.

A child's eustation tubes get bigger its easier for fluid to drain before it becomes infected, an adult's ear is bigger so is less likely to get clogged up and infected.

Having said that I had mastioditis two years ago and I am sure that my hearing has never been quite the same.