Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
We're looking to hear from people whose children have had ear tubes placed.... or Myringotomy & Tympanostomy Tubes by their formal names! All feedback is welcome, good and bad, as we are trying to get as much insight as possible before making our decision about this as to whether or not it's something we want to consider for our son.
Our story? Baby boy is 14 months and has had 9 ear infections in the past year. He is in daycare part-time, and all ear infections have occurred following a cold, leading us to believe it's a fluid/draining issue as opposed to an inherent ear issue. We just got a referral from our pediatrician to see an ENT at the end of the month, after he finishes this most recent course of antibiotics. He thinks we may need tubes.
Here's what we're thinking so far in terms of pros and cons:
PROS
* No more ear infections (supposedly)
* No more fighting with him to take antibiotics, which could be causing more harm than good
CONS
* It's surgery after all
* We're not convinced it's necessary (no evidence thus far of hearing loss or permanent damage) as he may just outgrow ear infection on his own as he grows and is better able to self care, blow nose, etc.
* Will probably cost us about $5K out of pocket after insurance deductible & 80/20 co-insurance... When it comes to our son's health and what is *best*, we'll do what we have to do to get it done, we just want to make an informed decision. Also we've been told the procedure "might not work" or "need to be repeated". At this cost, repeating is not an option!
So after driving ourselves crazy searching Dr. Google and the evil interwebs and finding very strong info both in support and against the procedure, we really just want to hear from regular people who've had it done and whether or not they felt it was worth it in the long run.
One of my sons had it about a year ago at age 4. Since then, no infections and his hearing is better. Only issue has been that he has to wear ear plugs when he swims, for now.
It is such a common procedure, the docs could do it in their sleep.
I wish I had known that our pediatrician was so conservative. One of my twins suffered with 12 ear infections in 13 months, and I was such an idiot first-time mom that I did not know to push the issue. Doc finally recommended tubes and adenoid surgery, and the child was a new man.
Here's what we're thinking so far in terms of pros and cons:
PROS
* No more ear infections (supposedly)
* No more fighting with him to take antibiotics, which could be causing more harm than good
CONS
* It's surgery after all
* We're not convinced it's necessary (no evidence thus far of hearing loss or permanent damage) as he may just outgrow ear infection on his own as he grows and is better able to self care, blow nose, etc.
* Will probably cost us about $5K out of pocket after insurance deductible & 80/20 co-insurance... When it comes to our son's health and what is *best*, we'll do what we have to do to get it done, we just want to make an informed decision. Also we've been told the procedure "might not work" or "need to be repeated". At this cost, repeating is not an option!
So after driving ourselves crazy searching Dr. Google and the evil interwebs and finding very strong info both in support and against the procedure, we really just want to hear from regular people who've had it done and whether or not they felt it was worth it in the long run.
MUCH THANKS in advance!
Heather,
My wife and I had the exact same concerns as you did. My wife is an RN, and she still had questions about if we should have it done. Our daughter is 19 months old, and has had tubes for about 2 months. Without question, it was the right thing to do, we actually wish we'd done it a bit earlier, it would have saved our girl a bunch of misery. She is also starting to talk A LOT more, because she can hear so much clearer.
We even flew to Orlando a few days after the procedure, and she was happy as could be on the plane, no air pressure issues at all.
We are not big fans of shoving our child full of medicines, or procedures. But we realized afterwards that we were silly for putting it off. Yes, it's surgery, but it is very quick, very proven procedure. They didn't even give our girl an IV, they just gassed her long enough to do the procedure, and 20 minutes later we were holding her in the recovery room.
Our out of pocked was somewhere around 1000 bucks total, so it was far cheaper, and a much easier decision than what you are facing.
One of my sons had ear tubes recommended for him when he was about the same age. We were so worried about doing it, that we took him to a pediatric specialist at a teaching hospital who suggested we do it as a last resort.
Instead, he asked us a whole lot of questions and after we finished answering he suspected that it might be an allergy to milk products . Not human milk as I had finished breast milk months earlier, but possibly an allergy to dairy products.
We took him off all dairy, didn't even try goat's milk. Lo and behold the colds, stuffed up ears, etc. disappeared in a couple of weeks.
This all happened a long time ago so I just looked up an internet article which may have more recent info
see link
May not be what is wrong with your child, but it is something to discuss with your doctor. Or something to attempt and see what happens. Can always do the tubes things if nothing else works
To me the only question to answer is.....do you want your child to suffer from a hearing loss? If not, then yes, absolutely get the tubes. If he currently does not have any loss you are very fortunate, however at the rate of infections he is getting he most likely WILL end up with hearing loss.
Tubes may or may not stop the infections but what they will do - guaranteed - is allow the infection to drain out of the ear drum and prevent damage that causes hearing loss.
Without tubes, the fluid will build up and essentially rot the inner ear leaving scar tissue which is what causes the hearing loss. At some point the build up will become too much for the ear drum to hold and it will burst in order to relieve the pressure. The pain is there until it bursts, which ironically enough is what relieves the pain as the pressure is now gone.
Getting tubes inserted is a very low risk procedure and the end result far outweighs the risks.
My suggestion is to make sure they use the kind that have the 'screen' over them as you don't have to protect the ears from water like you do with the ones that are without them.
Our daughter got them at a little over 2 and has had them for about a year - absolutely no problems with her, she had many ear infections prior to that ..... she has had some issues with sinus infections this year, but the ears have been fine
Our son got them at about 15 months - he has an ear infection that just wouldn't go away - we had some post surgery issues with him as the fluid and buildup was clogging the tube - it took a while and we had to do the drops longer than typical, but it eventually cleared out .... he'll still get an occasional infection that is treated with drops
Both of them have thankfully checked out fine at their post op appointments for hearing, etc. Little guys vocab has started to improve, but that could just as easily be the age
definitely some more restrictions in what/where they could be ...... for a while baths had cotton balls while washing hair - while swimming we try to keep their heads dry, but will use drops after swimming ..... last summer we spent a week on a lake and our daughter was going around with her life vest on in the water, made me nervous as lake water is super nasty - we had some ear plugs, but didn't want to risk her slipping and going under and somehow getting that water in there
overall we were glad we did it ... we were out of pocket about $1k for each of them and it was worth it - still frustrating though as the procedure had enough hands in it where each doctor takes their cut and one is out of network so I had a double decuctible
the procedure is super fast - the kid is under for maybe 5 minutes and the placing of the tube takes almost no time at all .... both of mine came out of the haze a little unhappy and were pretty confused/miserable for a few hours ..... AM procedures and by the time they woke from their naps they were well over it and back to normal
Our son had them at about a year and a half after having ear infections and the fluid wouldnt drain from his ears. He had tubes and it was a good decision as he hasnt had an ear infection again and he just turned 4.
Surgery was quick and no after effects that I can remember.
We did have to be cautious with him doing anything in water that doesnt have chlorine like bath water. By 3 and a half one tube feel out on his own....and the other is still in there but the doctor said his ears can now drain by themselves fine.
I would say do it....it really could mean a lot less pain for your kid.
In babies, the eustachian tubes run close to horizontal. In laymens terms, that doesn't allow fluid to drain, and causes infections. As babies grow, the eustachian tubes grow into more of an angle, allowing fluid to drain, and significantly reduce infections. That's usually around 2 years old. My oldest daughter had an ongoing ear infection as a toddler, despite regular trips to the pediatrician. At about 20 months old, the pediatrician prescribed a teaspoon of preventive antibiotics, through the winter, allowing daughter to outgrow the issue. At about 2, we stopped the antibiotics and she never had another problem.
Son on the other hand needed at got tubes, shortly before turning 4.
Most tubes will fall out on their own, within about a year. If the infections restart, tubes should be reinserted. You can have custom silicone earmolds made, if water is a big issue. Its also recommended that a child lie down with his /her face turned to either side for about 20 minutes. This allows water to drain from ears.
My brother needed tubes repeatedly as a child, my own kids had their ear issues and my dad is an audiologist. I've.definitely had more than my share of tube control.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
