Ear Infections, Ear Tubes, Pressure, Hearing Loss, Not Sleeping Question

I had a yr where I got a ton of ear infections. I went to the chiropractor. He said it might work or it might not. It did work...I never got 1 again.

I'm sorry it's not your nephew's mom writing in because I'm not sure you can share the opinions here with her. If you can, that's lovely.

Here's mine. Your post sends little warning bells going off in my head. I think it's really important for your nephew to be seen by an ENT in a Children's Hospital. Hearing loss is absolutely nothing to play around with. Ear infections can damage ear drums permanently, and if the ear drums burst, that's life long damage too.

My guess is that this ENT is unsure of what to do because of the "odd shape". I'm guessing that the tympanogram was abnormal too. You don't just "walk away" from news like this. You go find someone who knows what to do.

I'd travel hours to get my child seen at a Children's Hospital for this. (Actually, I have because of my son's cleft palate.) Please tell your nephew's mother this.

My son had hearing loss due to fluid in his ear drums. After his adenoids were removed his hearing returned to normal. My husband has had progressive hearing loss since he was 5 and it continues to worsen. I would suggest she consult an audiologist who can give her a better idea about prognosis and maybe a second opinion. I still haven't found an ENT that I think has solved out problems.

Oh dear. The problem is surgery of any sort is a very last resort.

And so they will try other treatments first. They also will hope that the childs ears will grow and not need tubes. It is hard to sometimes test the hearing in a child that is not very verbal.

Yes it is a huge pain. The waiting the suffering, but I know very few parents that want to just willy nilly put their children under anesthesia and have a procedure like this. and so you wait it out. My husband really had a problem wanting to push for tubes.

In our case it took 2 years to realize this was going to happen each winter and it was getting worse and worse each winter.

Allergies could not be controlled, then we realized the had coughing asthma.. ACK! It went on and on, but again, what if she did not need surgery, isn't that better? I do not know. I just know that the appt where I took her for an ear test. and she had lost 80% of her hearing in one of her ears, I put my foot down, told my husband to suck it up, she was getting tubes.

My husband was given a Valium and our daughter did great. .

I have heard, there are some doctors that do tubes any time a parent asks, but not our group of Doctors. They wanted to see if it could be avoided.

I'd go to someone else. A second opinion can't hurt. I am really surprised they didn't want to put tubes in right away.

Tubes will help his hearing, there's debris in his ear canals and the ENT will be able to clean it out. Often the infection is so deep in the ear that the antibiotics won't touch it. So it lives and spreads from the inside out.

It sounds like the ENT needs some help alright. Go for a children's ENT.

Both my sons had lots of ear infections and the oldest had tubes by 5 mths. I've never regretted it. It didn't stop the infections but it stopped the pressure and possibly stopped some hearing loss.

After a year of tests, scans, and endless appointments with one of the best ENTs in our area, we realized that when our son was taking his allergy medicine his ear infections - both severity and frequency - decreased dramatically. He was only taking them in the summer, but when we started a daily regimen in the fall and winter, we saw immediate results. Also, we clean the wax out his ears regularly, which definitely contributed to some of his short term hearing loss.

I suggest you get a second opinion at a children's hospital with a pediatric ENT. So many things can cause hearing loss, and I would not be comfortable being 'dismissed' like that without any clear answers.

I know someone who had severe hearing loss until the tubes were put in. She never heard a toilet flush or the music or priest talking in church, couldn't hear the TV etc. Once the tubes were put in (and I think the fluid drained) she had super sensitive hearing. The slightest noise still wakes her up.

Between the ages of two and thee my daughter had 8 ear infections...around the sixth one I actually asked about tubes...my pediatrician who I totally trust said lets wait until age three and see if they improve.

She turned three and has had two infections since then, and she is now six. So waiting was a good approach with her...she got bigger, and the infections stopped.

If you are really concerned then go see another ENT for a second opinion.

My son has had some problems lately as well. Like 3 ear infections in 2 months, plus a sinus infection and bronchitis when he was less than a year. He is 2.5 now. We just got him into a Qigong Massage study and already his ears are better, he is sleeping better, and he has even started to talk more. (He is autistic.) I would recommend looking for a masseuse in your area that could help him. Or, you can learn it yourself, we have a guy who comes 1x a week and I do the other days, and in 2 weeks I have seen so much improvement. The book is written by Dr.Louis Silva and it comes with a cd and instructions. You might only need to go to the professional a couple of times to figure it out, but the key is everyday. They said it takes about a year to heal the body. If you want more info, please let me know. Good luck!

Get a second opinion ...don't mess w/ the hearing loss particularly at this age as it could lead to speech issues.

check out a Children's Hosp. out your way if you haven't already

Hope he feels better soon and you all get some answers soon

Constant ear infections can sometimes be caused by food allergies. I would have the parents keep a food journal and write down when he gets stuffy, ear infections, etc.

M.

Hi,
Whenever my kids have had ear infections or problems, we go straight to our Chiropractor. We go to a Maximized Living Chiro if you can find one near you. They are more about treating a patient as a whole than other Chiros I've been to. We LOVE our Chiro and are healthier for going! It wouldn't hurt to call and ask some questions anyway. :)

What I did when my children got ear infections was to take garlic and olive oil and crush the garlic into the olive oil to blend the 2 oils. Then I would take a Q-tip and saturate it with the blended oil and allow it to drop into the ear canal. It would fizzle inside their ears, and that is eating up the infection. It also smells like Italian bread. Sometimes I would place a heat pack on their ear, just only if they were still hurting. I only had to do it 2 times and they have never had an ear infection again.

Go to a second ent. He sounds like he will benefit from having tubes put in.

Around the same age I started telling my sons pediatrician that I thought he wasn't hearing well. The ped always said his ears were fine. In Kidnergarten he tested poor on his hearing test. He was finally referred to an ENT. One of the best ped ENTs in our state. It was found that he indeed had a great deal of fluid in his right ear. The ENT said he had a deviated septum and this could not be operated on until he was 12-but ideally 16. Several years later it's still a problem-another referral. This ENT removed adenoids, tonsils, and placed a tube in the ear. he also tested positive for sleep apnea (sleep study).
At first he seemed to hear better, but things went back to normal soon after. Were just going to wait until he's 16 for anything else. For sleeping I bought him a featherbed mattress topper that seems to help a little.
I agree that they should seek a second opinion if they feel they need to, but some things just can not be fixed easily.