Tubes for Ear Infections in Pre Schoolers

I'm interested in hearing other people's experiences with tubes for their children's ears.

DD has had ear infections since she was very young. We first did Tubes when she was approx 24 mos. We noticed she could hear better right away and she was less moody as a result. But the tubes fell out after a few months.

At 3 we did tubes again and had her Adenoids removed. We noticed improvement again, but she still got ear infections, they just cleared up faster. And again, the tubes fell out about 6 months later.

Now she is 4.5 yo. We've managed to decrease her ear infections by taking her off of dairy. However, I'm the only person in her life that enforces this diet. Meaning, grandma, grandpa, DH, etc., will all let her have dairy--they think I'm being mean.

DD's ear doctor is once again recommending tubes. This time, however, we have HMO and we'd have to pay the $3,000+ out of pocket.

Now, DD's health is well-worth $3,000. Don't get me wrong here. I just don't know that tubes, again, is the right solution.

I just don't know what to do . . .

This is a little tangential, but as someone who had chronic URIs as a kid (although not so much the ear infections kids get now), has your daughter seen an allergist? If she's allergic to dairy, she's likely allergic to other things too (both inhalants and foods). Treating all her allergies, by immunotherapy and avoidance, is likely to help. And a doctor's diagnosis will probably help her other relatives understand the importance of avoiding certain foods. Although even if it doesn't, whatever you can do to reduce her allergic load will help.

I can't help much. I was threatened with tubes around 5-7, but simply "grew out" of the constant ear infections before my parents went through with it (with no permanent hearing damage). This may eventually be the case for your daughter as well, but I like Oakleaf's suggestion of pinning down the underlying cause if you/your doctor suspects there is one.

I would second Oakleaf's suggestion. Son #1 had constant, I mean constant ear infections, starting at 18 months until age 3-4. At age 2 he was on a a 1X a day dose of Amoxycillin to control them. That did break the cycle, though.
Then came the constant ur infections, and strep throats. Had an allergy eval at age 4 and started on 4 shots a week. Found out he was allergic to a lot of the grasses in AZ, where we lived. The kid could not go out on the playground at one point, it was so bad. Finally, the throat business got so bad that right before we moved to MA, he had the tonsils and adenoids out at age 7. Bingo... all of it went away. He never resumed the shots when we moved here and was fairly healthy after that. We did find out he is lacking an immunological protein at the allergy eval., so if he does get sick, he knows now as an adult not to let it ride too long. But basically, the allergy eval. plus the tonsillectomy did the trick.

For my son, getting ear tubes at 18 months old helped quite a bit--they didn't stop the infections (he has a primary immune deficiency and constant infections are the norm for him) but they at least made the infections easier to diagnose and treat, and they were less painful for him. But his tubes didn't fall out nearly so quickly. Is there something about the shape of your DD's eustacean tubes that both leads to the infections and maybe makes keeping the tubes in difficult? Six months seems like a pretty short time for them to stay in. It took about two years for one of the tubes to come out of my DS's ears, but the other one stayed in for quite a while after that (which I was told was unusual). I also thought that most kids outgrew the recurrent infections by age four or five, unless there was an underlying reason for the infections and not just normal childhood stuff. Even with my son and his total lack of IgA and IgG, he stopped getting ear infections when he was about five (now he just goes straight to sinus infections or pneumonia. I preferred the ear infections.).

Given that your DD is reaching the age when ear infections should be lessening and that you've tried the tubes twice without great results, I'd probably start looking for another reason for the ear infections. Allergists and immunologists often work in the same offices--I'd start there.

Good luck!

Sarah

People really do grow out of chronic ear infections, because in little kids the eustation tubes are almost horizontal and adults' heads are shaped so that the tubes angle downward into the little place that clicks open when pressure is equalized and it helps keep them clear.

The allergist is good both because you'll get more information about what is going on AND you may end up with medical evidence to support diet restrictions which could gain some support from your extended family.

The biggest risk to chronic ear infections in kids are permanent hearing loss and delayed speech and/or language development because of intermittent temporary hearing loss which interferes with speech and language development.

Intermittent ear infections are different than chronic ones. If the kid has periods of being well between infections it can be less of a problem for speech, because there will be times when she can hear people talk, so she'll have that experience.

If her speech and language are developing normally, you have more room to ponder the procedure, but if she's showing any delays, then I would strongly recommend having tubes placed.

Sometimes kids have chronic ears for years without really showing symptoms or without complaining, because they are sort of used to it. When I worked at Head Start, I got so I could almost see them coming, because they had a certain way of not moving their faces and of course, delayed language. I secretly wondered if we could get them making huge faces and yawning and chewing gum if it would help!

Whatever you do PLEASE don't try ear candling!!

Typically, PE tubes fall out after 6-12 months.

Maybe you could get a recommendation to see a specialist to see what your other options are.

I grew up with constant ear infections i spent most of my childhood on antibiotics with my ears running and no relief. I to this day still have many ear infections. i have lost a great deal of hearing because of this and i've been told by many different doctors over the years i'll be deaf before i'm thirty if something is not done.

My sister has the same problem and did have tubes put in many times and it did offer her relief. But eventually she did outgrown the problem.

Try and find a viable solution for your little DD.