Repeated Perforated eardrum

[Havanawinter]

My 14mo’s left eardrum has perforated 3 times in the last 6 months. Each time we had genuinely no idea anything was wrong with his ear until all the goo and pus started flowing out. The only signs he’s shown each time is being a little grumpy in the days beforehand but that would be any number of things. Anyway, the doctor says it’s just one of those things but I feel like it can’t be normal and I’m worried about the long term effect on his hearing. It’s always the same eardrum. Does anyone have any experience? Do I push this further?

Hi, my DD is 21 now but had this from around the same age as your DS. She had it on and off up until the age of five whenever she had a cold-like illness. She used to scream in pain with it and I was feeling as worried as you are. Our trusted GP said that kids usually grew out of it around five years and if not then grommets would be fitted. I was pleasantly surprised when it did stop as he said. She did get a couple of reoccurrences in her late teens but otherwise fine. No problems at all with her hearing. Hot flannel in a cup used to help, or warm wheat bag. Always ended up with antibiotics though. I’m not sure if guidelines have changed since but that was our experience if it helps. Hope he grows out of it soon too

My son had this also until age 3 and then it stopped entirely. Does she have ear infections without perforations too? He had scarring on ear drum but Audiologists said the eardrum still grows/stretches very slightly until around 3 so the thicker scar tissue lessens and his hearing has been perfect, tested until 5 I think. ENT put it down to very tiny tubes between nose & ear so the mucus would pool and become infected. I wish I had done more to reduce mucus, I now think allergies were behind all of it. I also wish I'd pushed for grommets to relieve the pressure but of course I never knew how long it would take to clear up completely and they didn't want to give a GA to a young child if avoidable. My son had over twenty courses of antibiotics very young and I blame that for the gastro problems he's had throughout childhood. It's terribly painful, make sure you get referred to paed ENT. Good luck.

@selfishjeanss that is incredibly reassuring, thank you for taking the time to reply. The guidelines are still a course of antibiotics every time it happens, at least I believe so as that’s what DS has had each time. Thanks again 😊

@Straysocks he’s never had an ear infection without a perforation. I never know how to handle snot, we have a snot sucker but the GP previously said the more you remove the more the body makes and it just become a vicious cycle, it’s so difficult to know what the right thing to do it. He started nursery 2 months ago and has had a constant runny nose since then which can’t be helping either. If it happens again I will ask for an ENT referral. Thank you for taking the time to reply

Another one who has a dc who seemed to have a permanently perforated war drum as a baby/toddler. Every time we went swimming it would happen. We were under a consultant for a while due to it and grommets were mooted but eventually it stopped! It was awful at the time though!