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Original poster

DD's ongoing hearing problem may be solved from unexpected quarters!

24 replies

dinny · 04/08/2008 15:58

DD (aged 6) has complained of not being able to hear properly out of one ear for a LONG time. Have been the GP zillions of times, prob since she was about 3. They have often said she has a lot of wax and have given ear drops/recommended olive oil. Prob still v much in evidence when she started school, I asked for audiology referral. All tests came back normal and yet she kept telling me she couldn't hear.

Anyway, on hols in Greece last week and she got bad ear ache two days ago - saw hotel doctor who showed me what was down her ear - a huge lump of dark wax. Doctor then syringed her ears and dd can hear!

honestly, you wouldn't believe the lump of wax that came out straight away, massive

I had asked for her to be syringed a few times at GP but apparently they don't do it on children under 10 years old.

anyway, she seems so much better, the acute ear ache (caused by swimming and the wax blockage) has gone and she can hear out of that ear!

anyone know why they don't syringe here in UK? will prob get loads of scare stories now, eek.

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greenlawn · 04/08/2008 16:05

One of my boys now has grommets (for glue ear) - this was despite audiology tests showing his hearing was normal.

When we finally managed to get an ENT appointment the consultant told me the audiology tests done on the nhs were rubbish and completely unreliable - a set of grommets later and his hearing has very obviously improved. Glad to hear her hearing has now improved.

Original poster
dinny · 04/08/2008 16:08

thanks Greenlawn, was a bit worried initially when the doctor said she wanted to syringe it, but the wax came out on the first squirt and dd wasn't at all worried about it

with hindsight, I should have pressed for an ENT appointment but I really hope that has resolved it.

Unbelievable the audiology tests came back normal for your ds!

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emma1977 · 04/08/2008 16:17

They will syringe here in the UK, but it tends to be done by ENT specialists.

The reason being that children's ear canals are very small and delicate and it is easy to damage the ear canal or perforate the eardrum if syringing is done inexpertly. It can also be very painful to syringe an ear, which may make a child squirm and result in accidental damage.

Original poster
dinny · 04/08/2008 16:19

thanks for that, emma, do you think if she is OK and happy the syringe hasn't damaged her?

think the hotel doctor in Greece does loads of syringing.....

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emma1977 · 04/08/2008 16:22

I'm sure she's fine.

Good news that she can hear properly now.

MatNanPlus · 04/08/2008 16:23

They probably do it as a matter of course Dinny and if it had caused a rupture she would not be a happy, hearing DD.

misi · 04/08/2008 17:07

fear of being sued and the PC brigade rule out a lot of good medical practice in this country now for kids under certain ages.
I had an ear infection some months ago, went to the GP and she said, ''we don't give out anti biotics for ear infections anymore''. I ended up in hospital, not being able to hear, the left side of my head completely numb, 2 sets of anti b's later, I can hear again but am awaiting an aessessment to see what the resulting damage has done and what my hearing loss now is, so to save a few quid, they may face a legal action for negligence

Twiglett · 04/08/2008 17:12

they don't routinely syringe adults' ears either

they say it can encourage the production of more ear wax

that said, it is fabulous when they do do it .. fascinating, grotesquely fascinating .. the nurse had to wrest the tray away from me when I was inspecting mine

misi · 04/08/2008 17:15

indian ear candles are like that if you want to inspect more twiglett.
use the candle as per the instructions then instead of disposing of the remains, open the bottom of the ''candle'' up and inspect the yellow stuff in the filter

Twiglett · 04/08/2008 17:19

sorry to disallusion you misi but Hopi (Indian) ear candles are a bit of nonsense (and we used them for a couple of years) .. what you see in the candles started in the candles

you can experiment .. light one and hold it down on a table or book so that it seals .. let it burn down to where it should burn and then open it .. same amount of 'wax' in it I'm afraid

Blu · 04/08/2008 17:26

misi- they don't withold anti-biotics f ear infections to save money - they do it because most are caused by viruses - and therefore not helped by a-bs, and because widespread ab use causes infections to become immune...an so mutate into things like MRSA - which are very expensive indeed.

I hope your haring recovers asap. Perforated eardrums grow back, don't they?

And yes - there was a whole expose of Hopi candles - there will be the exact same wax if you just set fire to it and leave it in a saucer, apparantly.

Original poster
dinny · 04/08/2008 17:30

Twiglett, I seriously was going to ask for the big plug of wax to keep for dd when she's older, it was amazing!

I'm thinking this Greek doctor is v practised at syringing as she put it in and the wax came out straight away and that was that

must be as satisfying as squeezing a spot

she also said in a couple of weeks, when it has settled down, to do a drop of olice oil a night to prevent it building up again

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misi · 04/08/2008 17:46

the commercially available hopi ear candles are rubbish I agree, I do not use those, which is why I said indian ear candles. if you look at a real indian (hopi) ear candle is it very different to the commercial rubbish you get on shelves over here.

perforated ear drums do not grow back, but when I am assessed I hope they say it is not perforated as I will be left with hearing impairment for life otherwise!

the doc at the hospital said that by properly looking in my ear, he could see it was a bacterial infection, my GP took a quick glance and said no anti biotics, so the negligence was on her part for not looking properly, and yes in KIDS most ear infections are caused by viruses, but in adults, most ear infections are caused by bacteria. MY GP gave me one of her leaflets on not giving anti B's to kids and said the same went for adults, although I have checked with the CMO and was told this was untrue.

prettybird · 04/08/2008 17:56

I was tld by my gp to dribble olive oil into ds' ear occasionally, as he was prone to blockages/earacche. Presuambly it is to help "dissolve" the wax that might otherwise build up.

Blu · 04/08/2008 17:59

misi - I'm no doctor and no expert, but was very mmuch under the impression that perforatd eardrums do usually or often repair themselves naturally, or else can be helped by topically applied drugs, or in more serious cases surgery....my brother 9asan adult, not child) was almost at the surgery stage but in the end the ear drum repaired itslf and he now has good hearing...I really do hope that there was no serious lasting damage to your hearing - ear infections are painful enough without after-effects. Sorry the doctor did not get your infection right.

I still say keep your ear candles, wherever they come from

Original poster
dinny · 04/08/2008 18:02

Prettybird - that's what this doctor has told us to do now, to prevent another build-up, but she said that it would have had no effect on such a big blockage as dd had

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linzs · 04/08/2008 18:07

My Ds complained of hearing problems for years since age 5.
Dh and I both noticed problems with speech hearing etc. Doctor kept looking and saying wax blockage - too young for syringing.
6 years later - using boots water spray thingy - big stone fell out!

Hearing is fine now - though I do worry what damage could have been caused

prettybird · 04/08/2008 18:10

... which reminds me, i really should do it again! He has had two bouts of bad earache in the last year: both when in sitations of changing pressure - the first when he fell aslepp travelling from 1200m to 1600 in the Alps and the other on a plane recently when we were on holiday.

Original poster
dinny · 04/08/2008 18:55

Linzs, that is MAD!!!!

Prettybird - dd's ears really hurt her on way out to Greece when landing in the plane

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prettybird · 05/08/2008 10:13

At least now that ds is 7 (nearly 8), he is able to tell us that his ears hurt "like the time in Meribel" - and also that he understadns that it will pass. Doesn't stop the tears while it hurts thought

suedonim · 05/08/2008 11:26

Part of the reason they prefer not to syringe ears is that syringing can destroy the very fine hairs that line the ear canal, which then means the wax builds up even more in future.

Otex eardrops are good for wax removal, better than olive oil, imo. It softens the wax so it eventually runs out of the ear, though with a big build up even that may not work.

Original poster
dinny · 05/08/2008 18:54

shit shit, dd has ear ache today, has gone to bed with it now. am terrified the syringe could have damaged her ear after reading all the contra-indications online - the doctor in Greece did check her ears again the day after and said they looked good - if there was damage would she (the doctor) have seen it then?
going to take her to our GP first thing tomorrow I think

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emma1977 · 05/08/2008 23:55

Good idea to get it checked again.

If it had perforated at the time, I would hope that the doctor would have noticed.

However, she may have infection in the ear canal which could have been caused by having things poked down her ear or from swimming while on holiday.

Original poster
dinny · 06/08/2008 09:06

had a fine night and seems happy again this morning

this is day 3 of antibiotics (the dotor in Greece prescribed for her if she wasn't feeling better by Mon)

she hasn't had a temperature at all though...

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