Ear Tubes.

Tanya - posted on 01/31/2009

My youngest has tubes. I am so glad that I got them put in for him. It was a good experience on our end. I would suggest you get them put in.

Kim - posted on 01/31/2009

My daughter was 4 when she got her tubes. She is now 11 and has never had an ear infection since her tubes.

Steff - posted on 01/31/2009

My son who is 3, has tubes he use to have ear infections all the time at least 3 or 4 a month since he got them put in last year he has not had one infection, an he didnt seem to be at all sore after the surgery :)

Denise - posted on 01/31/2009

My daughter and son have/had ear tubes. They were the best thing- no ear infections in a couple of years.

Shana - posted on 01/31/2009

My daughter had her first set of tubes when she was 10 months old. It was a very bad experience because we ended up with a quack for a doctor. She had to have her second set of tubes when she was about 18 months old. This was by far a better experience. Unfortunately she had to have her third set of tubes when she was 3 years old. They also went ahead and removed her adenoids. This was a great experience and she has not had any problems since. I think it was a necessary and it did decrease the number of ear infections she had until the tubes fell out. She never had another ear infection after the third set. Whether this was due to them taking the adenoids out as well I do not know. As long as you have a good doctor that you trust, I think it is well worth it.

Kesha - posted on 01/31/2009

Both of my boys had tubes put in their ears. My five year old had them done when he was one and has not had any ear infections since then. My soon to be two year old had them done when he was nine months old and he just got his first one last week. It was at the beginning stages of it and went away with just one antibotic. The surgery is very simple and very quick. I would do it again in a heartbeat. the hardest thing is when they put them to sleep, but well worth it. Good luck!

Dakri - posted on 01/31/2009

My son is now almost 13 and has had tubes since he was one.  He had two sets of the tubes that stay in approximately two years, both sets had to be surgically removed, and then the final set were the long term T tubes that stayed in 5 to 7 years.  He never had an infection while the tubes were in.  He does have some slight hearing loss to having so many in the first year.  The procedures are very common and the kids recover very quickly.  I would most definitely support them.

Kendra - posted on 01/31/2009

My Step Daughter has had them since she was I believe 3, She is now 14. And they helped her a lot more than if she didn't

Shannon - posted on 01/31/2009

My nephew had to get them...no one in my family had ear problems till he was born...He always had ear infections....when he was 2 they decided to put tubes in...He was also havin speech problems....come to find out it was due to his ear infections....Once they put them in he could hear better and started to say more...he still has a slight speech problem but he is gettin help from his home schooled teacher...so yea they do help...

Suz - posted on 01/31/2009

Hiya

My little girl has had them done in both ears. She had them because she had hearing problems & infections. (Glue ear) It was an amazing experience. Seemed painless and quick and well worth it for us. She was 4 when she had the op and is 6 now- one has healed over and the other is still in place. Problem is fixed!! Go for it!Good luck x

Katie - posted on 01/31/2009

My 2 boys had them, my older son went ony 10 days infection free in 4 months,  my younger son only had 1 infection but his ears wouldn't drain the fluid.  Since tubes neither one had an infection, thank goodness.  I was so scared for them initially with getting put under but really it was the best thing I could've done for them>  Good Luck!    

Michelle - posted on 01/31/2009

Hi! Yes my 6 yr old had them at 4 and only had one small infection after that and never since. I love them. We had no complications with surgery or post-op. It is very fast and very easy. Just some pain afterward. Nothing worse than before if not less. Just give Ibuprofen or Tylenol or both. The hardest part is on mom. Promise.  Keeping the ears somewhat out of the water is a challenge, like at bath time. Other than that. Easy. Now my 2 yr old needs them and will as of 2/9/09. It will be nice to have them and no more long painful nights.

Melissa - posted on 01/31/2009

My 7 year old just had them put in in Sept. It hasn't helped her hearing much. The bigger problem is that she has a phonological processing problem which is probably due to her ears being "plugged" for so many years. I tried taking her off dairy and wheat to see if that cleared things up before we did the surgery, but it didn't really. It was an easy surgery. I guess my answer is on the fence for the ear tubes. BUT either way if you notice she has a hard time with rhyming and recoginizing sounds in preschool and for sure Kindergarten PLEASE seek early intervention. I wish I would have known more about this when she was younger, but everyone just said wait and see. Good luck! Ear tubes or not, watch out for delays in reading.

Heather - posted on 01/31/2009

PLEASE DON'T DO IT! I myself had tubes put in my ears on two occasions when i was young and now have massive hearing loss from them! The doctors say that my ear drums look like "cobble stone roads" now! I am 26years old now and have ear infections several times a year (which I didn't have nearly as much as a child before the tubes), and my equilibrium is WAY off now! So I DO NOT reccommend having your child get them, but wish you the best on your decision.

Twyila - posted on 01/31/2009

My daughter who will be 3 in April had ear tubes put in at 13 months. She had 10 ear infections in 6 months (yes, I know this seems impossible but believe me it is). She also during this time became allergic to all penicillin meds so our choice of antibiotics were limited. After we had the tubes put in she has had 0 (no) ear infections and it has been wonderful. The whole experience of having tubes put in is scary but it was literally over in 5 minutes.

Tiffany - posted on 01/31/2009

Yes. I myself had cronic ear infections as a baby. I had tubes put in when I was 2 and after that I never had another one. Now I have a 4 yea old who is always getting ear infections and he has had 6 ear infections in the past 4 months and the Doc said to see him back in one months and if its still not cleared up COMPLETLY they are going to put tubes in. So I think it is a good thing to have done. When I was a baby I had infections so bad that I was starting to loose my hearing. Byut as soon as they put tubes in I got much better, and have not had a infection in my ear since then. So yea totally recomend doing it. :)

Jenni - posted on 01/31/2009

My son had numourous ear infections until he was 4 yrs old when the dr's finally decided to act on it, he had tubes put in and tonsils and adonoids taken out as apparently they were causing him ear trouble also, After havin 2 sets of tubes in his hearing is perfect, i was nervous about the procedure at 1st but have realised now that it was by far the best desision i have made, for my sons sake. dr's have said that if i had left it much longer he may now be partially deaf.

Sara - posted on 01/31/2009

My son had tons of esr infections and finally at 24 months got a set of tubes put in.  It was the best decision we ever made!!! Has not had an ear infection since and he is 6 years old now!  I highly recommend them ....good luck

Teresa - posted on 01/31/2009

Thanks so much everyone! THis definatley helps ease my fears of putting my little one under the knife..

Sherry - posted on 01/31/2009

Hi - All 3 of my boys had to get tubes, they helped, they all got them at about 1 yr and my 7 yr old hasn't had an ear infection since, that really goes for all of them. I would stongly say yes. The recover isn't bad at all, they were all up and good within one day.

Hope this helps.

Amber - posted on 01/31/2009

YES THEY DO HELP.MY CHILDREN ARE 19 AND 16 YEARS OLD NOW THEY BOTH HAD THEM A COUPLE OF TIMES.THEY ARE A PAIN UN THE BUTT,BUT THEY ARE WORTH IT.

Emily - posted on 01/31/2009

Hi Teresa, I recommend you get the tubes for the sake of your daughter's language development.



My son is 14 now. I breast fed him from birth to 6 months old. As soon as I stopped nursing him and switched to soy formula, the chronic ear infections began. At 18 months old, he had tubes put in his ears. His language was already delayed from all of the ear infections. The tubes were a pain because I had to make sure not a single drop of water got into his ears, but it was worth it. I originally put cotton in his ears covered by a thick coating of Vaseline when he took a bath. I finally got specially fitted ear plugs from the EN&T doctor. Once he had the tubes though, he started having asthma attacks. Every little cold that he caught prompted asthma. He was chronically on inhalers. At 6 years old, a pediatrician finally addressed his constant runny nose by putting him on Zyrtec syrup. His nose dried up, and he was hardly ever sick again after that. I had him allergy tested since it seemed he was allergic to something, but nothing ever came back on the tests. He finally went off of the Zyrtec syrup a couple of years later. For the past two years, he has been getting ezcema on his left wrist on and off, which requires a prescription cream. Physicians have told me that ezcema, asthma, and ear infections are all related. Good luck!

Christie - posted on 01/31/2009

Both of our children got ear tubes.  They were 11mo and 23mo at the time.  It was scary to put them under anethesia and surgery but they were constantly on antibiotics.  For us it took the ear infections away and the antibiotics.  They outgrew them by the time the tubes fell out.  Not everyone has the experience that we did but they cured us.  I wish you the best!!

Tracy - posted on 01/31/2009

My 9 yr old daughter had tubes put in when she was 4 yrs.  She only had 2 infections but the fluid in her ears wouldn't drain so our pediatrician sent us to an ENT.  On her hearing test she failed so bad the dr said it was like she was hearing things underwater!  We had to use the earplugs for bath & got a cool "headband" to hold them in while she was swimming, but they fell out in about a year like the dr had said.  My husband was very concerned about her having surgery, but it's the most common one done on children.  If we wouldn't have had it done, it's possible our daughter would have been diagnosed by the school as having a learning problem since she wouldn't have been able to hear correctly.  Good luck!