Possible Ear Infection Again.

You know what....my son is 10 months, and so far he's had 3 ear infections too! I hate it b/c his doctor is WONDERFUL and she's trying to do everything she can to help him without getting tubes or having something removed! I suggested an ENT after his first infection and she was hesitant b/c she wanted to try ear drops this time. NOW...he's digging in his left ear AGAIN!!! I'm taking him in tomorrow for a referral to an ENT!

PLEASE LET ME KNOW WHAT YOU DO B/C I DON'T WANT HIM TO GET TUBES IF I CAN AVOID IT!

V.

1. I had tubes in when I was around his age and they help tremendously. I would wake up in the middle of the night crying from the pain. But, afterwards didn't have near as many problems.
2. I now, as an adult, have sinus problems and seasonal allergies. For that, and for my son, who hasn't been to the Dr. in 8 mos., we drink Zango every day. If you'd like some more information on that call me at ###-###-####, or visit my website at www.jande1990.com

When I first put my daughter in day care (before she turned 2) she had a lot of ear infections. Her pediatrician said it was from the colds that she was getting (very bad colds). The mucus was draining to her ears and when it would sit there she would get the infections. She had about 3 or four in about a 3 month time frame. I took her to a specialist (I believe his name was Dr. Newton Duncan - very good and very child friendly). They tested her ears and told me her hearing was perfect. Since it was December when we saw the specialist and she was fine he reccommended that we wait and see what happens. So my reccommendation is to take your son to a specialist and talk to the doctor before you make up your mind. We opted not to have the tubes done and since then she may have had about 2 infections. But she is fine (my daughter is almost 4 now).

I had problems with my ears-still do. But I am 41 and tubes were diff back when. My son had tubes put in his ears at age 3 and they were the long term ones --2.5 years. He had repeated infections from 7 months till 3 yrs.

Our steps were to start on allergy meds, they helped but did not totally alleviate ear infections.

Next an ENT- Dr Robinson in Shreveport. My son loved going to "Dr. Robin". The ENT that comes to Marshall from Longview is good to but I can't remember his name.

Next tubes.

The day after surgery he was running through the house yelling, jumping around and so happy. It was very much worth it.

The one thing to keep in mind is that repeated ear infections with the ear drums bursting will eventually damage the hearing. This may or may not happen depending your experience but it is something to keep in mind. I was not willing to find out with the 'wait and see approach of over 2 years'.

Good luck,
ts

2 of my kids have had to have tubes. It does help with the infection but it does not eliminate them. With my middle daughter I waited too long and she suffered some hearing loss due to the numerous infections. My son I was a little quicker to have it done and he has been fine. The down side of the tubes is having to use the plugs religously. If they do get an infection then it begins to drain out the ear which is kinda messy.Just talk to your doctor and a specialist. Don't be shy about getting a second opinion. If the want to lance the ear then go with the tubes. The dr will go through the processes before they use tubes but I didn't let them lance my son . I figures if they were going to perforate the eardrum they might as well insert tubes in the process. I understand it's scary for us moms and good luck to you through this.

My son is 4 1/2 years old and is now wearing his 3rd set of tubes. While I know they aren't for all children, they are a life saver for my son. He was treated with 11 different rounds of antibiotics before his first birthday. His first set stayed in for a little less than a year and within 2 weeks of being out, the infections started again. The third time, we went in for our routine 3 month checkup and the tubes were out and the fluid had already started building up. In my son's case, he needs them. I was told that it would affect his hearing and speech to have too many sets put in, but he's just fine. He also has asthma and hasn't had any problems with the anesthetic they've given him. I would look at all of your options with your doctor, but in our case, tubes were just what we needed.

I had severe ear infections my whole life as a child, and even some as an adult. Mine were never treated and so I constantly got them because my ear canals are too small. My neice got tubes put in her ears and had no problems with them and as far as I know has not had another ear infection. I would say go to your doctor and talk to him about it, get the pros and the cons of the tubes. If you trust your doctor I would definately stay with him.

J., I had the same problem with my son at this age. I made the choice to wait for tubes in hopes he would outgrow the problem, which he did. Unfortunatly, that caused some permanent hearing loss. He has been in speech since he was 3. (He is now 6 1/2) And even now many people have trouble understanding him when he speaks. He may even possably need a hearing aid when he gets older. I'm not trying to say that if you don't get tubes for your son that this would be certain to happen...but if I had realized the possability of this happening I would have elected for my son to get the tubes. I would suggest talking to his Dr, as well, to find out his opinon. I hope this was helpfull! Good Luck!!

Hey J..
My daughter started having ear infections when I put her in daycare just before she was one year old. After that, she was constantly getting sick with ear infections one after another. Our pediatrician wanted to wait as long as possible before tubes and tried everything first. But we did eventually have to put tubes in her ears when she was 2 because the Dr. started worrying about scarring and her hearing. She is now 3 and has had only 1 very minor ear infection and has only been sick once since we put the tubes in. It worked for us better then expected. It has also saved us so much money from constantly having to visit the Dr. and getting new prescriptions and missing work to stay home with her. A friend of mine has a son who is now 15 years old and has a speech impediment and hearing loss in one ear because she never had tubes put in his hears and regrets it. Talk to your ped. They will do what is best for your son.

I also had many ear infections as a child. I have suffered slight hearing loss due to ruptured ear drums.

I have two foster kids (age 2 & 4) who were referred to an ENT. He immediately wanted to put tubes in their ears for fear the fluid was blocking their hearing. Boy, was he right. It's been less than a month and I've seen a HUGE improvement in their speech and how much they say has increased greatly.

I would ask questions and get your doctor's or ENT's opinions, but the tubes definitely are working for my little ones.

Well lets just say that tubes work rather well when it comes to helping with ear infections. I have 6 grand children and 4 out of the 6 have had tubes put in. My youngest granddaughter wasnt a yr old or maybe a lil over a yr old when she had them put in she is doing wonderful now.I seen them help with their talking as well so dont rule out the tubes it could only do more harm than good so to speak.

My daughter suffered a lot of ear infection when she was a baby. The doctor sent us to an ENT because he wanted her to have tubes. She never got tubes put in her ears. The first thing the ENT did was test her for allergies. Needless to say her ear infections were caused by allergies. She now takes medicine for allergies and has not had a single infection since. my advice is to have your son tested for allergies before you go through the expense of tubes in his ears. Having an allergy test done is a lot less expensive and like I found out a lot of ear infections are caused simply by allergies or sinus infections.

Hi J., my son is 17 months old and his doctor started saying he needed tubes months ago. But I think it was after way more than just 3 ear infections, he started daycare in June and started antibiotics in July and was on them most of the time until December! So it was a real issue, as soon as he's get better, he'd get sick again, it's hard to keep a child in daycare healthy. I fought it as long as I could. It's something they do everyday, and it's very common, blah blah blah, it's still your baby going under anesthesia and having surgery, it's a very scary thing. I think if he's having continual ear infections and YOU decide it's the right thing to do then you may need to do it. But 3 ear infections by the age of 2 I really don't think is that many and I don't think it's to the point that it warrants tubes. I wouldn't rush to surgery, even though your sister thinks you should. I read some really interesting stuff about Chiropractors being able to help small children and babies with ear infections, I don't know how you feel about Chiropractors, but I was willing to try anything non invasive to try to fix the problem before I agreed to surgery but my husband had a real problem with it so we never took him to the chiropractor. There is a lot of stuff you can find on line that supports it and of course you can find stuff against it too, you can find whatever you want on line, good or bad. We did finally get tubes put in in January and he's doing great, no more ear infections, the surgery went very well. I hope you don't have to get tubes, I would try to avoid it if you can, if you do need to get them they will probably solve your problem, but unless he starts getting more and more ear infections and the antibiotics aren't helping them (we got to a point where they were never clearing up, even on antibiotics)I would really try to avoid surgery. Tubes last about a year and then they just fall out, some kids have to get more put in every year, some kids are fine after just one set.

Where are you? If you are in the Longview area I can recommend an excellent ENT doctor.

Good luck, just do your research, listen to what the doctor says, but in the end you are the one to make the decision, don't let what your sister says, or the doctor (to some extent) influence you. I mean listen to what the doctor says and then make your own decision, that's what I'm trying to say. Tubes may solve the problem, but it's still surgery and anethesia and it's scary for such a little one to have to go thorugh that, so unless it's really neccessary I would avoid it.

-T.

J., my dt had 6 ear infections in her first year. My oldest did not have any. I almost put tubes in her ears, but I have to tell you I'm glad I did not. The main reason was the ENT Dr. did not give me any assurance, but he was quick to suggest that we get paperwork done and all the insurance stuff taken care of so that when we made the decision it will be a faster process. And then he started telling me that the tubes are not a guarantee that she will not get an ear infection later on. And you'll also need to cover her ears everytime she gets in the water, including bathtime.
Our Ped DR's explanation for why she was getting so many ear infections was because her ear canals just had not expanded yet and so much was getting caught up in there. Turns out we would get the true answer 3 years later. FOOD ALLERGIES, specifically to milk (in her first year) as well as eggs and wheat once we expanded her diet. So anyways, if I had asked for a better answer as to why she was having so much dainage then we could have resolved her ear infections in the beginning without all the diffirent antibiotics she was put on for each ear infections. She was allergic to the milk based formula which caused her to have lots of drainage and that lead to the ear infections. If we had cut out the milk from her diet it would have stop all the excessive drainage, ergo no ear infections.
So long story short, try to investigate why the multiple EI. So many Ped DRs don't even suspect anytypes of allergies and to find out that many kids are allergic to so many things and allergic reaction varies from kid to kids. Some have ecema some vomit, like my daughter, some have excessive drainage, some have bad diahrrea. I wouldn't rush to put those tubes in. Good LUCK

Hi J.,

I have posted this in response once before to a similar question such as yours, but I feel it's worth repeating here, so if you don't mind, I am just going to copy and paste what I wrote to someone else LOL;) (be warned, it's a bit long!!! But I hope it helps. Here's what I wrote:

****************************
I'm going to pass along my story for what it's worth because we went through a horrible time with my daughter's ears right around this time last year, and I just felt compelled to share. Obviously, I'm not a medical doctor and don't know all the complications or other factors that may be involved in your daugher's situation...I just wanted to give you something to think about and possibly pursue if you feel comfortable doing so.

Last January, my daughter was on her 5th round of antibiotics in 5 months for repeated ear infections, and we had just been told by 2 different pediatricians that nothing was going to stop until we got tubes in her ears. We knew another couple that had gone through the same thing with their daughter, and it was not a path we wanted to go down unless it was a last resort--It seemed like their daughter's tubes were a never-ending problem for them--

Around that time, we happened to come in contact with a friend of the family that had 5 children and had been through the exact same thing. She recommended that I do a couple different things, one of which was taking our daughter to a chiropractor. I have always been a skeptic about things such as this, but I was so mentally exhausted and fearful about the tubes that I was willing to try it.

Before I started her on the new round of antibiotics, we took her in to a chiro that was experienced with children. He explained to me how bone movement due to injury or strain can cause the muscles to swell--that it was a protective reaction by the body. And when muscles in that area swell, it can keep the ear canal from properly draining, which sets the child up for infection after infection, with the antibiotics only providing temporary relief.

So, after two adjustments (and still no more antibiotics), I took my daughter back to her pediatrician and had him check her ears. (I didn't tell him that we weren't taking the antibiotics) He said they were looking much better and to keep taking the antibiotics. I could tell that her symptoms were disappearing, but to confirm things as a follow up, I took her back to him a week or so later and he said her ears were all cleared up. One year later, I am thrilled because she still hasn't had another recurrence of an infection...and rarely even a runny nose. We have been taking her to the chiro regularly that whole time, and 2006 was like night and day difference than all the health issues we had in 2005. (PS- Our chiro has been in practice 25 years and is wonderful with children--RJ Kelly is his name--###-###-####

So that's my story...I feel like I wrote a whole novel, LOL-- Hope everything works out well for you, whatever happens :)

Well it is awesome to hear that there was no ear infection!! But just in case it comes to it, or since he had strep, let me tell you a little about my situations. My first daughter had ear infections constantly and I was single mom! The ENT had tubes put in her ears, and we never had another problem with her at all! The surgery was quick and painless and the worst part was her coming out of anesthesia, but she wasn't even under very long. So, that was the best experience and I was so blessed that it worked. My second was with my now 3 year old. Last year she was constantly having strep. All the time!! So, we went to another ENT and he took out her tonsils and her adnoids, and she has been sickness free for over a year now! This was a harder surgery because she came out of anesthesia so badly, but after it finally wore off, you would have never known that she even had the surgery. She woke up wanting to drink and eat jello. The nurses and doctor's were very surprised at her recovery! So, I was blessed with this one as well. But just in case it comes to having to have tubes or getting a tonsil or adnoid taken out, just make sure that you have the best doctor's. And make sure that if you feel that he needs it to be done, then don't take no for an answer. It took me a while to get my daughter's doctors to agree to send me to someone, but I was so happy when they did. Both of my girls are very happy now and don't get sick hardly anymore. They have a few allergies because we live in East Texas with a lot of pine trees, but other than that, they never get sick!

Good luck!

Both of mine have tubes in their ears. They are a blessing. I did not want them with my first but they told me if we didn't he could go deaf because of the fluid build up in his ear. After the tubes were put in he could hear and started talking and not loosing his balance so much. When they told me my second would need tubes, I was quick to say go for it. Let them put tubes in. It really does help.

If your son has a lot of ear infections I would definately consider tubes. My son had a lot of ear infections and it even was damaging his hearing!! Why have your little one suffer? I really liked the ENT tht did his surgery, I highly reccommend. His name is Dr. Wright from Valley Ear Nose & Throat. He was confident and the actual surgery only took about 5 minutes. Later that day my son seemed like he had never been in surgery, he was very active and playful and in a good mood. He doesn't complain about his ears anymore and he started speaking almost immediately. Don't be scared, go see Dr. Wright, he will put your mind at ease.

My son had ear infections all of the time when he was growing up. People kept telling me to have tubes put in, but I had heard bad stories about them. I did not and he grew out of them. He is 14 now and he has no damage because of the infections. I know that it is a pain, but I just dealt with it. My grandchild now has had to have tubes put in her ears twice. She had them put in, but she still had infections. She went to the doctor about a month ago and they said her tubes were too small and she had puss build up behind them. They had to go in and put her to sleep again and scrape the puss out and put bigger ones in. This has been a big ordeal for her. I am sure that not all experiences are the same, but this has been ours. I would have rathered her not to have them at all.