Recommendation of a Pediatrician Specialized in Ear/hearing Problems

Ear/hearing with kids -- Dr. Jennifer Mau in SJ/Los Gatos or Dr.Joe Roberson at California Ear Institute in Palo Alto. I am a mother of a deaf son diagnosed at 9 months. Now he is fully mainstreamed in our local charter school due to their early diagnosis and acurateness. If you need numbers, I can get them for you. Our regular ped. dr. who diagnosed and passed us on for further testing was Dr. Joseph Cirone at RAMBLC near Good Sam. in SJ.

Also, don't fret initially because fluid does build up sometimes, but the above two drs. are excellent. Dr. Roberson is world reknown.
Good luck. If you need something else, let me know.

Stanford has wonderful ear specialists. I take my Daughter there. She is completely deaf with a cochlear implant. they can answer alot of questions you may have.

My son had persistent ear infections (at one point he was on antibiotics daily for 12 months) that caused hearing problems, delayed verbal, eating issues and persistent vomiting, temper tantrums, inability to sleep for longer than 1 hour at a time. It was a nightmare for me (then a single mom following divorce). Suffering through this for 3 years (a long story) I was finally referred to an ENT specialist. My son was diagnosed with infected adenoids and ear canals. He had his adenoids removed and tubes placed in his ears at the ate of 3 and 3 months as an outpatient. The night of the surgery was the first time he slept through the night since he was born (me too) and I kept checking on him because I thought he had died. Anyway, this solved the ear infections, the temper tantrums, he started eating (no vomiting), speaking,and became a happy child. Now at age 18 he has had only one ear infection since age 3. Have your child seen by an ENT specialist. You won't regret it

I understand your concern. Hearing is such an important thing. My son had major ear problems as a child and eventually need tubes in his ears after 11 months of nonstop infection. That took away the problem and his hearing has recovered. He saw Dr. Arnstein, an ear, nose and throat doctor although he was a bit older (1.5) and they did extensive tests to diagnose for any hearing loss. I'm sure it's more difficult in children so young. But, really what I wanted to say is that absolutely while your child's ears are infected he won't be able to hear well. I just had an ear infection and was reminded of what it's like. Everything sounds muted, like you're underwater. So, I'd suggest waiting until you know both ears are clear and seeing if he seems to respond to noises. Don't expect much response while water and infection are in the ears

Good luck,
Jen

I would recommend Dr. Michael Murray, an otolaryngologist affiliated at the California Ear Institute (http://www.calear.com/) in Palo Alto. He is patient, thorough, smart, and also the dad of two young children, so he is very, very compassionate. If Dr. Murray is no longer there, any of his colleagues would be an excellent choice. They are supposed to be the best. Here is their contact info:

1900 University Avenue
Suite 101
E. Palo Alto, CA 94303
Phone: ###-###-####
Fax: ###-###-####

Good luck,

J.

Hi C.,

Congratulations on the birth of your son! Our son had ear infections that wouldn't clear up after we started him in day care at 13 months. We took him to see Jennifer Maw, MC, FRSC(C). She used to be an E/N/T doctor then went to specializing just for the ear. (Her card says "Otology/Neurotology, Physician and Surgeon of the Ear. Hearing * Facial Nerve * Balance") The address is 2400 Samaritan Dr., Suite 100, San Jose, CA 95124. Tel: ###-###-####. She had been referred to us by a friend who was very happy with her, we also thought she did a great job. In our situation, our pediatrician said to get tubes in Conor's ears or pull him out of day care, a second doctor said just to get tubes and Dr. Maw said there was not a structural problem with his ears, the bugs at day care just too much. She said she didn't like to recommend surgery when there was no specific problem so recommended we either try to find a different day care solution or we could look at surgical options. We pulled him out of day care and everything was fine. Now he's 2.5, no problems since. (He has gotten a couple colds but is now able to get over them without the ear infections he used to get.) Best of luck to you with your precious boy.
Lydia

I'm not sure what part of the Bay Area you live in but the Hearing and Speech Center of Northern California in San Francisco would be a good place to have your child's hearing tested. Or they could be a good resource to refer you to a pediatric doctor who specializes in hearing issues. The center's number is ###-###-####.

Hi C.,

I have twin 18-month old boys and one of them developed a chronic ear infection. After a few months of successive antibiotics, our regular pediatrician, Dr. Protter of Camino Medical Group, suggested that we take our son to an ENT. I chose Dr. Brew, an ENT with Camino Medical Group because of her background experience with children. We tried several different types of medications, but finally decided to go with the insertion of ear tubes. Now my son is a different person, he can hear better, speaks (babbles) more often and has better balance. Even though I hesitated at the thought of surgery for my son, I am glad we did it. Dr. Brew is located in Sunnyvale, CA with the Camino Medical Group on El Camino Real. You can Google Camino Medical Group to pull up contact information. Good luck!

-J.

I am worried that my daughter may have an ear infection. How do I know for sure?

Ask to have a hearing test either at the Pediatrician's office or at Audiology if you are very concerned. That way you can determine if there is a true hearing loss or not. There are screening tests at the Pediatrician's office to determine if the ear drum moves or not that he/she should be able to do for sure if an official audiology appointment isn't available for another time. At 9 weeks, they may only be able to do the screening test for your infant. I'm not sure. But that's something you can investigate.

Having an infected second ear may be likely especially if not treated with any sort of medication when the first one was looked at. Ear infections can be caused by bacteria that can be treated as well as viruses where antibiotics don't really help. Be sure both ears are looked at and a plan is activated.

We've had our share of ear problems at our household but they've been years in the making. If this is his first ear infection, I don't know if the Pediatrician will refer you out to ENT (Head and Neck Specialists) as it is probably something he/she is capable and willing to treat. Usually ENT referrals are for prolonged ear problems when the Pediatrician can no longer come up with options to treat and the underlying problem may be greater than just a simple ear infection.

I'm sure your Pediatrician will be of help once he/she looks at the overall situation. Best of luck with everything! And I hope the ear infection is resolved soon!